Nikon D200 review by Gene Wright

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Front View

The Nikon D200 is a professional digital SLR camera which is also aimed at the serious amateur digital photographer. It is essentially the upgrade unit from the D100/D70s, and it incorporates solid improvements over those excellent cameras. The most obvious upgrade highlight of the D200 is the 10.2 megapixel images that it generates. The advantage of more megapixels is: if you wish to print images larger than about 8 x 10, more megapixels again equates to additional detail. Also, Many digital photographers "crop" their images in post-processing. For example, a photograph of a flying bird such that occupies only a quarter of the image, you may want to crop the image so that you eliminate half of the image, leaving the bird dominant. More megapixels means more detail will survive the cropping, which is fundamentally a form of magnification.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Left Angle View

The powerful, feature-packed D200 digital SLR camera delivers a high-precision, high-performance package and creates a new class of camera between entry-level and professional digital SLRs. The Nikon D200 combines the solid look and feel and advanced camera operation of Nikon's D2 professional series with the approved user-friendliness and stunning image quality that are the hallmarks of all Nikon digital SLRs.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Right Angle View

The D200 has been crafted to connect a range of newly developed Nikon technologies with advanced features inherited from the Nikon D2x, ensuring an ultimate shooting experience with exceptional and versatile imaging performance, high speed, and an instant response. The result is a blend of superb features, high-quality components, and fantastic results.

This combination makes the D200 perfect for passionate, dedicated amateur photographers, business users in fields such as the police, dentistry and museums, and professionals or semi-professionals looking for a second camera to complement their Nikon D2x or D2Hs.

A lightweight, durable, and robust magnesium-alloy chassis is the foundation for the D200.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Left Side View

Solid look and feel
The D200 boasts a lightweight, durable, and robust magnesium-alloy body and an advanced sealing system that protects the camera from moisture and dust, making it suitable for a range of rigorous and challenging assignments. The integrated double-bladed shutter, which incorporates a refined mirror balance system, has been tested to well in excess of 100,000 cycles.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Right Side View

Advanced operation
The D200's camera operation is inherited from the Nikon D2x, and boasts more than 40 well organized custom settings, so it is ideally suited to the user's needs and preferences. The large, bright viewfinder offers .94x magnification and 95% frame coverage both horizontally and vertically to guarantee exceptionally detailed viewing control.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Top View

The D200 sports an impressive 2.5-inch high-resolution LCD.
A 2.5-inch high-resolution LCD screen provides an ultra-wide 170-degree viewing angle from all directions. Images on the D200 can be magnified by up to 400% so users can check for fine detail.

The top LCD panel is the largest in the industry, containing a wealth of data such as shooting mode, battery condition, card information, gridline display, shutter speed, f-stop, and shots remaining. A new color-coded menu display facilitates easy viewing, supported by intuitive keywords to assist speedy navigation.

The newly-developed high-energy EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery delivers enough power to the D200 to support the shooting of up to 1,800 images on a single charge, which takes no longer than 2.5 hours. Battery status can be checked through a real-time fuel-gauge system, found in the menu. An optional MB-D200 battery pack extends shooting capability, using AA-size batteries (six are needed) or two NE-EL3e's.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Back LCD View

Ultimate shooting experience
The D200 is ideal for capturing unexpected or fleeting moments, thanks to the 0.15 second power-up, a speedy shutter lag time of just 50 milliseconds, and a shortened viewfinder blackout time of 105 milliseconds.

The D200 is also capable of ultra high-speed continuous shooting of five frames per second, capturing up to 37 pictures in JPEG or 22 in RAW format (when using a SanDisk SDCFH Ultra II or SDCFX Extreme III 1 GB CF card). A newly developed and highly flexible Multi-CAM1000 Autofocus features a pinpoint 11-area AF system inherited from Nikon D2 series as well as a 7-area wide AF to focus on larger moving objects easily.

Continuous shooting mode captures five frames per second for up to 37 pictures in JPEG or 22 in RAW format.
Another feature inherited from the D2x is the 3D-color Matrix Metering II, which delivers optimised exposure using new technology developed for the Nikon 1,005 pixel RGB exposure/color Matrix Metering sensor. This system evaluates seven parameters in every shot--including brightness, color, contrast, selected focus area, and camera-to-subject distance--and references this data against an on-board database of over 30,000 actual photographic scenes to instantly and accurately calculate the final value.

The Nikon DX Format CCD delivers excellent sharpness, color, and resolution.

Professional results
A fundamental feature of the D200 is a newly developed 10.2 effective megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor that captures high level sharpness and color at 3,872 x 2,592-pixel size, delivering the right resolution to support significant image enlargements and enable greater freedom for creative cropping. The highly sensitive new sensor covers an ISO range from 100 to 1600, rising to 3200 in Hi-1.

High speed image processing is inherited from the Nikon D2x, guaranteeing fine color gradations and smooth transitions. A new Optical Low Pass Filter helps prevent moire, color fringing, and shifting to get even greater colors.

For added control, saturation and highlights of a shot can be controlled easily using the D200's RBG histograms on the LCD monitor.

In addition, new image optimization modes enable D200 users to produce results that more closely match their intended results, with the ability to optimize sharpening, tone and contrast, color, saturation, and hue in choices including Softer, Normal, More vivid, Portrait, and Black and White in camera.

Unparalleled possibilities
Like all Nikon digital SLR cameras, the D200 is compatible with Nikon's Total Imaging System, which means it can be teamed with over 50 high-quality AF Nikkor lenses, including renowned DX Nikkors as well as non-CPU lenses. It also opens up the creative possibilities that can achieved with Nikon's Creative Lighting System thanks to a built-in i-TTL Speedlight which can serve as master in Advanced Wireless Lighting systems.

The D200 incorporates an x-Sync terminal to connect to studio lighting and features GPS support to record geographical data of the shot, as well as wireless functionality for image capture and transfer.

• Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e,
• Quick Charger MH-18a,
• Video Cable,
• USB Cable UC-E4,
• Strap,
• Body cap,
• Eyepiece Cap DK-5,
• Rubber Eyecup DK-21,
• LCD monitor cover BM-6,
• PictureProject CD-ROM

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See also

• Nikon DSLR Cameras
• Nikon Camera Lenses
• Nikon DSLR History
• Nikon Compact Cameras