Ring Canon Eos

Ring Canon Eos

Sony A200

Sony, in comparison to the other brands, is a newcomer to dSLR cameras. It recently took over Minolta-Konicaâ€™s dSLR business, so things canâ€™t be as bad as some might expect. The Sony A200 is one of the cheaper offerings amongst the entry-level dSLRs in the market.

There is a 10.2 MP CCD sensor onboard the A200 and Sony bundles an 18â€“75 mm lens with the camera; this is a decent lens for medium distance photography. Itâ€™s not as powerful as the Nikonâ€™s 18â€“105 mm VR lens, but is a small step up from the 18â€“55 mm lens supplied with starter dSLRs from other brands. The focus ring is positioned on the outer edge of the lens body. It has a fine gear-teeth-like feel to it as you focus. Itâ€™s different from other lenses but some might find this distracting or awkward. It doesnâ€™t get in the way of functionality or performance, though.

The size also seems a tad larger than the EOS 400D and the EOS 1000D. Itâ€™s easily the heaviest of the entry-level dSLRs. The quality of the camera is pretty good, although it feels of plastic almost all over.

The display quality of the 2.7-inch LCD screen is average. Sony has brought in colourful menus to the dSLR and everything looks very user-friendly, but thereâ€™s little help to guide users through the menus. The buttons on the back for operating the camera are well considered. The direction key set, for example, lets you scroll through images diagonally. The buttons are flat, soft and effortless to use. But wear and tear on them through months of rough use might concern some.

The controls are placed in different areas of the camera and not cramped all together. This might be comfortable for use once you get used to this kind of layout, but it also means that you have to move your fingers all over the camera to access them. Itâ€™s probably not the most optimal layout. While dSLRs try to give users the quickest access to controls, the A200 has a few settings hidden away behind a Function button. These include the flash mode, metering and autofocus mode settings. Noise reduction features for ISO and long exposure shots are also present.

Weâ€™re quite impressed by the features and design effort that Sony has put into this entry-level dSLR. One such feature is a meter that measures the amount of movement while you are taking a photograph. A flashing indicator next to it warns you of it. The stabilization control is present as a simple slider on one corner of the camera and not on the lens. The stabilization is average, but just the warning is enough to get your attention and put that extra care into holding the camera steady.

The other very impressive feature is the flash. With almost everything automated, the flash is able to measure the light very accurately. We tried all kinds of shots with objects really close and some moderately far away. The amount of light fired is accurate and the backgrounds are rarely drowned in darkness. If you think that the flash on the Sony isnâ€™t sufficient, then you might face a problem. Sony uses a different flash-mount compared to Canon and Nikon, so purchasing a third-party flash might turn out to be a bit of a problem. It must be said that this mount feels more solid than the rest. The grip too is a little nicer than on the Canon cameras.

Image stabilisation is present on the camera and not on the lens with the Sony A200 Digital Cameras. A sensor detects your face in front of the eyepiece and then turns on the focussing and turns off the LCD, as with some of the other cameras. Those with high-definition TVs and monitors will be interested to know that this camera shoots at 16:9 aspect ratios. This means you donâ€™t have to go through the trouble of cropping every single photo manually or automating it using an image editor, which often can crop out areas of interest to you.

The camera isnâ€™t very fast and the drive speed at 3 frames per second is also not as impressive as the upper-end cameras, but it does easily make a match for other cameras of its category. The A200 uses CompactFlash memory and not Sonyâ€™s proprietary Memory Stick Duo like its point-and-shoot cameras.

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is the built in aperture ring on some telephoto/zoom lens important?

i looking out for a telephoto lens....need to know if the aperture ring provided on some lens, a prefered choice over the one's whithout it and why....?what is the best telephoto lens under $250 for my canon eos 400d...

You have a Canon EOS 400D (XTi). All EOS bodies are compatible with the EF series of Canon lenses and some EOS bodies (the 1.6x cropped like 10/20/30/300/350/400D) are compatible with the EF-S lenses.

AFAIK there are no EF lenses with aperture control on the lens and you DONT need it either. The Electro Optics System (EOS) camera body interfaces with the electronic focusing (EF) lens to electronically set the aperture. This means the camera will control the aperture in the Tv, P and Full Auto Modes and you can SET the aperture on the camera body in the Av, P and M modes. Just like you can set the shutter speed in the Tv, P and M modes.

So you don't need to fuss with the lens to set the aperture, its done electronically, internally and accurately. Also the third party lenses from Sigma, Tamron and Tokina that are EOS compatible also make use of the internal electronic system to set the aperture.

So its not even a question of which is better, you simply wont get (and dont need) a lens that needs to be manually adjusted externally to a desired aperture.

Best telephoto lens under $250 is a very tough question. You will get PLENTY of lenses in this price range going upto 300mm but you have to know their limitations.

In this price range you will not get a prime (fixed focal length). You will get consumer grade (not profressional grade) zooms. The most popular is the 75-300mm f/4-f/5.6 that is offered from Canon, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina too. However their optical quality and utility is limited. I think Sigma also has a 70-300mm if you want that extra 5mm reach.

The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.-5.6 III USM has an ultrasonic motor that focuses faster than the traditional MM. Although I donno how useful it it in this grade of lens.

There is another line of lens the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. This lens is in the $500 neighbourhood and its costs that much because it has image stabilization (IS). Its optical performance is better than the 75-300 III USM and it has the 3rd gen IS which will give you upto 3 stop advantage. Which means you can take a picture 3 shutter speeds or 3 aperture setting slower than what is metered.

In order to take advantage of such features you need to know your camera really well and know a bit about the science of photography.

Canon EOS - Erin Manning about the Rebel XSi / EOS 450D Camera setup 20/30