Minolta A200 update

smilie,
originally uploaded by mcmrbt.

Older readers may be surprised to learn that I've decided to keep the Minolta A200, it being the dozenth camera I've had on test over the past couple of years.

The killer feature is the anti-shake mechanism, which is fantastically good. I've tried anti-shake models before, both from Minolta and Canon, but this particular model does it justice. This picture was taken with a shutter speed of 1/20 of a sec, hand-held, and I've taken others with even slower speed with good results (see the flickr photostream for more). Being able to take pictures indoors without a flash or a tripod is exactly what I want.

The downside, it's a bit bulky, especially compared to the compact yet excellent F300 I'm now selling on. But as I said to B last night, sooner or later she'll be getting a new phone, and that phone will certainly have a camera incorporated, and that will probably do as far as camera-in-your-pocket is concerned.

Meanwhile, I can take the photos I want to take around the house. Discovered last night that on "ultra high speed continuous" mode the A200 can take 40 (count 'em) frames in what seems like a couple of seconds (it's supposed to be 10 frames ps, but feels faster), which is going to be great fun when the kids are running about in the spring sunshine.

Photography