Sony Alpha A200K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization with 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony Alpha A200K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization with 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
Digital camera Review: The best deal for a DSLR
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought the Alpha 200 and took it to Alaska cruise trip and I am happy with it so far. Before to purchase this camera, I was waiting for the Canon 40D to drop price but I could not wait further more so I got my Sony the day before my trip.
I also bought Sony HVL-F36AM for USD100 and Sony camera bag + battery for USD30. I don't think you can get a better deal than this from other brand like Canon or Nikon.
I took the camera and Tamron 17-50 2.8, Minolta 50 1.7 to the trip and took beautiful portrait pictures of friends on the stairs of the ship Princess Saphire with 50 1.7 iso @800 no flash.
My friend with Canon 5D, Canon 28-300 5.6 IS + Canon 430EX got ugly pictures.
I got so many cameras and lens, maybe more than some pro photographers. But I consider myself an Amateur because I am not making any money from Photography.
My camera collection varies from Contax with CZ lens. Varieties of Nikon film bodies and Fuji S2 with a lot of Nikkor lens. Canon 20D with several Canon lens and one of them is 70-200 2.8IS.
To my personal preference Sony CCD sensor is better than Canon Cmos sensor. Colors are more saturate and brillant similar to Fuji sensor but faster because of newer technology.
My next purchase will be Sigma 70-200 2.8 DG macro when it's available and I will sell my Canon 70-200 2.8 IS.
Digital camera Review: The software killed my computer!!!! BEWARE!
Summary: 3 Stars
I recieved the camera this week. First of all. You can't use it till you buy a memory card. The manual is ok at best. However if you have a little experience with cameras. You will be happy with the A200 (alpha)..
DO NOT LOAD THE SOFTWARE UNTIL YOU BACK EVERYTHING UP!!!..The first time I tried to load it? My computer would not restart until it went thru troubleshoot mode. So I tried it again..Like the idiot I am...
Then it locked my computer up for good. The only way I could save my computer was with SYSTEM RECOVERY... I lost all my files and started from scratch...Then tried it again..After loading new software for a printer and a Canon camera...With the same result... Locked up on SONY..
The camera is OK...Beware of the software!...
Digital camera Review: This is one of the best Enter level DSLR camera!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this camera, this is an excellent camera for outdoor portrait, pictures are awesome, it's a little heavy for small hands. If you take pictures above ISO400, you will get alot of noise with this camera. Well, I'm very please with this camera so far, I have it for over a month now.Digital camera Review: Very Nice DSLR
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned this camera close to a year now and absolutely love it! I have looked at the Canon and Nikon as well as Olympus competitors and I choose this one over the others and I am happy with my decision. ( note I have also extensively used the Canon XS for about a year now and IMHO does not even come close the the performance or quality of the Sony A200 )
Battery: Battery life is outstanding I have never had it die on me even once sometimes I could go a few days without even charging it ( taking a few hundred shots each day ) In general I get about 600 without flash and about 200-300 with flash
Kit Lens : The kit lens is surprisingly well built and has a surprisingly good quality. When compared to the canon XS's standard kit lens ( 18-55mm ) the build quality is much higher and the sharpness throughout the range is much higher then that of other kit lenses I have used.
Lenses In General: one of the things I hear the most commonly from company biased employees at camera stores when trying to lore people away from less common brands like Sony is on the lack of lens options. This is simply not true I would not consider myself a pro but an advanced amateur, though I do know some pros who use Sony and agree that there is every lens you will ever need on the Sony camera's unless you do specialized photography ( like microscope photography or telescope photography ) you will not be bothered with the lens options sony gives you. Not only will all of the sony lenses work on the camera ( and there are a lot of sony lenses ) but also all of the Monlita lenses will as well and they work just as good and you can find great deals on used Monilta lenses. Not to mention all the major third party lens companies produce lenses for Sony ( Tamron, Sigma etc ) So if you hear someone saying there are not a lot of lens options for the Sony camera system then don't listen to them
Ergonomics : This was one of the main reasons I choose this because the Canon camera's ( XS,XSI,XTI ) did not fit my hands very well ( I have big hands ) this Sony fit my hands perfect. I would also like to compliment Nikon for having great ergonomics on there cameras as well, the Nikons fit my hand great so it would seem Canon is the only one with ergonomic related problems that I have used and for my hands.
Quality : The Quality is great on this camera and IMO almost identical to the performance of the Nikon D80. The Noise could be a little better but I find it usable to shoot at ISO 1600 if I turn of noise reduction in camera ( built in noise reduction is Horrible and makes the picture worse so turn this off ) and then use a program like Noise Ninja or Dfine ( I prefer Dfine ) if you use one these softwares it will let you use iso 1600 for small prints ( no larger then 8x10 IMO at this ISO ). Also at iso 100 the dynamic range is very good when shooting in Raw I can pull or push about 2 stops ether way without making it look too bad.
Features : This camera has a lot of features that are extremely useful like IS ( image stabilization ) since IS is built into the camera every lens benefits and you don't need to pay extra for IS lenses like you do on NIkon and Canon. It also has dynamic range optimizer so that it pushes the shadows slightly and pulls the highlights slightly. One feature that was included in the A100 that is not in the 200 is Mirror lockup which is disappointing because it would have been very useful ( mirror lockup produces even sharper images by moving the mirror up before as to not shake the camera ).
Build Quality: This camera is built very tough! For example about a week after I got it I had it on a tripod about 5 feet from the sidewalk ( yes concrete ) and it fell over when I bumped the tripod, right onto the concrete and all it did was put a scratch on the top of the flash. Not to mention it has been through very moist conditions, I have taken this out unprotected ( probably not smart ) during heavy rain storms and pretty much soaked it and have never had so much as a problem with this camera.
All in all this is an amazing camera and IMO the best that you will find under 800 dollars as of right now. Remember you are buying into a system not just an individual camera. One thing that I dislike and hope that sony changes is that this has an unstandard hotshoe and requires an adapter to work with studio lights or other name brand flashes.
Check out samples I have uploaded to Amazon I include one which was shot in 1600 ISO with built in Noise reduction turned off and using Dfine for noise reduction
Digital camera Review: Very Pleased !
Summary: 5 Stars
Have used this camera since last year and I'm buying this one as a Christmas gift for the family.