Sony Alpha DSLR-A200K Digital Camera with 18-70mm lens

The Sony Alpha series Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras had only two models appear in the first year after the takeover of Konica Minolta's camera division and the Maxxum series SLR line. But as of 2008, this has abruptly changed as a large group of Alpha series cameras have suddenly come into the marketplace. At the low end of these new cameras is the Alpha 200, which unlike the first two, has no direct predecessor in the Maxxum series digital line. But calling it the Low end shouldn't suggest it is just a handicapped version of the full function DSLRs in the Sony line. Instead, it is more a step ahead of the typical micro consumer camera. This camera has lightning fast focusing, accepts the full range of Alpha and Maxxum heritage lenses, has full anti-shake capabilities, and is inexpensive enough for an advancing photographer to give it a try.

Background

The Alpha series cameras were designed from the Konica Minolta Maxxum series cameras which Sony acquired when they bought Konica Minolta's camera business in 2006. The zenith of the Konica Minolta digital SLRs was the Maxxum 7D, which introduced the key technologies defining this line of cameras as well as Sony's SLRs evolved from them.

The most important feature from the Maxxum lineage was the concept behind the Maxxum lens mount (now called the Sony Alpha). This first appeared in 1986 on the Minolta Maxxum 7000, and has shown an incredible ability to stand the test of time. These lenses are designed with a drive shoe to allow the camera to drive the focusing mechanism with a motor onboard the camera. There are no active motors in the lenses, and the focus is recognized by sensors in the camera based on incoming light. The camera has a sliding lever for adjusting the lens iris. The only electronic component in the lens is in the form of a data card. This has the effect of making the lenses a minimalist component compared to the camera. So, when purchasing the lens, the money is going into the glass rather than a set of motors and feedback mechanisms. A more important effect of this configuration is it pushed the development of camera-body mounted technologies for anti-shake photography. So, unlike Canon's anti-shake photography system, which depends on a moving optical element in a special image stabilization equipped lens, the Konica Minolta anti-shake system was mounted in the camera body, so any lens you could mount could take image stabilized photos (including third party lenses).

The Sony anti-shake system shows up in all of the Alpha series DSLRs. The mechanism works by moving the camera's detector around to keep it under the image. Like the Konica Minolta version before it, it lets a photographer take hand held non-flash photos which simply would not be possible otherwise. The system has a feedback display in the viewfinder to give some indication of how much the anti-shake system is having to work. On the Alpha 200, this looks like a mobile phone signal strength display in the bottom right of the viewfinder. This serves to indicate how likely it is to be able to get a steady photo, but more importantly it is a way to train yourself to be very still (by doing this, I have been able to reliably get sharp photos at 1/6 of a second on the Maxxum 7D).

Sony made the sensors for the Konica Minolta DSLRs, and they are one of the main manufacturers for high-end CCD devices. They have continued putting Super HAD series CCD sensors from their product line in their own DSLR cameras. The newest technology Sony has developed addresses a seeming Holy Grail for any sort of imaging (whether film or electronic)- relative dynamic range management. This is something our own eyes do, which has been seemingly impossible for any form of artificial device to imitate. When we see a scene with bright areas and dark (like a building in full sunlight with a shaded patio), our eyes are able to compensate so even though bright are reflecting hundreds of times the light of the dim areas, we still perceive the details in both parts of the image at the same time. For film and digital detectors, this situation is a choice between washing out bright areas with overexposure to make dim areas visible, or getting a clear image of the brightly lit areas at the expense of leaving shaded areas as featureless dark expanses. Sony has promised the ability to selectively adjust the sensor's sensitivity so both bright and dark areas have the local part of the detector adjusted to produce an image.

Description and Usage

The Alpha 200 is a small camera for a DSLR, and it feels strangely light in the hand. It appears the design goal was to make it come close to the size of a prosumer camera. As many times as I have wished the SLR camera around my neck was lighter, I have to say this is a welcome feature, though I needed to adjust to the feel a lighter camera in the hand. Unlike some of the Canon SLRs, Sony has maintained a metal bayonet mounting ring in the camera for strength, and the lens mounts with a solid engagement. Note, however, this version of the 18mm-70mm lens has a plastic bayonet flange on the other side of the joint.

Unlike the Maxxum 7D or the Alpha 700, this camera has a strange seeming lack of controls on its exterior, despite the smaller real estate of its form factor. The camera doesn't have as many controls, but the ones present lead directly to their intended purpose within two layers. For example there is an ISO button to immediately select a new sensitivity, and the function button leads straight to controls like the dynamic range compensation, which commonly show up under several layers of menus in other makes. The main control knob includes many of the basic function variations one would want, so there really isn't much menu-surfing involved in using this camera. So, for example, the green "Prog" function is a fully automatic mode which decides if you need the flash and pops it up automatically, and right next to it is the fully automatic no-flash mode, which has the same features, but will never try to use a flash. All in all, while I found the camera does have a little bit of a learning curve, a lot of thought has been given to making it quick and easy to find the setting you want.

The biggest problem I have with the camera's form factor is its size and proportions. The grip on the right side is very narrow and small from front to back, so it feels like it needs hands smaller than mine (I wear an XL sized glove, so I know some of you will come away with a different impression). In comparison, the larger grip of the Alpha 700 is a near perfect fit. The surface is similar to its immediate predecessors with rubber coated grip areas and rubber covers for its power and data plugs.

