On the top of the handgrip is the Exposure Mode Dial (Manual, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, Program AE, AUTOmatic, Memory Recall, Portrait, Sports, Beach/Sea and Night Portrait). Just behind the shutter release is the Control Dial. Around the On/Off power button is the Mode Switch (Recording mode, Playback mode and Movie). The small button is the Drive Mode selector (Single-frame, 2- or 10-sec Self-timer, Remote control, Exposure or WB bracketing, Continuous advance).

On the back edge is the "i+" button, this controls the amount of data that is overlayed on the live image displayed on either the EVF or the LCD monitor. The AEL button allows you to lock the exposure and reframe the shot.

On the back is Anti-Shake (green hand) button to enable or disable the image stabilization system. To the right of the viewfinder is the EVF/LCD control switch to selects the active display. The Magnifying Glass "-" and "+" buttons are used to control the digital zoom in record mode and image zoom/index in review mode. The FUNCtion button calls up the onscreen menu to change ISO speed, color mode, flash mode, color filter, color saturation and image sharpness. The 4-way selector lets you navigate menus and select images during playback, the button in the center accepts menu selections. In record mode press "Up" for exposure and flash compensation and "Down" to change White Balance settings. The button below and left of the 4-way lets you quickly view the last image captured, press it a second time to delete the image. The MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus.

On the side is the AF/MF focus mode selection button with options for: Single-shot AF, Continuous AF or Manual focus. Below that is the SHIFT button which is used for various functions in conjunction with other buttons and modes.

On the back of the camera is a jack for the optional AC power adapter or optional external battery pack. A combination Audio-Video Out port to connect the A200 to a TV set for image and movie playback. The audio is monoraul and the video is user-selectable for NTSC or PAL format. This connector is also for the USB cable to transfer data to your computer.

Note the USB port is specified as USB 2.0 but is only rated "Full-Speed" which means USB 1.1 speed of up to 10mbps -- this is 2004 and all cameras should be equipped with High-Speed (54mbps) USB 2.0 ports, especially 8-megapixel prosumer level cameras. The A200 is PictBridge compatible, the USB cable may be plugged directly into most modern photo printers without need of a computer.

The DiMAGE A200 is equipped with a CompactFlash Type II card slot and is compatible with CF Type I and II cards and Microdrives. The camera ships with no card. I'd recommend using at minimum of a 512MB size card and a fast 1GB (or larger) card is preferred.

The A200 is FAT-16 & FAT-32 compatible and operates with any capacity CF Type I or II device. Konica Minolta has posted a 7/5/2005 firmware v1.0.1 upgrade that allows the A200 to work with CF cards that exceed 4GB. The 8-megapixel images consume a lot of storage space as you can see from the following chart:

The A200 is powered by a NP-800 7.4v 800mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery. Minolta supplies the small BC-900 rapid charger, it replenishes a fully depleted battery in about 80 minutes. This is a much smaller battery with half the capacity of the NP-400 used in the A2 and A1 models. Interesting to note that the NP-800 is functionally and physically identical to Nikon's EN-EL1.

Approximate number of recorded images: 260 frames with fully charged NP-800 battery using the EVF or LCD monitor (conforming to CIPA standard test method.) Approximate continuous playback time: 330 minutes with NP-800 battery, LCD monitor on.

The A200 can also be powered by an optional AC-11 AC power supply or the optional External Battery Pack Kit EPB-100 with a much higher capacity Li-ion rechargeable battery.

Supplied with the camera (except in Japan) is the RC-D1 infrared remote controller. It can be used to trip the shutter and control playback functions from up to 4m in front of the camera.