The A200 Has Arrived And It's A Beauty!

For less than $30US for camera and shipping. It came with the original box, USB cable, lens shade, never-opened neck strap, never-opened AV cable, never-used remote, Toshiba 1GB CF card, Ulead disc as well as some reading material and never-filled-out registration card. There is hardly a scratch on it! The numbering had been reset so I haven't a clue as to the number of shots it has taken.

There is one problem though. When the camera is first turned on it makes a repetitive clicking sound and the image shakes rapidly in either the LCD or EVF for about 2 seconds, then stops. Right after that, when the shutter is half depressed for focus lock, the image shifts slightly to the left. After all this the camera works perfectly, until the camera is turned off and turned back on, which starts the whole issue again. My thought is that it has something to do with the CCD shifting (Anti-Shake). I hope that is the case, as if it goes completely out, I should still be able to shoot....just without IS.

The firmware is v101, so I guess that's the latest. However, it looks like certain items have been removed from the KM support site now. I had to obtain the manual elsewhere.

I just purchased an A2 ($22US) and hope it is as good or better shape. I know there isn't much traffic on this forum but I will add my little slice of photos here and there.

Beautiful pictures!
The Minolta A200 is a great compact camera, and Minolta's JPG engine was the best.
Happy shooting!

Sound definitely like an issue with the AS. There is a button for the AS on the back of the camera, left side, near the EVF.  It has a hand on it. If it stays red, the AS has a problem. You can use the button to disable the AS.

There is also a menu setting that operates on the AS: it can be found in Setup Menu #4: Anti Shake. You can set it to Display and Exposure (so it is always on), or Exposure only. Unfortunately, there is no OFF option here.

Good luck with the A2 as well. It is a powerful little camera, I still have mine.

Happy shooting!

Enjoy your camera , at $30 you can't really complain , but I would look for another in full working order .

At the long end of the zoom or in lower light , image stabilisation really helps .

This camera shines at the lower ISO's and I shoot mine in RAW .

Current software get's the best out of these old sensors , more than their old JPEG engines could do .

The firmware update can still be downloaded from here ; https://www.touslesdrivers.com/index.php?v_page=23&v_code=9122

It's main thing to enable CF cards with a higher capacity than 4 GB to be used .

If you cannot find the latest firmware for the A2 (IIRC 1.14), I most likely still have it in my computer archives. It is the European version (1.14u). So just let me know if you need it.

Hike Pics wrote:

Thanks for the link but it seems to just go to the KM pages that say "Can't Be Reached". That's OK as my A200 is using v1.01 firmware. I hope my A2 will have the latest firmware when it arrives, I may not be able to find it now.

I hope to take a few RAW shots this weekend. I haven't been good at working with RAW files in the past but I'll keep trying.

The link comes up with a seperate window when you click on download .

In this window are three links to seperate servers .

The Minolta server is a dead link , but the other 2 servers still have it backed up on them .

It's still there , Download it while you can .

I have the firmware updates for the other models as well in case their needed at a later date .

If you have a need for tethered shooting , I have DiMage Capture for the DiMage A1 & A2 cameras .

I've never noticed vignetting like that with my A200 .

At wide angle there's sometimes a bit showing in the blue sky on a landscape shot , having the hood on or off makes no difference .

The only time I've seen it with cameras that use this lens is if it has a wider rimmed filter on it ( rather than a low profile filter ) .

.

If I get chance when I'm out on Wednesday I'll take mine out and take some sample shots and post the results to see if there's a difference .

I took the A200 out today to do a couple of sample shots , turned out at its widest angle , full open , there is a small amount of vignetting that can be seen with a blue sky .

Nothing that a few seconds in Lightroom can't fix .

Stopped down a bit and it's all gone anyway and as it tends to show up more on a blue sky of a landscape where you tend to shoot stopped down anyway , not a problem .

Stopped down a bit , no vignetting .

Wide open , just a bit of vignetting .

2 seconds in lightroom and it's all clear .

And seeing as it's a nice sunset , one showing good flair control with a colourful sky .

I realise now on your test shot what's causing the vignetting .

Notice that it is very strong at the top of the frame and clear at the bottom ?

If it was lens vignetting , a deep mounted filter causing it or the wrong lens shade , then vignetting would be the same on all four corners .

The Anti Shake being faulty gives it away .

The rods that move the sensor has jammed it towards the bottom of the camera meaning the sensor's below the lenses projected  image .

Don't forget the image is inverted by the lens , so the top of the picture is at the bottom of the sensor .

It's possible the camera has been dropped to cause it .

Dropping onto a carpeted floor might not have marked the camera but could have damaged the A/S unit .

Given the current price of these cameras I'd buy another one .

Can this one not be returned as it's faulty ?

.

If it was my camera , and I was keeping it , I'd turn the camera upside down ( hotshoe down ) and strike it hard against my other hand to see it it would jolt the sensor back into position .

This wouldn't fix the A/S unit , but might ( just might ) jolt it back into position .

As the camera is , I would consider it scrap , so nothing to lose . YMMV .

Hike Pics wrote:

Michael, thanks for your info. I have an A2 that should arrive this week. I'm crossing my fingers it is in good working condition.

The issue with the A200 vibration at startup has to do with the camera's self-diagnostic function. The AS icon on the screen is always displayed in red, even when the green ((HAND)) button is pressed. I tried shooting in 3:2 ratio but it still happened however, not as bad.

Even if the camera had an "OFF" setting in the menu for AS, this problem would still occur as it's part of the diagnostic routine. As it is I can (1) not use wide angle, (2) crop or maybe PP the image top in wide angle shots or (3) open the camera and try to find a solution. Replacement AS mechanisms were available back in the day from Sony. I haven't seen one but if I did I'm sure it would be pricey!

4:3 wide