KM A200??

[dina_nel]

Iﾒm an amateur photographer looking at upgrading my current camera.

SLR's are out of budget range, so I have had a keen interest in the

KM A200.

I have read numerous reviews and the apparent lack of the auto focus

working 100% all the time seems to be a problem. I have also read

about the problems that have occured with saving the pics to the

memory card.

Are these just minor problems, or should I avoid the camera?

Are there any other cameras that could be suggested in the same

price range, or would the KM A200 be suitable for an amateur even

with its "short comings".

Is the A2 still available, as this seems to be a better camera than

the A200?

[dave_redmann]

<I>SLR's are out of budget range, so I have had a keen interest in the KM A200.</I><P>

 

Incorrect. If you can afford a KM A200, you can afford a Maxxum 5D kit. I just checked the B&H web site, and the A200 is $550; the Maxxum 5D kit (with the 18-70 lens) is $600, or $630 with a SanDisk Ultra II 1 GB CF card (which is a great deal--the card alone is normally $90). So for less than 10% more than the cost of the A200, you can get the 5D kit. And even with the A200, you will need a memory card, so really, the price difference is even less.<P>

 

I have not used the A200, but I suspect that, on the whole, you will find the 5D to be a much more capable camera. The kit lens is not great, but you can upgrade later, as you get the money.

[jon_sak]

Everybody here quotes B&H as the pricing gospel. Yes $629 USD is a good deal for a 5D with the 18-70mm and 1GD flash card. But $549 for an a200 is an awful deal. I have seen retail chains and online dealers sell it for under $500. Also if you go used you can find some good clean a200's for closer to $400. I would say the A200 is a better deal if you can get a price for under $500 because it has a f2.8 at the wide 28mm and anti-shake. The 5D is f3.5 with the included zoom lens. You have to decide if you need iso above 400, faster autofocus and interchangeble lenses beacuse these are the main advatages of the 5D. Depending on what you shoot you can definately use the A200 under iso 200 and get similar results to the 5D. I am primarily a nikon user for digital and I would recommend the nikon 8800 if you want a prosumer camera like the A200 with anti shake. Nikon has a better flash system, metering and white balance options than minolta in my opinion. But the 5d is good for the built in antishake, with nikon D50 you need a VR lens to get anti-shake. Also at this time the DSLR market is going to get some interesting products comming out in 2006 from olymous/panasonic and minolta/sony. I would wait to see what they bring out as it could quickly devalue DSLR's that are out there right now if you intend to resell. A used A200 or nikon 8800 will always have ludite buyers on ebay etc. They are not going to get much cheaper than they are right now, so I suspect you might be able to near break even on a resale of an a200 or 8800.

[paul_r6]

Consider depth of field. To play really with DOF, you need a SLR camera. I have KM A200 and I'm very dissapointed that the influence of the aperture on DOF is very poor.

[ilkka]

the need for depth of field depends on the subject. Portraits often benefit from narrow DOF and then SLR with its larger image sensor is the way to go. But landscapes often require large DOF and then the digicam is actually superior to an SLR in this respect.