One thing I have found I do not like is the lack of tactile feedback from the buttons. Once you are used to using your thumb for the auto exposure lock, I found it was difficult to tell if I was pressing the button since it neither moves far on activation, nor does it have a strong tactile "Click" sensation. The manual switch for transitioning between automatic and manual focus and switching the anti-shake feature on and off are at the opposite extreme, requiring significant force to move them.

There are a lot of common features in prosumer cameras which do not exist on the Alpha 200. On the consumer camera side, it has no live-view on the rear screen for getting ready for a photo. For an advanced photographer, this means no help for difficult precision focus. On the consumer side, there is no movie feature, and given how this camera appears to strive to be familiar to consumer camera users, this seems like an oversight. At the same time, the camera lacks the ability to store configurations for recall, as many serious photographers are used to having. This camera also lacks the ability to do time lapse photography (automatic picture taking based on an internal timer), which knocks it out for my own astronomical use.

Performance-wise, this camera has highs and lows. In practice, the CCD sensor is relatively noise free at low ISO settings, and both the noise and the dynamic range at ISO 100 looks much better than at the highest end sensitivity, ISO 3200. The camera's noise reduction feature only seems to make a moderate improvement in the grainy texture of high ISO number images. It will not take an image and get rid of the grainy look, but rather seems to make about as much improvement as a two pixel radius Gaussian blur would in a photo editing program.

The larger size 10.2 megapixel sensor seems to have outpaced improvement in the anti-shake feature which first turned up in the Maxxum 7D. The six megapixel image of the older camera appears well matched to anti-shake down to 1/6 of a second at f/4. That same level of performance yields an image which has several pixels of blur in the Alpha 200. Even with my hand braced against a brick wall, the Alpha 200 yields 2 pixels of blur around high contrast objects. The only answer is to keep exposures a bit faster. Since the usable ISO range is identical to the older camera, and the noise character similar, this effectively means a more limited operating range than a camera from three years ago. Of course, the Maxxum 7D was three times the cost of this camera, so there may be less reason to complain than this comparison makes it sound. For common shooting situations, with common ISO settings and reasonable ambient light, the Alpha 200 produces very sharp focus and excellent color.

The biggest success stories in the Alpha 200's performance are the speed of focus and shutter lag. To get ready for pictures faster, it uses a Minolta-derived eye detection system to sense when you are moving to look through the eyepiece and command the camera to focus by the time you can see through the viewfinder. When moving between nearby and infinity-distance objects, the Alpha 200 will typically reach focus in less than a second.

The camera has a very fast shutter lag for the first frame, with only a minimally detectable gap between pressing the shutter and taking the image. This lag appears to decrease if the automatic dynamic range optimization is turned off. The larger slowdown is with follow-up photos, and definitely appears to be a function of how much post-processing the camera is trying to do. So, for example, the noise reduction feature noticeably slows up follow-up photos, in exchange for very limited improvement to the images. I personally have found taking experimental photos and looking at the result is more effective than either of these automatic features.

The accessories for this camera are completely common with the rest of the Alpha cameras. The lenses are compatible with the rest of the Maxxum and Alpha series, including ones from 1986. So, if this camera ends up being an entry into higher end Alpha series cameras for you, the accessories you have will follow you. The external flash shoe is common, and the camera uses the same proprietary lithium ion batteries as the other Alpha cameras. This camera also uses the venerable corded wired remote which originated in the original Maxxum line.

The Alpha 200 has a proprietary power cord for running of the power grid. Unfortunately, this means you can't just get a universal power supply and pick the right end and power setting to use the camera.

The memory for this camera includes the mature Compact Flash format used across DSLRs, which offers the best possible speed with its onboard memory management. This camera also has a the ability to accept an adapter for Sony Memory Sticks, though this would come with a hit to follow-up photo speed.

The 18mm-70mm lens included with this kit is a relative of a Minolta lens which appears to have been shaved down for cost. First amongst these changes is on the lens coatings, which show much stronger internal reflections than the original version. The second difference is lighter construction and a plastic bayonet flange. The wide range of optical performance with this lens makes it good for general purpose use, and I doubt anyone using the Alpha 200 for family vacation photos would have any reason to complain. This lens is not high enough quality to be a reason by itself to stick with the Alpha series when upgrading from this camera. For all practical purposes, this specific camera and lens combination work reasonably well together. If the lens could go to a lower f number, then I am sure the anti-shake capability would seem more useful in low light applications since the shutter speeds could stay higher. If the camera were a 14 megapixel unit, it is likely the false color from this lens would become an obvious issue on high contrast subjects. But as a starting lens on a low end DSLR, it works well enough. If someone buys a nice lens, this camera can drive it, and its benefits would be more visible on a higher end camera body.

Conclusion

The Alpha 200 needs to be evaluated by what it does versus what it costs. This camera is a digital SLR sold at the price of nicer consumer digital cameras. It has all of the core features of an SLR, and adds some extremely advanced features like image stabilization as well. For someone who isn't really sure about the price of a full SLR, but has found typical consumer digital cameras confining, this camera gives all of the key features of a DSLR in a light weight form factor at a reasonable price.