Sony a200 - one of the best budget dslr cameras available.

Advantages: Great battery life, comfortable in the hands, picture quality.
Disadvantages: Flimsy memory card and remote release slot.

...I was looking for a new camera and had a budget of around £300. Compact cameras such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ and the Nikon Coolpix P80 kept coming up, as did the Nikon D40 and the Sony a200. I decided to go for the Sony in the end as it was a name I trusted and I had used a compact Sony in the past. The quality difference between my old compact camera and this camera was incredible. Shots always seem to come out crisp and clear, whatever lighting conditions the picture was taken in. Battery life is great and the percentage meter of battery power remaining is invaluable. The camera fits well in large hands, and all of the buttons and dials on the camera are comfortably positioned. Having only used a compact camera in the past, the sheer number of options took a while to get used to, but once I was familiar with the camera everything...

je12g08 09.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

  Another 5 star Sony!

Advantages: Great functions, east to use, looks and feels good and produces great images.
Disadvantages: The kit lens isnt the best and no live view may bother some.

...For a while now I have been receiving private mails on both Dooyoo and on Ciao asking me to review the Sony A200 DSLR camera, this is because I have made mention of it in a few of my camera reviews lately but never actually got down to doing a full write up on it. I haven't reviewed it previously for a couple of reasons mainly though that I had up until now only had a few hours experience of the unit. Now with a whole weeks shooting with it under my belt and over 1000 pictures taken with it I feel much more capable of writing a thorough review on it. For anyone who has not read any of my previous camera reviews, I am a professional photographer and test many of the cameras I review rather than owning them. So onto the Sony A200 then, well Sony are very new to the DSLR market even though they have been making point and shoot...

thebigc1690 16.09.2008 (17.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

The Sony Underdog

Advantages: Great features for low price, Great value for money
Disadvantages: Smaller range of Lenses than competitors

... Sony a200 D-SLR camera Introduction This Sony a200 is the bottom of the range fully fledged entry level d-SLR from Sony. With prices now well below £300 could this be the camera for you to enter the next level of your photography? I believe it can. Offering a wide range of features, lenses and quality that has brought Sony where it is today, this camera will definitely be giving the bigger names something to worry about. The Camera This camera is obviously designed from scratch to bring ultimate simplicity to beginners to enthusiasts alike. The build quality is very good for the price, though not as strong as many other cameras in the market, it looks as though it could still take a fair blow or two, but not three. The 10.2 mega-pixel offering is more than enough for most levels of photography...

aadamm 22.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

  Enter the Sony!

Advantages: Packed with extras, looks good and feels good.
Disadvantages: See review for the very minor con`s.

...Sony are one of the newest companies to venture into the world of DSLR`s, having been producing some quite excellent point and shoot cameras for many years this is a move that most people in the photography world had expected to happen a long time ago and a lot had feared the day it did happen too. The reason many photographers feared Sony entering the DSLR market is simply that it would be hard not to get drawn into what they had to offer but they feared that Sony might find the market too challenging and bale out leaving many photographers with cameras that they could not upgrade and would struggle to find lenses and accessories for. When buying a point and shoot camera you are spending in the region of between 100 and 200 pounds for a top of the range model, whilst when purchasing a DSLR camera you could be looking at spending...

thebigc1690 29.07.2008 (17.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A350K

  A Sony fit for a pro!

Advantages: Too many to list, please see review!
Disadvantages: None worthy of a mention in my opinion.

...After writing countless of camera reviews on here as well as on a few other review sites on many different types of point and shoot cameras and DSLR`s that I have used or tested I thought it might be about time to write a review on one of the more upmarket DSLR`s that I own and use in my business as a professional photographer. I own three high end DSLR bodies and the one I have chosen to review for you today is the Sony A700, this was the top of the line Sony DSLR until the recent release of the A900 and it is an expensive piece of kit but one that will produce not just great images but professional images if used correctly. It has many functions and settings and would no doubt be very confusing to a novice but if you have used a beginner level DSLR then you would or should be able to pick up how this camera works very quickly. In...

