Upgrade Sony A200 or???

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beddows_s

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Hi All

Looking for a bit of advice really and a way to improve my shots. I currently have the Sony A200 with two kit lens ( 18-70 & 75-300 ). Reading reviews on dyxum etc I see that the 18-70 isn't that great a lens to start with, the 75-300 whilst not great is ok to start with. Up until recently I was happy with the camera however recently have had a couple of experiences where I'm not happy with the performance of my current kit. Mainly taking photos indoors requiring flash the camera is slow to respond and I find I'm missing the shot I want waiting for the flash to fire.

Is upgrading the body the way to go, had a look around and the A57 seems the best sort of bet for me. Or would the money be better spent getting a flash gun? and some better lenses. Have been recommended the Sony 16-50mm2.8 for example. Whilst not adverse to changing to another make etc I'm happy with Sony.

Many thanks for your help. I should say I'm mostly interested in taking wildlife, landscapes ( i know opposite ends of the spectrum ) but want to be able to do spur of the moment party shots as well really.

Scott
 
The A200 was my first dslr. It didn't take long before I moved on from it though, because of the lack of on body controls and the performance at higher ISO. But! I did have a couple of nice lenses that brought the best out of it. Look out for old minolta primes, like the brill 50mm f/1.7 - you should get one very cheap, and it works great with the A200. You won't believe the difference in image quality over your current lenses.

On the flash side of things, the trouble with older Sony models is you can't just use any old flash. The hot shoe is specifically designed for their own brand. You may, again, find an old minolta flash gun on ebay for cheap. Since you mostly like landscape and nature/wildlife, flash isn't a priority.

Can't advise on a decent zoom for it, I only had similar to the one you've got at the time. I remember there was a minolta 135mm that I was after, but in the end made the switch to Nikon before buying any other lenses.
 
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Thanks Cagey - will keep my eyes open for some minolta lenses.
Whilst i understand that good glass isn't a waste of money, like i mentioned I'm happy with Sony so can't see me changing to another manufacturer so any purchases now won't be wasted as I can use them later. With the A200 being so old I'm wondering if my money is better spent at the moment in getting a new body.
 
I had the A300 many moons ago which us same as the 200 except with live view.

I'd have to say get a new body. A57 is good. There's a lovely new a58 going in classifieds at the moment but i don't think you will have access yet.
 
beddows_s said:
Mainly taking photos indoors requiring flash the camera is slow to respond and I find I'm missing the shot I want waiting for the flash to fire.
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it sounds like it's struggling to achieve focus in v. poor light as otherwise it shouldn't be slow to fire using the pop-up.
Having said that bodies have come on quite a bit since the A200 & you would gain better high ISO, live view & video.

Cagey75 said:
On the flash side of things, the trouble with older Sony models is you can't just use any old flash. The hot shoe is specifically designed for their own brand.
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tbh this is true of all brands. You have to watch switching voltages & if you want automation you are stuck buying a "flash for xxx". There are plenty of cheap flash options for the iISO shoe.
 
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gadgeteer said:
There's a lovely new a58 going in classifieds at the moment but i don't think you will have access yet.
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Yeah unfortunately I cant access the classified yet. Missed the A57 at the Sony Outlet last night for £299.

No huge rush just trying to work out what the best way forward is. Looks like a body to start with and some lenses as and when i can pick them up.
 
I have an a57 with the 18-55 kit lens a 35mm 1.8 and the minolta 50mm 1.7 with a jessops 360 flash gun i can highly reccomend it its a great camera, but now iam yurning for a full frame camera and thinking of selling my sony. :(
 
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Another good option would be the A55. The body is a bit on the small side but the photos it took were excellent. That's what I upgraded to initially from my A300 and the leap in IQ was like night & day.

@DanOlive, yeah I hear you. I had the A77 and switched to a D700 to go full frame. I had been saving heavily for the A99 because I love/loved the SLT design but quite honestly I think Sony's pricing is simply out of step with their competition at the higher end of the market. The A77/A99 is way overpriced compared to it's Nikon equivalents.
 
gadgeteer said:
Another good option would be the A55. The body is a bit on the small side but the photos it took were excellent. That's what I upgraded to initially from my A300 and the leap in IQ was like night & day.

@DanOlive, yeah I hear you. I had the A77 and switched to a D700 to go full frame. I had been saving heavily for the A99 because I love/loved the SLT design but quite honestly I think Sony's pricing is simply out of step with their competition at the higher end of the market. The A77/A99 is way overpriced compared to it's Nikon equivalents.
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I agree love the slt design etc and yes the a99 is way overpriced, being tempted by a canon 6d on hewd for £1100 stick on a 50mm 1.4 and i will be in heaven.
 
An A57 or A58 would be better than the A200. Both come with the 18-55 which is a lot nicer than the 18-70.

