Sony Alpha DSLR-A200K review

When we first reviewed Sony's Alpha A200K in What's New, Shopper 248, we were astounded that it cost less than £300.

It undercut its rivals by over £100 without compromising on quality. The competition has been forced to slash its prices in response, but the A200K is still comfortably the best-value digital SLR on the market, bar Nikon's ageing D40.

The camera comes with a 10-megapixel sensor, a 3fps continuous mode, a 2.7in screen and optical stabilisation built into the body. The kit lens's 3.9x zoom range is the largest here, capturing distant subjects with a little more detail than the others manage. Its battery life is better than most, too, coming in at 750 shots. The only notable omission is live view.

The Alpha A200K is easy to master and operate, with clear menus and plenty of dedicated buttons. Various Creative Style presets allow the colour output to be customised, although we would prefer words rather than icons to make it clearer what's being adjusted. We were pleased to see that bracketing is available for both exposure and white balance. A DRO+ feature brightens up shadows in high-contrast scenes, although the results were variable.

Performance of the sensor-based optical image stabilisation was a little behind that of the Canon and Nikon cameras' lens-based stabilisation. However, Sony's system has the advantage of working with any lens. We particularly like the meter below the viewfinder image that shows how steady the camera is being held. This helped us concentrate on steadying our hands before taking a photo at slower shutter speeds.

The nine-point autofocus proved quick and reliable in our tests. Its performance is helped by a sensor just below the viewfinder, which detects when the camera is raised to the eye and commences autofocus immediately rather than waiting for the shutter button to be pressed. The same sensor also switches off the screen so it doesn't distract while shooting. We measured a 2.6fps continuous speed, which is short of the 3fps claim, but respectable nonetheless. In RAW mode, this dropped to 1.4fps after seven shots, which is still faster than most cameras here.

Image quality is about average for this group. Automatic exposures were excellent, with flattering yet lifelike colours, and detail was just a whisker behind the front-runners. Noise was more noticeable at high ISO speeds than it was from Canon's and Nikon's cameras, but ISO 1600 shots were usable and the 3200 setting came in handy in very low light. The Sony's noise-reduction processing was heavy-handed at ISO 800 and above, sacrificing subtle details, but it's possible to reduce its strength, while shooting in RAW mode avoids it altogether.

Those who can afford Canon's 1000D will appreciate its lower noise and live view mode, but for out-and-out value, the DSLR-A200K remains an incredible bargain.