Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200

Half a grand is a lot of
money for a digital
compact camera these
days, especially when you can pick
up a digital SLR for only a hundred
pounds or so more. So Konica
Minolta has bestowed the A200
with a range of features designed
to sway the enthusiast choosing
between a convenient compact
and a powerful SLR.
The sensor is a 2/3-inch
8-megapixel CCD and the lens is a
mechanically-linked zoom ranging
from a generous 28mm wide angle
to a creditable 200mm equivalent.
And if that gets your hands
twitching with excitement, you’ll be
pleased to hear that it has an antishake
CCD-shift mechanism.
The A200 has a lot in common
with the A2 launched last spring,
and it’s based on a chassis that can
be tracked back to the venerable
DiMAGE 7 in 2001. There’s plenty
here to interest anyone who’s
owned and loved its predecessors.
For a start, the A200 is 60g
lighter and 5mm shorter than the
A2, combining a reliable solidity
with a sensible and well-balanced
layout. The main screen is now
a fully fl exible fl ip-out LCD for
framing at almost any angle, and it
has 20,000 more pixels to boot.
Although 1.8 inches is far
from over-sized these days, the
screen has a good refresh rate
and works well both outdoors
and in moderately dim lighting.
In common with many screens, it
stutters and blurs if you try to focus
while panning. This problem isn’t
helped by the A200’s old-fashioned
sluggish shutter delay – as much
as two seconds, even in nonchallenging
conditions.

One step back

Weirdly, the EVF is a step back
from the megapixel model of the
A2, now boasting just 235,000
pixels. Neither screen is really sharp
enough to make the most of the
A200’s manual focus mode that
zooms into the centre of the frame
to ‘help’ you focus. The continuous
focusing function is useful for
fast-moving subjects, although the
side-mounted and recessed focus
button is harder to fi nd than the
A2’s fi nger-friendly slider.
Focus features don’t end there.
There’s the option of wide area
focusing, a choice of 12 focus zones
and a fl exible spot-focus point that
can be plonked anywhere in the
frame. Low light auto-focusing is
the only unreliable aspect of this
impressive system.
The GT lens has hardly changed
over the past few years – and that’s
far from a bad thing. It’s optically
sharp, much less prone to wideangle
distortion and chromatic
aberration (purple fringing) than
rival lenses and, best of all, it’s
mechanically linked. That means no
power-draining whine as you zoom
in; just a quick fl ick of the wrist zips
you from one extreme to the other.
You can enter the macro mode at
either 28mm or (helpfully) 200mm
equivalent, although a closest focus
of just 25cm is a long way from the
best we’ve seen.
Handling is good, thanks to an
array of dedicated buttons. There’s
a main mode dial, an exposure
lock button and a four-way pad for
access to white balance presets and
exposure (or fl ash) compensation.
A Func button makes it simple to
tweak sensitivity, colour fi lters,
fl ash settings and metering modes,
although you do have to delve into
the clear menu structure to change
image size and quality.
In any but the Auto and Scene
modes, you can take control over
aperture and shutter settings with
the front-mounted control dial
(and Shift button). The screen
gives visual feedback of under- or
over-exposure in manual mode. The
built-in fl ash is completely manual,
and will always fi re when pulled up.
Although great for longer distances,
it’s over-powered for close-ups.
Fill-fl ash portraits, for example, look
better with the power dialled down
to minimum output (-2EV).

Maximum movies

Shooting speed is pretty dire,
affected by a ponderous shutter
delay and noticeable processing
times (especially at Fine or Extra
Fine quality). The continuous mode
snaps off fi ve frames in about two
seconds, but you still have that
processing lag at the end. The A200
has upped the stakes in movie
clips once more, and it’s capable of
capturing video at 800 x 600 pixels.
Still images are very good, with
plenty of detail and excellent
exposure. Colours tend to be subtle
rather than explosively in your
face, but skin tones are lovely and
smooth. Noise is completely absent
at ISO 50, and only starts to muscle
in at ISO 400. Contrast is excellent,
and the anti-shake mechanism
delivers a good extra stop or two
over unstabilised images.
The A200 is small, light and
competent, with an excellent
lens and 8MP images that are
as good as any of its rivals. The
only caveat might be its slow
shooting speed and poor low light
focusing, but it’s defi nitely worth a
road test.