joyfulwild
Member
I just purchased the A200 and was needing some feedback about which accessories to purchase? Batteries? Memory cards? Other?
Thank you!!
Thank you!!
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Accessories for A200?
- Thread starter joyfulwild
- Start date
It all depends on your own shooting behaviour. The MTF FAx might give you some clues.
Some tips:
- Get a good bag to protect your camera
- If you don't mind post-processing: shoot RAW and get enough memory cardsspace.
- Get an external card reader, so you don't need to connect your camera to your computer.
- When going away on long trips an imagetank or portable CD-burner will decrease the number of cards needed.
- If you don't want to recharge your battery after every shoot, get at least one extra battery (a generic one will do fine).
- If you want more zoom get a Tele-convertor. The Minolta one is the best, although it's a heavy one. Good alternatives are availlable from Olympus and Raynox.
- For Macro-shooting you might consider a closup-lens.
- The internal flash is so-so. You might consider an external flash, either one of the Minolta's or one from Sigma or Metz.
- Get a tripod for real-low light conditions (when Anti-Shake won't help you) or for shooting panorama's.
- In some cases a polarizer is useful to get rid of reflections and to intensify blue skies and/or green leaves. Most 49mm polarizers will vignet at the wide end of the zoom range, so it might be better to get a step-up ring with a 58 or 61mm polarizer. Anyhow, you don't need an expensive Circular Polarizer a Linear will do fine.
- In low light conditions a Camerbright torch can be useful.
- The most important tip is: don't think you need all these accesoires to make goot pictures, in most cases the camera will do fine without them!
joyfulwild
Member
Thank you!
I want to shoot RAW - would a 512mb memory be enough?
Suggestions on a battery?
-Deena
I want to shoot RAW - would a 512mb memory be enough?
Suggestions on a battery?
-Deena
That depends on how much you shoot... On an A200 it will hold 42 pictures, which might be not enough (with my A1 I typically shoot 50~150 pics on a day out with the camera).
Do a search for suggestions.
Check out buy.com for a Sandisk 1 GB Ultra II. I just ordered one and it has free shipping. Total cost is about $93. I got mine for $87.41 because I had a 6% discount coupon. If you've ordered from them before maybe they sent you one too.
Also, I am looking at batteries and I think I am going to order this one. The seller on EBAY has 100% rating and he sounds good. The battery is the Nikon EN-EL1 non oem. It's only 800mAh, and there are larger ones, but I think I am going to start with this one (translated-the ad has a good sales pitch). If this works out, then I am going to order one of the larger capacity batteries next, but I want to make sure it will fit in the battery compartment, and that will charge in the KM charger. I use non oem in my Canon camera and they work great. I only had one that died prematurely. Here's what it says on EBAY about this battery:
One long life rechargeable Li-Ion battery
7.4V/800mAh*
Overcharge protection
Charges in the original Nikon charger
No memory effect
Photo is representative of actual battery
Battery is not "name brand", but a high-quality equivalent
Battery is brand new, never used in factory packaging
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48519&item=3880980886
I asked about a compatible battery earlier today, see my post. Anyway, two people replied, one recommending Sterlingtek and one recommending Power 101.
Also, I am looking at batteries and I think I am going to order this one. The seller on EBAY has 100% rating and he sounds good. The battery is the Nikon EN-EL1 non oem. It's only 800mAh, and there are larger ones, but I think I am going to start with this one (translated-the ad has a good sales pitch). If this works out, then I am going to order one of the larger capacity batteries next, but I want to make sure it will fit in the battery compartment, and that will charge in the KM charger. I use non oem in my Canon camera and they work great. I only had one that died prematurely. Here's what it says on EBAY about this battery:
One long life rechargeable Li-Ion battery
7.4V/800mAh*
Overcharge protection
Charges in the original Nikon charger
No memory effect
Photo is representative of actual battery
Battery is not "name brand", but a high-quality equivalent
Battery is brand new, never used in factory packaging
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48519&item=3880980886
I asked about a compatible battery earlier today, see my post. Anyway, two people replied, one recommending Sterlingtek and one recommending Power 101.
joyfulwild
Member
Karen - Thanks so much! Thi is so helpful!! Deena
This is just a case of the blind leading the blind. I have no idea what I am doing either. Today I have bought a CF card and 2 batteries, now I want to buy a car charger and a card reader and I am going crazy trying to compare apples to apples as the saying goes. I never needed a card reader with my old Canon camera, but this A200 is going to make larger files. I was just reading that some of the chargers are fast chargers and charge within 1 to 2 hours, and other chargers take 14-16 hours, and some of them have trickle charge, so I emailed the seller I am buying the batteries from and asked him for some specs on his charger.
