A walk with the Dimage A200

With the easing of lockdown restrictions and recovery from illness (not the dreaded covid-19), I finally managed to get a walk in the sunshine today. I decided to take the A200.

Cathedral across the fields. Zoom to 200 mm equivalent.

The woodshed. zoom to 135 mm equiv.

Dappled shade in the churchyard.

High and dry.

I continue to be very pleased with the compactness and versatility of this camera: still delivers the goods after all these years.

Nice set of shots .

Looks like you had a nice day out .

I still like to use my a200 as it's a good versatile camera ( still ) .

What area is this ?

Chichester Harbour near Fishbourne. The church is St Mary at Apuldram, about 150 yards from the shore.

Beautiful area you live in!
Loved the pictures, thanks for sharing.
The A200 was my favourite compact for many years - that flexible screen was pretty useful,and 28-200 mm covers most things.

Hope you are fully well soon!

Regards,

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your comments.

I take your point regarding the Sony RX10: when it came out in 2014 I thought it was like an A200 on steroids – but it was also eye-wateringly expensive. Used prices are still very strong. I will stick with my old A200 with all its shortcomings.

Michael Fritzen wrote:

Hi,

nice pics showing the nice colours for which I also liked my A2 quite a lot.

Recently I've re-processed several of my A2 files and it's bright 28-200 lens helds its own over quite some time.

But then the Sony RX10 came - under several aspects a real successor with it's equally bright constant f/2,8 lens and with even more range at the wide end. And the best thing: it's similar compact, has a bigger sensor and much lower noise and better high ISO performance.

How do the Sony RX10 and Minolta A2 compare in size , side to side ?

The pictures I've seen if the RX10 make it look quite big , like the Sony R1 from 15 or so years back .

I still use the Minolta A2 & a200 because if their size when I'm out with my large format gear and don't want to take a DSLR .

If the RX10 was small enough I might be tempted .

1. Brian Chichester wrote:

Chichester Harbour near Fishbourne. The church is St Mary at Apuldram, about 150 yards from the shore.

It's been many years since I was down that was .

Being on business at the time I didn't get much if a chance to have a good walk around though.

Certainly seems a nice part of the country .

I'm up in Manchester , so a lot if my travels tend to be around North Wales or the Yorkshire Dales .

Michael Fritzen wrote:

Too bad that my A2 had to go when I got my RX100Mk1 in 2012.

This cam already convinced my in IQ - not that much in handling though. And its zoom range from 28-100 only was sort of a step back.

So when the RX10Mk1 came out I felt "almost in heaven"

That cam turned out to be my true 2nd cam besides the bigger gear. But I never had the opportunity to see them side by side. From pure feeling I'd say the body dimensions should be pretty close. The lens of the RX10 though is definitely bigger diameter (A2 was 49mm filter thread IIRC) and the RX10 is huge 62mm. And it's heavier, more glass, pretty likely due to the range (24-200mm) and, more important, due to the bigger sensor. It's Zeiss badged optics against the Minolta G badge - and I'd dare to say, the Zeiss wins. The 1" type sensor and the lens just fit perfectly, excellent IQ.

What I really like on the RX10 is the aperture ring on the lens barrel. Feels simply right there, also in operation which is clicked, even if it is "faked" because fly-by-wire. Sadly the lens zoom is electrical only (barrel or top-rocker). Now EVF and LCD are just more advanced than the A2/A200. I'm not much into video but the RX10 plays here also in another league than the A2/A00 - of course tech has advanced since the lauch of the RX10.

Now in a view back, it's a bit sad that Sony didn't rework the RX10 up to now based on the 24-200 lens. The cam would have deserved the all goodies concerning AF (AF speed; tracking) that can be found in the Mk4. No doubt, the Mk4 (as the Mk3) is an excellent allrounder and travel cam - but sometimes the bulk and weight caused by its 24-600 lens is just too much.

Thank you for this very useful review of the Sony RX10. I, too, am looking for a replacement for my A200, and the RX10 seems the logical one to get.

Regards,

I'm a little sad that this thread went so fast from being a celebration of the A200 to being a discussion of its replacement.

I have no concrete plans in this regard, but if my A200 were to fail and there was no like-for-like replacement available, top of my list would probably be the Olympus Stylus 1.

It's not the same, but then neither is the Sony.

Brian Chichester wrote:

I'm a little sad that this thread went so fast from being a celebration of the A200 to being a discussion of its replacement.

I have no concrete plans in this regard, but if my A200 were to fail and there was no like-for-like replacement available, top of my list would probably be the Olympus Stylus 1.

It's not the same, but then neither is the Sony.

Not necessarily a replacement .

I have a NEX 7 that I also use and a Pentax Q for a truly pocketable camera , so it just depends what I want at the time .

I have no need to use my older cameras , other than I enjoy using them .

Regarding if your a200 died and you need a replacement .

Just get another .

They tend to sell on eBay for about £25 - £30 at the moment .

That's exceptional value for money !

For a typical walk around on a nice sunny day I don't think they lack anything .

I have a couple if them , an A2 , 7hi , 7i & 7 .

The price they sell for , why not ?

Now's the time to pick up a spare .

Thanks Michael: that's a beautiful view and a great shot.

I think a large part of the appeal of the A2 and A200 is that 2/3" sensor - it hits a sweet spot for image quality and camera (and lens) size. Fujifilm also used it in the X10, 20, 30 cameras, which were (and are) very well thought of.

It seems to have been overtaken by the 1 inch sensor in today's compacts.