Sony A200: Entry DSLR Roundup
by Wesley Fink on October 20, 2008 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Sony A200 vs. Nikon D60 vs. Canon 40D
It is widely known that the Nikon D60 utilizes the same Sony 10.2MP CCD sensor used in the Sony A200/A300 and the Pentax K200D. Any differences you might find between image quality of the A200 and D60 will therefore reflect the differences in processing electronics employed by each camera maker and perhaps the differences in the lenses used on each camera when the image was captured.
The 10.1MP Canon D40 uses the Canon CMOS sensor. The sensor size is the same as the Canon XS/XTi but the D40 does extend to ISO 3200, unlike the XS/XTi. Therefore all three cameras in this comparison reach from ISO 100 to ISO 3200.
| ISO Comparison - Sony A200 vs. Canon 40D vs. Nikon D60 | |||
| ISO | Sony A200 | Canon 40D | Nikon D60 |
| 100 |  |
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| 200 |  |
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| 400 |  |
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| 800 |  |
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| 1600 |  |
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| 3200 |  |
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Click on any of the above image crops for the full image. Note: Full size images are between 3.1MB and 5.4MB! |
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It should not come as a surprise that the performance of the Sony A200 and Nikon D60 are all but the same in these noise tests. They are, after all, essentially the same sensor with different post capture electronics. What may come as a surprise is how very close the CMOS sensor Canon D40 results are to these two entry models. All three cameras capture very usable images with little difference among the results to ISO 1600. It is interesting that sharpening is also similar to ISO 800, but at ISO 1600 the Canon image is softer, which is one of the techniques used to reduce the appearance of noise.
By ISO 3200 the extra softening in the 40D is very apparent, with the consumer Nikon showing the greatest sharpness and the Sony A200 somewhere in between. If we adjust sharpness to comparable levels among the three cameras at ISO 3200 results are very close, but we would not choose any of these cameras at ISO 3200 for large prints, though all should be fine for 4x6 snapshots and small prints.
These results are a testament to how much the DSLR market has evolved in the last couple of years. For a long time Canon CMOS sensors were the clear resolution and low-noise leader in the market. Sony sensors have evolved quite a lot in the meantime and that Canon advantage is no longer so obvious.
The Canon warm Tungsten balance is still obvious. The Nikon colors are very slightly warm but acceptable and the Sony colors appear to be the most neutral is this side-by-side. The Sony A200 results are hard to fault in these JPG crops to ISO 1600, but we still think there is too much "edge-noise" in the Sony at ISO 3200 compared to the Canon or Nikon.
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deathwalker - Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - link
Broadway Photo has the A200 kit for $321..great deal.strikeback03 - Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - link
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Broadway_Phot...">http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Broadway_Phot...good luck with that. Here is what they look like:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0006.h...">http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0006.h...
and
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0049.h...">http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0049.h...
AkumaX - Friday, October 24, 2008 - link
It's hard to decide which camera to go for the coveted Entry Level DSLR position. Plenty of friends consider Canon or Nikon as the major players, and own either one.Having the opportunity to pick up the A200K for $413 shipped/no tax from SonyRewards last June helped factor in that decision. As a person who had zero experience or knowledge of the SLR domain, this was quite a gamble.
So for the past 4 months, haven taken over 8000 pictures (in RAW), and been to 2 foreign countries, this was definitely worth the investment. The biggest thing Sony has going for them is the backwards compatibility of the Minolta AF lens line.
I picked up a 50mm f/1.7 + 70-210mm f/4 (the "beercan") off CraigsList, since these seem to be "the" lenses to get. Having researched throughout these past few months about aperture, ISO, crop factor, etc... I'll probably pick up a 28mm f/2.8 also.
All in all, the Sony A200K offers a lot: 18-70mm kit lens - bigger than the rest, Minolta AF (Maxxum) Lens backwards compatibility, and plenty of alpha-based accessories. This one seems like a winner.
What am I doing? --> blog.anandtech.com/manthisiswhathappenswhenyoucantsleepandramble
cafmike1 - Monday, April 19, 2010 - link
I am waiting on the replacement SLR for the Nikon D90 herehttp://www.cameta.com/Nikon-D90-Digital-SLR-Camera...
Does anyone know when this thing is going to be announced?
Wineohe - Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - link
Hmm. I'm more critical of the ISO performance of the Sony A200. It just doesn't seem that good above 800. The Nikon and Olympus are decent and the Canon is affected by some softness and chromatic aberrations at all ISO settings, something that I attribute to it's junk lens. Given a better lens it would probably show it's stuff, but this is a budget comparison and that would be unfair. I wish Canon would spend even $3 more on making their cheapo 18-55.In general all of these camera packages boarder on being just too much of a compromise. However as I mentioned above the Olympus and the Nikon come close to being acceptable. Frankly I really don't care how many features the camera has if the output is just mediocre. An adequately equipped body with a step up lens is far better advise.
Heidfirst - Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - link
shoot RAW & pp. Sony's jpeg engine isn't the greatest.strikeback03 - Thursday, October 23, 2008 - link
I'd agree for higher level bodies, but the distinction probably isn't relevant for most consumers at the $500 price point.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - link
The Canon lens used for testing was their excellent 50mm f1.4, so you can't blame the results on a cheapo lens. All of the tests used 50mm f1.4 primes execpt the Olympus where a 35mm macro was used because of the 2x lens factor. ALL these lenses are in the best part of their resolution curves at f/4, which was a requirement.Snapshots and regular images published in our reviews do use the kit lens, but not our noise tests.
Wineohe - Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - link
Oooh, my bad, I missed that. I actually have a 50mm f1.4 that I use occasionally on my 5D. It struggles in low light but otherwise is a fine lens. I was convinced the characteristics were that of poor optic since they seem to exist at low or high gain. Now I'm left scratching my embarrassed head. So much for the XS, it is getting long in the tooth.haplo602 - Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - link
I think you are using a few features in the A200 that are not even used by the buyers in this price range.wireless flash ... I mean come on ... what is the lowest priced Sony external flash that will work with this ? I found the HVL-F42AM as the lowest level model for about 1/2 the price of the A200 kit. No entry level DSRL user will shell out that much money for external flash, they will buy a better body in the first place.
generaly the people getting into this class DSLRs come from the P&S user group. They will still compose mostly with live view, so number of AF points is irelevant. Anyway what's the performance of the 9 focus points ? Only center one is a cross sensor ? Then the other ones will be a source of frustration for the P&S crowd in most conditions :-)