Sony A200

[danshill]

Hi,

Im currently in the market for my first DSLR and am considering the A200 due to the low price £259.99.

FRom reading Amazon reviews it looks to be great but thought I would use this forum to get some advice. I have also been looking at the Nikon D60 and the Olympus E-420 but have always been satisfied with Sony products.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am working on a budget of approx £400 but cheaper the better so I can use the difference on other stuff.

[Roger_Provins]

The a200 is an excellent camera and great value for money. It has the benefit of image stabilisation built into the body and will accept all Minolta AF lenses going back to 1985. If you would like "live-view" then check out the a300 or a350 which is almost the same camera but with that facility and an articulating rear screen.

[Steve52]

Cannot comment on the A200, but I have the A350. This is an excellent camera which I use constantly. I upgraded from the A100 (which I still use) last September.
Shop around, you should be able to get the A350 (+ kit lens) for <£400.

[cpfc12]

Have an A200 myself. Have been delighted with it so far. The kit lens isn't wonderful but with the price you pay for the camera maybe you could invest in something better quite soon. Complaints, I have only one, and that is, in manual mode it is fiddly to alter both ap and shutter speed. You get used to it, but I would have liked a second thumbwheel.I will continue with Sony and am building up a lense collection now. If you do this remember you will probably want to go full frame some time in the future and it's worth thinking through every purchase.
Happy shopping.

[DaveG40]

So far I've owned the A100, A200 & currently the A300, of the 3 the A300 is the better camera, for me.

You won't go wrong with the A200 it's easy to use and produces the goods, Oly's are good cameras but lenses prices are a bit high, Sony's big smarty point is that they use Minolta's mount, which gives an Alpha owner access to many lenses.

Nikon's usually ooze quality but the D60 has'nt got live view, does'nt have full time anti-shake (you have to buy expensive vr lenses), most reviewers comment on the slow focus (not helped by only 3 points)and although WDC recently put it top in a budget review, it's not the cheapest Nikon available & in a bun fight with the A350 & Eos 450D (similar price) I don't think the D60 would fair very well.

If you want live view (and the A300 & A350 have the best system on the market), then the choice is either the A300 or the A350.

There are new models coming out but essentially these are pretty versions of the current models, so if you hang on you may get an A200/A300/A350 at a bargain price.

The most important thing you can do is to go in store and try all your fave's out because reviews and specs are one thing, handling is another, and it's the most important.

[cheddah]

I have also recently bought an a200 and am getting into slr photography. I have noticed some issues with the kit lens and would like to replace it with a good all rounder, something like an 18-200. However, I am on a limited budget and was wondering if it would be worth looking for an old minolta lens second hand. Would you guys recommend this and if so, do you know of a specific lens I should be looking out for on ebay or equivalent? Many thanks

[RonM]

with a good all rounder,

There really isn't such a lens there are lenses that cover the range that you are talking about, but will have compromises to get such a range and also to keep the price reasonable.

be worth looking for an old minolta lens second hand

Yes it would, there are a number of Minolta lenses that you should be able to pick up second hand, one lens that I can recommend is the Minolta AF 70-210/4 - Beercan this would give you a really good lens to extend your range from your kit zoom, and it works well with alphas

[DaveG40]

I have the Sony 18-250 and love using it, and although I'm obviously biased I'd have to say it's probably one of the best, if not best Superzooms on the market, it is fairly slow and does have a hefty price tag though.

If the budget's too steep, why not get 2-3 lenses, I bought a Minolta 28-105 xi lens on ebay for less than £50 & got a Sigma 70-300 DG APO for only £60, if you shop around and are prepared to wait you can pick up some bargains, I've never owned a beercan for 2 reasons; bulk/weight and focal range (I've never come across anyone that did'nt want to go further than 210mm, my Sigma's 300mm & I wish that was longer).

If you have'nt already checked it out Dyxum is the first place to start looking.

Another cheaper option superzoom,which imho is second only to the 18-250 is the Sigma DG 28-200, it's an excellent little lens and should be available for around £120, if you can find one. I had the 28-300 and got rid of it (one of the worst lenses I've had).