New Nikon D200?

Lucky Hack

Anybody got their mitts on one of these yet?

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25235

I'm dying to get one; but I want to see the hands on reviews first.
I've read the Ken Rockwell review,

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200.htm

unfortunately I was left wanting, guess I qualify as a "nerd" in his eyes...


hoping this message finds you well -Ian

Seymore

I've been doing some reading... and some more reading... and waiting to touch one. Looks quite promising. Can't wait to hear some "live" stories.

wholenewlight

I like both reviews posted above. I'm fine with KR's review. He's totally biased pro-Nikon. But that's not a problem for me. I just place his review on the "far right" of where the "review pendulum" swings.

I guess I'm old-fashioned - I still like the Canon 5D's full-frame sensor - I can't get past the bigger-is-better phenomenon. But then, I used a 4 X 5 Zone V1 view camera for few years. And KR's concept of digital noise baffles me - I guess I'm more picky than he is. Canon still has a slight edge for me in this area.

But for me the D200 looks like a winner for these reasons:

• Controls - Oh, I love the Qual, ISO, WB buttons - and no more of the silly picture mode icon buttons (flower, runner, etc.) that I've never used.
• ISO 100 - duh Nikon, it's about time, now that Canon has raised the bar to a low ISO 50
• Body build and construction
• Price - very affordable for the package
• YRGB Histogram

Probably more bullets on my list but these are some major points.

Lee Massey

As stated above, they are not supposed to ship until mid December. I have my name on the pre-order list and I am hoping to get one in the first shipment. Otherwise I will have to wait until January.

Either way the performance of this camera is quite nice given the price point.

Thanks,

Lee

Lucky Hack wrote:

Anybody got their mitts on one of these yet?

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25235

I'm dying to get one; but I want to see the hands on reviews first.
I've read the Ken Rockwell review,

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200.htm

unfortunately I was left wanting, guess I qualify as a "nerd" in his eyes...


hoping this message finds you well -Ian

Matthew Saville

Lee Massey wrote:

As stated above, they are not supposed to ship until mid December. I have my name on the pre-order list and I am hoping to get one in the first shipment. Otherwise I will have to wait until January.

Either way the performance of this camera is quite nice given the price point.

Thanks,

Lee

I have MY name on the pre-order list for some MONEY so I can buy one! Alas, to make matters worse I switched schools and from the semester system to the quarter system, so I'm going from 6 weeks of winter vacation (= mega cashflow) to a measly 2 weeks. So unless I miraculously start shooting $1500 wedding gigs, I'll be waiting on the D200 for quite a while.

But surely, a sweet camera!

And oh by the way, the DK-17M 1.2x magnifier is alleged to work on pretty much any camera if you buy certain adapters and have *ahem* certain dremel skills, if you know what I mean. With that, and on the allegedly MUCH bigger and brighter D200 viewfinder (as compared to all lesser expensive DSLR's such as the D70) ...I'm hoping that the comparison between FF viewfinders and DX viewfinders will no longer be an issue for me.

And on the other hand, I'm just fine with the ISO performance of my D70. Especially with Adobe Bridge and it's RAW power. (pun intended) I've under-exposed 1600 ISO images to almost black, pushed them in RAW, and the clients were happy. To me that is what matters most. I'd switch to a "better ISO performance" sensor if I could afford it, but alas I am broke. And also I'd prefer that sensor to come in a body with the ergonomics and reliability I'm acustomed to, so go figure.

Cheers,
-Matt-

MattKuether

I too am currently drooling over this camera. It took all of my strength not to pre-order it. I've downloaded all of the sample images that I've seen and spent quite a bit of time analyzing them. It looks to me like it is going to shape up to be a camera with great image quality, not to mention that it's taking the already good Nikon ergonomics and making them even better. I think it's going to be a real winner. The larger viewfinder is a HUGE plus for me. I think the viewfinder on my D70 is small in general and the fact that I wear glasses that curve outwards makes it even smaller. I always found my wife's old D100 easier to use because of its larger viewfinder, and supposedly the D200's viewfinder is even bigger than the D100s.

The downside is that it's going to cost me a lot of money when I do get one. Not only do I have to buy the camera, I am also going to have to buy a new computer to handle those 10MP files!

