Sony Alpha A200

Reader Rating:

Verdict

A capable, compact and fully-features SLR that’s particularly handy for beginners. Word.

Launch Price

£370

Unlike an Alfa Romeo, the Sony A200 is one Alpha that won’t leave you cursing from the side of the M25 at rush hour. If you’re in the market for a budget digital SLR, then this is probably the place to start.

Strutting into the cheapo-DSLR market with a 10-megapixel sensor, it’s actually the other features onboard that makes it stand out from the crowd. Most importantly, there’s Super SteadyShot which, as the name suggests, counteracts that worst of photographer afflictions – wobbleyhanditis. It works really well, allowing you to take handheld shots at much slower exposures than normal.

The body is sleek and compact, if a bit plasticky, but well built and comfortable. The 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD, meanwhile, rotates when you tilt the camera (a bit like the screen on an iPod does when you flip it through 90 degrees).

On the downside noise begins to creep into pictures at around 800 ISO, although the noise-reduction feature does go someway to resolving this. It also copes well with tricky lighting conditions and “Automatic” mode delivers well-exposed photos.

Certainly not one for the professional photographer, but the Sony Alpha A200 is packed with features and has an astoundingly low price for a DSLR. Ready to move up from a compact? This is a top budget option.