An Investment for the right photographer.

Let us get this out of the way. You will be wasting your money if you do not need the D200's speed. As far as image quality goes, there is not enough difference to justify the cost.

I shoot birds and animals, and I need the speed. The D200 delivers. This is determined by the auto focus, and the light meter, plus the camera's buffer, as well as the camera's ability to access power.


Speed
The first thing I asked this camera to do was to focus on a low flying airliner on an overcast day with a very low ceiling. My D70 would have difficulty with this low contrast situation. The silver airliner against the greasy gray sky would cause the lens to hunt, focusing from its closest to infinity repeatedly. The D200 found it promptly and permitted me to fire off a shot immediately.

Image quality;

There are some improvements over the D70. The camera boasts 10.1 mega pixels. But this is only for those who shoot raw. Even if you shoot raw, remember that this is not a 100% gain of information, more like 18%. The light meter is a bit more intelligent, though I had few complaints with the D70.

The iso runs from 100 to 1600 plus one stop. As you bump up the iso noise from fringing comes rather quickly at around 800, just like the D70.

The auto white balance seems adequate for most things unlike the D70. This make it easier to shoot in Jpeg

Features:

What I like:-

The diopter adjustment does not slip out of focus.

Big bright viewfinder. I guess that Nikon listened to the photographers who cursed out the tiny, dim viewfinders on previous DSLRs. Who knew that we actually need to see our subjects? Not Nikon.

Bigger lcd on the camera back. The menu is easily readable, even in daylight. You can zoom and crop your picture on camera.

Really sturdy construction. I shoot outdoors a lot and I think this camera is well protected against the elements.

Many items that you want to control are on the outside of the camera and adjustable without having to read the menu.

For instance, the camera's modes ie: program, automatic etc can be changed quickly from a button on the top of the camera.

The white balance can be set, or adjusted from another button. This is very handy.

The shutter much more quiet than the D70. This is helpful when shooting wildlife.
Metering mode is adjustable from the camera's back.


12, 7 focus points in the viewfinder. Great for off center subjects. And the thumb rocker has a center position. I cannot tell you how many times I found it difficult to hit the center icon when focusing my D70.

You can select single shot, or continuous shutter, timer, mirror lock up from a command dial on the top on the camera.

An integrated flash sync. The D70 requires you to purchase a part for this and there is no guarantee that strobe flashes won't feedback and melt your camera. The D200 has the jack on the front.

Built in flash. Approximately the same as the D70.

Aliasing, or moire is not present, a significant improvement over the D70.

Generally the ergonomics are better on the D200.

What I don't like

Battery runs out very quickly. The battery icon in the control panel does not give a percentage read out of the power left in the battery. Nikon does not recommend that you use the battery in temperatures below freezing. Are they crazy? Half of the guys buying the D200 will be nature photographers. If you buy the camera get a second battery.

29 images on a 512mg card in raw format. This was a shock after the D70 gave over 80 on the same card. You will need more cards with this camera. I realize that more mega pixels means fewer images per card, but Nikon could allow us more per card than this..

Image noise begins at 400 iso and gets noticeable at 800.

Finally a word about Nikon support. I am Canadian and Nikon Canada's support just does not pass muster. There was a problem with this unit when I first received it and after contacting them, the Nikon techies were at first very casual. Then they left me on hold. After a half hour I was disconnected. I left an irritated voice mail only to have the supervisor call me back 24 hours later. Who do you guys think you are? Perhaps Canon takes better care of their customers?