Lee Massey

I agree with you. The viewfinder will be a big plus (I have eyewear as well).

There is lots to like about this camera, and as long as the image quality is good and the high ISO respectable, then I think Nikon will have a real winner on it's hands.:D

Thanks,

Lee

MattKuether wrote:

The larger viewfinder is a HUGE plus for me. I think the viewfinder on my D70 is small in general and the fact that I wear glasses that curve outwards makes it even smaller.

JohnR

wholenewlight wrote:

But for me the D200 looks like a winner for these reasons:

• ISO 100 - duh Nikon, it's about time, now that Canon has raised the bar to a low ISO 50

The D2X went down to ISO 100.



I'm on 2 lists for the D200. Saturday a Nikon rep is going to be at my local camera store with a D200 so I'll get to see one in person!

wholenewlight

JohnR wrote:

The D2X went down to ISO 100.

Sorry, you're correct. The D2x was a little out of my price range. I love my D70s but find it pretty silly that Nikon didn't put a lower ISO on it. Sure, the ISO 200 is pretty clean but. . .

Lee Massey

Hi John...

We will be waiting here for your report as to your initial thoughts.

2 lists? Are you getting 2 or just trying to increase your chances of getting one in the first shipment?

Lee

JohnR wrote:

I'm on 2 lists for the D200. Saturday a Nikon rep is going to be at my local camera store with a D200 so I'll get to see one in person!

JohnR

Trying to increase my odds of getting one soon! I'm also on the list at Roberts in Indy though I don't know where on that list and probably further down it.

zigzag

MattKuether wrote:

I too am currently drooling over this camera. It took all of my strength not to pre-order it.

I'm with ya there! I don't need this camera, but boy do I sure want one!


As far as the ISO settings are concerned, what makes this camera very attractive to me isn't the ISO 100, but the pictures it takes at 800/1600+. From what I've seen from test shots, the high ISO performance is spectacular with this camera. The limitation I ram my head into on the D70 (:bash) most often is the inability to take high quality pictures in low light. The performance at ISO 200 has never been the problem.

DoctorIt

Rather than starting a new thread, why not give this one a bump...

So anybody have any further news as to when we might be able to get our hands on one of these? I'm being oh-so tempted to jump off the Canon ship for this camera. Nikon ergos are something I've been wanting for a long time. Held a D2H the other day and LOVED it.


(no John, I don't need your D2H )

zigzag

Nikon's ship date is said to be Dec. 15th, or two days from now. But if discussions on the internet are to be trusted (and they ALWAYS are ), the initial stock in the stores has been sold out by those who pre-ordered. The working assumption over at Nikonians is that if you didn't pre-order by late Nov., you missed the initial batch and are looking at mid-January.

If I were a camera store, though, I might keep the demo model around to show to people to initiate NAS symptoms. So maybe you could still get your hands on one of them to look.

The more I read reviews of this camera from those who have used demo models, the more it looks like this one is a winner all around. Supposedly it competes with the 5D and the D2X, but its price is a fraction of theirs.

DoctorIt

zigzag wrote:

If I were a camera store, though, I might keep the demo model around to show to people to initiate NAS symptoms. So maybe you could still get your hands on one of them to look.

I'm hoping this is the case.

And I of course take the ship date with a grain of salt. I remember a few years ago when my friend pre-ordered his D70 well in advance. Nikon was at least a month late on that one.

I guess we'll see.

Lee Massey

I checked in on my pre-order and they told me that Nikon will have a delivery of D200's to them shortly however the actual number of units hasn't been confirmed by Nikon. That being said, my retailer said that it could be that I will be waiting until January.:cry

My pre-order was submitted in early November but I imagine that the response will largely depend on the retailer you are dealing with and how much "pull" they have with Nikon.

Lee

DoctorIt wrote:

Nikon was at least a month late on that one.

I guess we'll see.

TOF guy

wholenewlight wrote:

I love my D70s but find it pretty silly that Nikon didn't put a lower ISO on it. Sure, the ISO 200 is pretty clean but. . .

But nominal ISO comes from sensor design. Without changing the design, having a ISO 100 setting would have come at the expense of dynamic range ... and more noise.

Thierry