thebigc1690 18.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A700K

Great entry level dslr at a great price

Advantages: Great camera at a great price
Disadvantages: Body looks cheap

...-to-use function display and percentage battery life indicator Improved 9-point centre cross AF with EyeStart activation for fast, accurate focusing Continuous shooting at 3fps (JPEG Fine mode, limited by memory card capacity) High-capacity InfoLITHIUM battery allows up to 750 shots between charges (CIPA measurement) Dual anti-dust system protects sensor during lens exchange SteadyShot INSIDE was previously known as Super SteadySho Review ************ Ok so what does all this babble actually mean and how does the camera handle i hear you ask. First off it fits nicely into your hand and it feels sturdy to the touch. The weight of the camera is only 532 grams which is what some compact camera weigh. The lenses for the camera are what is known as a sony A-mount so its compatible with A-Mount bayonet lenses from Minolta and Konica Minolta...

falcon1959 12.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

A Very Good Choice DSLR And For The Price Cannot Be Bettered

Advantages: Great pictures, great price with lots of old quality kit to be had for it a not a lot of money
Disadvantages: Not the build quality I was expecting and a few setting need tweaking.

...There are a few reasons you may be considering buying this camera. Either you are upgrading from an older Minolta camera and want something that will be compatible with your existing equipment or you are new to DSLRs and you are tempted by the brand at this price (£259 if you shop around at the time of writing). I came to this after owning a few Minolta cameras in film and digital flavours and I chose the Sony as it meant all of my kit fits. My previous camera was an aging Konica Minolta D5 and I decided on the upgrade due to a few hot pixels and the higher spec of the new Sony. A WORD OF WARNING here... The build quality of the Sony came as a bit of a letdown when compared to the older camera. The D5 had a nice solid feeling rubberized body but the Sony feels more plasticy and light weight. They have also made the body smaller but not...

joeyjojoe1971 10.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

Sony Alpha A200 (Digital SLR)

Advantages: Price, brand, quality
Disadvantages: Manual modes

...camera is compatible with the old Minolta lenses - which are cheaper and often better that the Sony ones (for more advanced photos). The manual settings are easy to use, however are a little rigid, and I find do not give you the same flexibility as some of the more expensive digital SLRs or manual ones (Cannon ones are very good for this), however for the price of the Sony, the settings are reasonable. Down to the most important point - image quality. I cannot really find fault with this at all, and this is comparable to some of the much more expensive Canon and Pentax SLRs! The lens provided with this camera is not the best for very close up and macro photography, however it tends to perform very well for any other shots - and there is always the option to change to a better lens for these purposes. Overall - excellent camera...

yatzue 06.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

Sony DSLR A-100W - Beautiful Pictures, Great Value

Advantages: Build & Picture Quality, Battery life, Brand
Disadvantages: Shutter sound, manual

...for at a relatively cheap price compared to shelling out hundreds on a DSLR which you might not use. I still think that compact and bridge cameras generally offer excellent results and a much easier to carry about, however I photograph a lot of aircraft and nature, and for both of those, I not only want the zoom capabilities but also the manual focus, the shutter speeds and the ability to crop images. This year we had blue tits nesting in the back garden, I got some pretty nice pictures with my FZ7, but the conditions had to be just right, i.e great lighting and I still found I couldn?t crop the images as much as I wanted without some loss in quality. Now, a blue tit is one of the smallest British birds so I am asking quite a lot from the camera, but it was this, that made me buy a DSLR. WHY THE SONY ALPHA? AND WHY NOW? The Sony Alpha A100 was...

bananamanuk 25.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A100W

Ditch the point & click for only a few quid more

Advantages: Budget Cost but Brilliant Photographs
Disadvantages: No "Live View" on Screen

.... Other manufacturers including, Canon & Nikon have also produced very similiar beginner SLR models to the A200, but when I checked the A200 was far keener on price and seemed to fare best in photographic magazine reviews also. In short this camera is simply unbelievable value for money, given it's high quality results and advanced capability. Many lenses, such as compatible zoom & telephoto are available with it too for a lifetime of varied photographs. Keep your memories crisp and clear with Sony. Buy and enjoy. More detailed information and online brochure can be found at http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dss-digital-slr/dslr-a200k (copy & paste the link into your browser)....

CiaoTester 11.11.2008 (19.11.2008) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K