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Details at a glance
Megapixels: 7.2
Optical Zoom: 3x
Digital Zoom: 6x
LCD screen: 2inch
Storage: MS, MSPro
Size: 104(w) x 51.5(h) x 28(d)
Weight: 180g
We clicked with
The size is just right to allow the features and fit in a pocket
The excellent picture quality
Long battery life
Shots in the dark
Considering the size, i'm not sure there are any
Buy it and enjoy it
Links
More Sony information
www.sony.co.uk
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A refreshing change here, as the P200 is an improvement to the model it replaces, the P150, without wholesale change for change's sake. The body has been mildly smoothed over but retains the distinctive shape and the aluminium case and metal buttons lend a solid, professional air.
At 7.1 megapixels this is a more serious camera than Sony's T series, which concentrate on being as small as possible. When you're done shooting, the zoom lens (Carl Zeiss as usual) retracts into the case, so this camera will fit in a jacket or handbag without much difficulty, and it's still large enough to have many of the features found on larger cameras. No lens cap to lose either.
There are benefits from not being ultra-small as well. The battery can be charged without having to remove it from the camera and it can fit the Cyber-shot docking station (optional). The door covering the combined battery and memory stick compartment is a solid, spring-loaded affair, and the battery is man enough to deliver 190 minutes recording time, that's up to 370 stills.
Handy cam
The smooth rounded end of the P200 fits snugly into the hand and one-handed operation is possible, albeit somewhat prone to shaking, so two hands are often better. One of the improvements over the P150 is a larger LCD screen; it's now two inches and easy to see except in the strongest of daylight, which is true of most LCD screens so it's hardly a major criticism. Happily the P200 accommodates an optical viewfinder which will of course reliably do the job.
In common with other Sony cameras the action and pre-shot processing is very fast, with particularly short shutter lag, so you're less likely to miss out on that important shot. The flash is rather underwhelming in comparison, not that it's bad, but a more powerful one would be welcome. Again Sony seem to be aware of the limitation as there is an optional slave flash which bolts on and interacts with the built-in unit, this could be worth considering if you need more range or diffusion.
The 3x optical zoom has a very nice action, smooth and quiet, and combined with 6x digital zoom there's a maximum 14x in 'Smart Zoom' mode. When filming video this can produce very dramatic images. There are three video modes from 640x480 at 30fps to 160x112 at 8.3fps and the microphone is now on the top of the camera body (the P150 had it at the front), which appears to be more effective.
See the quality
If all you want to do is leave it in automatic and point and shoot, this camera will deliver excellent photos. There's a fairly wide set of manual adjustments though some are buried in the menu system and take a lot of finding; here the documentation could be better at making it all a bit more obvious.
As well as manual shutter control, from 30 to 1/1000sec, and a selection of aperture settings, there are five white balance presets. Aperture and shutter speed are among the data displayed on the display and it will also tell you how far you're getting away from its idea of optimum exposure. Manual focus is limited to five fixed settings rather than the full range.
For a halfway house between fully automatic and getting down and dirty there's 9 scene modes which will optimise the settings for a particular scenario such as 'Snow', 'Candlelight', 'Twilight' etc. Some of these have long shutter speeds and the P200 sensibly allows a standard tripod mount on the base.
Round-up
Some enthusiasts will want more manual control than is offered here, but for that you need a larger and more expensive camera. Whether you go manual or automatic the picture quality is excellent for a camera of this size. Strictly controlled tests show some pincushion and barrel distortion at the extremes of tele and wide angle, and noise on large blocks of colour at more sensitive settings, though this in particular is minimal at worst. But none of these will show up easily in pictures taken by the majority of users, and this represents a distinct step up in picture quality from the T series cameras.
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Ease of use 
Functions 
Value for Money
Overall 
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This is a superb go-anywhere camera which takes top quality photos and at the moment it can be found at a very reasonable price too. |
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