Manual Control Options
The Sony DSLR-A200 has a full plate of manual controls, but they aren’t as easy to access as on some other DSLRs. The A200 takes off the function dial that was on the A100, and shifts all of those functions into a menu. The functionality is there, but it isn’t easy to find and isn’t as speedy to use.
Focus
Autofocus – The Sony A200 has a focus switch on the left side of the lens barrel that moves from manual to autofocus. Once in the Autofocus mode, there are plenty of control options for the through-the-lens phase detection autofocus system.
It can be set to function continuously or only when the shutter release is pressed halfway. It can also be set to jumpstart when you put your face in front of the optical viewfinder. There is a tiny sensor beneath the viewfinder that makes this possible. This feature is also on the A100, and is very helpful in speeding up the autofocusing process.
Sony’s press release states that the A200’s autofocus system is 1.7x faster than the A100’s. The A100 has a shutter-to-shot lag of 0.27 seconds in our testing lab, so this move was definitely necessary to help it compete with similar DSLRs on the market. We can’t scientifically test this on the show floor, but the A200 seems faster than the A100 at first look. We can’t wait to get this camera in our imaging lab to really put it to the test. Check back in a few weeks.
The A200 has a 9-point autofocus system with eight lines and a central crosshair sensor. This is the same setup as on the A100, but is a step down from the A700’s 11-point autofocus system. The AF area can be set to wide, spot, or local (the Multi 9-point mode).
The Sony alpha A200 has an autofocus assist lamp on its front that is quite powerful. It reaches from 3.3 to 16 feet. One complaint of the A100’s autofocus is that it isn’t very fast or effective in low light. This may still be an issue; the A200 seems slower when shooting in dim indoor lighting. Sometimes it breathes in and out while searching for the subject. But when it finds it, it appears crisp in the images.
The autofocus mechanism in the 18-70mm kit lens is loud (for a lens). It is perhaps the loudest lens I’ve ever heard. It is much more than the typical electronic hum, but slightly less annoying than a cell phone rap ringtone.
All in all, the Sony A200’s autofocus system seems to be much improved over the A100 in terms of speed. It renders crisp subjects and does so quickly.
Manual Focus – The Sony A200’s focus switch is on the side of the kit lens barrel. It moves from auto to manual focus. The focus ring is on the outer edge of the lens. It is thin plastic that is completely smooth – no grooves or nice handling features on this inexpensive lens (UPDATE: a previous version of this review said there were no grooves on the focus ring). If your hands aren’t dipped in motor oil and you haven’t just eaten potato chips, you should be just fine. Otherwise, this focus ring could prove slippery.
ISO
The A200 may have eliminated the function dial with the ISO on it, but it did add a designated ISO button near the shutter release button. It provides the auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 options. The A100 has ISO 100-1600 options and proved to have great noise control in testing, so the ISO 3200 is new. Sony claims it has improved the image processing to accommodate noise control for the higher ISO speed. Now the camera applies noise reduction to the RAW image before converting it to JPEG, rather than waiting until after its conversion. The high ISO noise reduction system can be turned on and off in the Shooting menu. The range of the ISO options is comparable to similar DSLRs, but some models offer more steps in between.
White Balance
The Sony A200 has an elaborate white balance system that is also present on its predecessor. It includes an Auto mode along with Daylight, Shade, Overcast, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Flash presets. Each of the presets can be adjusted in seven steps to lean closer to magenta or green. The Kelvin color temperature can also be adjusted from 2500-9900K. And if that’s not enough, there is a color filter that can be adjusted in nine steps for green and nine for magenta. Manual white balance is available, and provides instructions to set it. Once it is set, it provides the color error in terms of Kelvin temperature for reference for the photographer. In the Burst modes, there is a White Balance Bracketing mode that can be set to low and high. It shoots one image and saves it three times, each with different tints of color. The high bracketing leans more toward the green and magenta edges than the low mode.
Exposure
The exposure mode dial shows off what’s available: Manual, Shutter Speed Priority, Aperture Priority, Program, Auto, Night Portrait, Sunset, Sport, Macro, Landscape, Portrait, and Without Flash. There is an exposure mode for everyone: a novice can use the Auto mode and the shutterbug can use the Manual mode. There’s something in between for everyone else.
Exposure compensation is available from its own button on the back of the camera. This camera has the typical +/- 2 EV range in steps of a third. This same button is used to access the shutter speed and aperture in the Manual mode. It must be held down while scrolling with the jog dial. This isn’t very comfortable, but gets the job done.
There are exposure histograms available in the Playback mode, but there isn’t a live histogram because there is no live view on the Sony A200.
Metering
The A200 has the same 40-segment metering system found on the A100. Located in the Function menu, the options are very typical: Spot, Center-Weighted, and Multi. These worked well; the spot meter must work from a very small point, because it still leaves subjects illuminated, even when there is strong light coming from behind.
Shutter Speed
There aren’t any changes in the shutter speed range from the A100 to the A200. Both cameras have the 30-1/4000 of a second range, along with a bulb option. There are 52 steps in this range.
The shutter speed can be manually adjusted in the Shutter Speed Priority and Manual exposure modes. The jog dial near the shutter release button can adjust this.
Sony claims it quieted the sound of the shutter in the A200 compared to the A100. I don’t remember the A100’s sound, so perhaps this is quieter. But it sure isn’t quiet. It is definitely louder than competing DSLRs. It lets out a big slap with every captured image, and makes the Burst mode a noisy function.
There is a long exposure noise reduction system that can be turned on and off in the Shooting menu.
Aperture
The aperture range depends on the lens attached to the camera’s A-mount. The aperture can be controlled with the jog dial and the exposure compensation button. The button must be pushed while the dial is rotated to access the options in the Manual mode. The 18-70mm kit lens comes with these options when zoomed wide: f/3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.6, 6.3, 7.1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22.
