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Sony A200 Review

AlphaMountWorld brings you our Alpha A200 Camera In-Depth Production Digital SLR Review.

February 2008, Carl Garrard

The Sony A200 is a budget priced powerhouse entry level DSLR, set to challenge Canon and Nikon for a bigger chunk of market share in the DSLR industry; the first of a one-two-three knockout punch attempt at the entry level market. Can the Sony A200 Alpha Camera compete with the "big two" and slice out a piece of the consumer pie? Read our in-depth review of the Sony A200 Alpha, and find out more about this well priced, easy to use DSLR.
Sony A200 Review - Introduction

Sony A200

- "The little camera that could?"

2008 started strong for Sony with the introduction of the Sony A200, the first DSLR announced this year by any camera manufacturer at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January, 2008. As many may know by now, the A200 is positioned as Sony's entry level DSLR for its lineup. Priced affordably and aggressively, this camera seems to be a great value by specifications alone which includes a sharp 18-70mm Sony lens, priced at $599.00 as a kit. Sony has stated this DSLR will replace the A100 as it's new entry level camera with upgrades over the A100 model introduced back in mid 2006, priced exactly $400.00 lower than the A100 on its initial introduction as a kit (that's a huge cut in price).

This is Sony's first DSLR designed from the ground up that doesn't share characteristics from previous Minolta models (such as the 5d, and 7d respectively). It does however carry over some of the A100's best traits, such as Super Steady Shot in-body image stabilization, a 10.2 megapixel sensor (although new and revamped), dust sensor cleaning, a similar viewfinder and flash, excellent ergonomics, dynamic range optimization (DRO), and a competitive feature set.

In our view though, this is where the similarities basically end. The seemingly revved up Sony A200 has over 23 changes to the A100 (that we counted), and although many of them are subtle, some aren't. The body for example, has been completely redesigned to be cleaner, rounder, better built, more ergonomic, and more resembles its' brotherhood in the growing line of Alpha cameras, looking more like the A700 than the A100. Clearly Sony is set on its styling. The Sony A200 has had so many minor changes, it is hard for us to call it an upgrade to the A100, because while some very important features have been upgraded, others have been omitted entirely. While it seems the Sony A200 is just a rebadged upgraded Sony A100, in use it feels like a completely different camera. What this says to us is that the A200 is it's own camera, in its own market segment.

Having discussed the marketing strategy with Sony at PMA this year, it is very clear this camera is set to please a beginner in the DSLR category. I was told numerous times the Sony A200 was designed to be user friendly and unintimidating to the beginner. Without reservation, I would have to tend to agree here with Sony. Its feature set alone screams "I'm easy and unintimidating" and from my experience with it, I can say the same. Therefore, it is our intention to review this camera by the class it is priced in, not by what it should be or shouldn't be from an advanced user standpoint, rather what it should or shouldn't be for a first time DSLR user.

Will the Sony A200 satisfy advanced users still? Will it satisfy new users who have a fast learning curve a year or more after they purchased it? These questions, and more will be addressed in our review. Please read on...