Now, if I get this camera and it has a Q/C problem, or I don't like it, then I'm going to be irritated after buying all this other stuff. I'm going to have to love it!
Now, if I get this camera and it has a Q/C problem, or I don't like it, then I'm going to be irritated after buying all this other stuff. I'm going to have to love it!
joyfulwild
Member
(Laughing)
Oh, yes, couldn't they just include all the accessories??? It was time consuming enough to wade through all the reviews to decide which camers to buy!
I went ahead and ordered the Scandisk and Nikon EN-EL1 from Amazon.com - It worked out a little cheaper since I didn't have to pay for shipping.
Why are you buying a car charger? For trips without electrical access? And the card reader is for ?
Well, here we go ready or not!
Deena
Oh, yes, couldn't they just include all the accessories??? It was time consuming enough to wade through all the reviews to decide which camers to buy!
I went ahead and ordered the Scandisk and Nikon EN-EL1 from Amazon.com - It worked out a little cheaper since I didn't have to pay for shipping.
Why are you buying a car charger? For trips without electrical access? And the card reader is for ?
Well, here we go ready or not!
DeenaI just purchased the fast Kingston card at zipzoomfly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=82238-1
no shipping , $20 rebate , 1GB, --> $52
I was afraid first when I read the comments here of people having very slow experiences with this card on the A2. Luckily this problem is not existent with the A200. It needs 10 seconds from exposure to fully saved for a RAW file. Test as suggested here elswhere .
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=82238-1
no shipping , $20 rebate , 1GB, --> $52
I was afraid first when I read the comments here of people having very slow experiences with this card on the A2. Luckily this problem is not existent with the A200. It needs 10 seconds from exposure to fully saved for a RAW file. Test as suggested here elswhere .
The card reader was recommended to me and I think it is a good idea. I just bought a USB 2.0 card reader for $15.90 including postage. It is supposed to be a lot faster. The A200 isn't a full USB 2.0, so the reader will be faster. It takes a while to d/l the pictures from my Canon G1 and they are a little less than 3 meg. The A200 will take even longer to d/l. This should be faster.
As for the car charger. Well, if we travel it is very convenient to use the car charger. I have enough batteries for the Canon camera that I really don't run out of juice, but it is handy to always have the batteries charged up. On vacation we may be away from electricity all day. Besides, the car charger is an AC/DC charger, it is a choice of whether to plug the AC or DC cord into the charger unit. Also, once in a while we may take the camper and stay somewhere that there isn't any electricity. So you can see it is convenient. Years ago in a national park I had to stay in the laundry room while my camcorder battery slowly charged up as there was no electricity in the campground. I guess I've had a phobia about no electricity and battery chargers since then.
As for the car charger. Well, if we travel it is very convenient to use the car charger. I have enough batteries for the Canon camera that I really don't run out of juice, but it is handy to always have the batteries charged up. On vacation we may be away from electricity all day. Besides, the car charger is an AC/DC charger, it is a choice of whether to plug the AC or DC cord into the charger unit. Also, once in a while we may take the camper and stay somewhere that there isn't any electricity. So you can see it is convenient. Years ago in a national park I had to stay in the laundry room while my camcorder battery slowly charged up as there was no electricity in the campground. I guess I've had a phobia about no electricity and battery chargers since then.
Oh, yes, couldn't they just include all the accessories??? It was
time consuming enough to wade through all the reviews to decide
which camers to buy!
I went ahead and ordered the Scandisk and Nikon EN-EL1 from
Amazon.com - It worked out a little cheaper since I didn't have to
pay for shipping.
Why are you buying a car charger? For trips without electrical
access? And the card reader is for ?
Well, here we go ready or not!
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