Sony Alpha 200

The fortunes of Sony DSLRs has been somewhat mixed of late. As one of the first manufacturers to break into the interchangeable lens market without film models to call on for inspiration, the debut batch was solid, if a little underwhelming. Now the A350 has proved there’s plenty of improvement being made between first and second generations, the A200 looks to challenge the newly populated beginner DSLR market with a much more sure footing and a brand-new body.

Where last year’s a700 and a100 relied upon the designs acquired from Konica-Minolta, often making the results seem years out of date, the newer range is far sleeker and closer to modern DSLRs. The body may not be to the same ultra-small specs as the likes of the Olympus E-420 or Nikon D60, but only by millimetres. There is a decent amount of camera to hold onto, with the grip side chunky enough for an adult hand. The amount of weight is also impressive, giving the whole setup a far more solid feel. In fact, there’s very little on the A200 that can be questioned in terms of solidity as the majority of the flaps, switches and buttons feel robust enough to take repeated use.

Where the general looks of the A200 may have received an update, the button placement remains extremely similar. Once again, the Mode dial is squeezed onto the left side of the body next to the viewfinder rather than the right, which is strangely sparse of controls. Giving the ISO and Exposure mode buttons such pride of place is a strange choice, especially as virtually every other manufacturer relegates them to menu options. In standard shooting mode, the D-pad doubles as a half-press on the shutter release, giving a touch more flexibility to taking portrait shots but also sacrificing four directions that could potentially have been used for feature short cuts. The Function button does remedy this matter to some extent, allowing for rapid access to many of the frequently used settings such as Focus mode.

The menu is relatively easily laid out, with fairly large symbols and simplistic text keeping things straightforward for those stepping up from a compact. The D-pad certainly comes into its own in this environment, being solid but remaining reactive to less firm presses. The lack of a Live View mode is something of a surprise, especially taking into account the intended audience of the camera. With the eye sensor ensuring the screen doesn’t remain active during shooting and a rapid response to a shutter space, the LCD solidifies its usefulness regardless. The screen isn’t particularly sharp on a number of occasions though, making some of the text during playback difficult to see. As a fair few compacts have double the 230k pixels across the same-sized screen, it seems a shame that Sony has seemingly cut a corner here.

The features are less of an issue, as the A200 has adhered to the set expected of a DSLR. The 3fps burst mode may not be hugely impressive, but it’s at least sufficient to do occasional sports shooting. Likewise the ISO, hitting 3,200, which is around average compared to the chasing pack. Where the A200 does stand out from the likes of Canon and Nikon is in the body-based SteadyShot, which foregoes the need for expensive lenses by keeping the stabilisation within the camera. This should, in theory at least, reduce the hand shake and motion blur, allowing for far longer exposure times and therefore brighter images. In reality, the difference is only really felt at longer focal lengths, such as when a 70-300mm lens is being used.

In terms of image quality, there’s plenty to be admired from the A200. Focusing is especially quick and accurate, rarely missing depths and getting an impressive level of detail throughout. The 18-70 kit lens was surprisingly versatile and useful, rather than most supplied options, which are normally discarded shortly after purchase. Exposure was impressive for the most part, achieving impressive balance in more difficult situations such as wide-angle landscapes. There was a tendency to favour the sky and therefore underexpose, but this led to a more detailed image with the only real drawback being a slightly darker foreground. Macro images showed once more the impressive level of detail, but a degree of colour casting was noticeable, favouring the green end of the spectrum. This was also apparent against more plain backgrounds, where portrait shots especially tended to suffer. There is the option to bump up the vividness of the images, which gives tones a warmer feel and makes the photos appear more welcoming.

Having to vie for position across an already-crowded plane is forcing the likes of Sony to work that much harder against the more established DSLR brands. The A200, with its impressively low-priced bundle deals, doesn’t particularly elevate itself from the crowd in terms of its feature set, leaving the image quality and usability to do the work. There are plenty of wasted opportunities on both counts, with the colour cast on the photos and wasteful button placement on the body. The A200 is by no means terrible, but is still too rough around the edges to be top of the pile.