For low light shooting on a smaller budget then there is the DT30mm macro from sony. There's one in the outlet for £99. F2.8 so a smidge faster but it is fixed focal length. The classic low light lens is the minolta 50mm 1.7. £70 from most places. Best lens on the planet.

I'm also hankering after the 16-50 f2.8 as well.
 
Cheers for the replies guys.

@danolive: I dont think I'll be yearning to go full frame any time soon. Whilst i enjoy the photography dont have enough time to warrant spending that much money. Might chat to you in the classfied sometime soon then :LOL:

@srichards: sorry for the noob question but whats the "outlet"?

Had both the A57 & A58 in my hands the other day. Like all things the internet can be very helpful and unhelpful. I'm sure i'd be more than happy with either but one review says one thing etc etc
 
Ah yes i was aware of the sony outlet, sorry didnt make the link.

No i hadn't seen that review previously. Bit of a mixed bag and not sure what i make of it to be honest. Mind you a search for the A57 revealed a response to the marketing release which wasn't very complimentary.
 
The A58 is pitched between the A37 & A57. From an A37 it's really quite an upgrade whereas from an A57 in some ways it's a downgrade.
However, it was meant to be the lowest of at least 3 new bodies this year & the ones above were canceled at a very late date which is why the range looks somewhat disjointed atm.
 
Ok thats great cheers. So the range at the moment would be something along the lines of A37, A58 (with the 580 somewhere in between), A57, A65 (different viewfinder and gps) A77.

All getting slightly confusing and that's without even looking at other manufactures!! I have no real preference to used, refurbished or new so will prob hold out for a good deal in the classified at some stage unless the outlet has another deal on the A57.
 
I have a Sony a77 & a65

Last week I WON an a58 with 18-55mm kit lens and from what I can see the camera performs very well- and it has 20.1 mega pixels all in all a nice camera, not quite up to my a77 & a65 though


Les (y)
 
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heidfirst said:
tbh this is true of all brands. You have to watch switching voltages & if you want automation you are stuck buying a "flash for xxx". There are plenty of cheap flash options for the iISO shoe.
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I was thinking Yongnuo flashes, but after looking it up seems they do have them to fit the older Sony models now. Not the case when I had the A200.
 
Cagey75 said:
I was thinking Yongnuo flashes, but after looking it up seems they do have them to fit the older Sony models now. Not the case when I had the A200.
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I have the Yongnuo 560-II for use with my A900 - it's a great flash for the money, though it is manual only.
 
I have the original 560 and use it with my D800, they're great flashes for the price. And manual control never bothered me. I have an sb900 that's giving me all kinds of issues and they're about 5x more expensive. Nothing wrong with cheapies :)
 
keep tabs on ebay, dyxum, outlet and here

and yes the 1650 is nice, I have one :)
a low f number lens like 1.8 or 1.7 would be good, the 1.4 go for over 100quid, I don't like the bokeh on it though. For low light use. I'd say 35mm or so for indoor use, 50mm is too much narrow.

if you get a body with focus peaking, you can get some good m42 lenses cheap, but manual focus and apature, and the fun of adapters. But its more stasisfying :)
 
beddows_s said:
All getting slightly confusing and that's without even looking at other manufactures!! I have no real preference to used, refurbished or new so will prob hold out for a good deal in the classified at some stage unless the outlet has another deal on the A57.
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The best deal in the Sony outlet IMO - if your budget can make it - has been the refurb A77 + 16-50F2.8 kit at £699. At least a couple of these have popped up but they go within hours.

Sony are in a bit of a mess at the moment. Range is inconsistent and the A58 and A99 have the new flash shoe while the A37/A57/A65/A77 have the old flash shoe.

And it's generally assumed there's going to be yet another hiatus while they change the range for the third time. (DSLRs A100/200/700/850/900 transition to Live View DSLR A3XX/A5XX transition to SLT A3X/5X/^X/7X/9X).
 
Have been out and about at lunchtime playing with a number of models in my hand and getting a better idea of whats there. Looked at both the A57 and A58 in a bit more detail, what struck me was if I'm upgrading and buying something with liveview and a movable screen on the back I'd like to have the benefit of being able to make the most of that feature. With that in mind I've decided against the A58 as that only moves in one plane whereas the A57 and similar have scope of move in two planes and potentially give you a better range of options. I don't know if i'd need this feature but have decided i'd rather have it now than regret not having it later. ( having just come back from Cambodia I can see how the extra range of movement on the A57 screen would have been advantageous over the A58 ).

@Dryce yes the budget could stretch that far it would just mean i wouldn't buy any complimentary lenses at the same time but rather save that for a later day.

The local camera shop mentioned Metz flashes, in particular the 36. Don't worried about having an old flash shoe or such like as at the end of the day you might not be able to get the most up to date add-on but others have compatible options for the older shoe.
 
The lens on the A77 if a 16-50 is £499 on its own so camera is practically free if they're doing the pair for 699! I'll be keeping a beady on the outlet when I've saved up :)
 
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