Nikon D200

'There comes a time when most men feel the urge to settle down...'

In my youth I was just like the other lads. I played the field. I got into 35mm with Minolta X300 but dumped it for Nikon F80 and it's auto-focus, not mention it's rather sexy 'on-demand gridlines'. I discovered digital with Nikon D100. I even had a short relationship with Bronica ETRS. At one point I was spending time with all three and that was always going to end in tears. But as I grew up I came to realise that I needed to find a camera that shared my passions, a body I was comfortable with, that would grow with me and share locations long into the future. Then along came Nikon D200. It was love at first sight. We had to meet. I cleared out my camera bag and waved good-bye to my old friends. It was a sad moment but we had just grown apart.

That was nearly 12 months ago and I have to say getting the D200 was the best decision I have ever made.

This one body successfully captures the individual high points of the previous three. I have the flexibility of digital only now with 10mp of resolution and a lowest ISO setting of 100. I have the Nikon handling that attracted me to the F80 all those years ago, only now so much better with more features and options. Crucially, I have the quality of medium format but with the portability of 35mm.

Now I know some of you will have just spilt your coffee over that last statement but bear with me. I used to copy my medium format transparencies on an Epson 4870 flat bed scanner using Fuji Velvia and the scanners maximum quality settings to get the best possible result. This would kick out a file size of around 100mb, which would be easily enough for an A2 print and possibly more besides. Now I take all my originals in RAW and convert them to TIFFs in Photoshop CS, which results in a base file of around 28mb. Well short of the 100mb scan I hear you cry but wait, there's more. I then run the TIFF through a genius bit of interpolation software called 'Genuine Fractals' which allows me to create files of almost any size I want. The key consideration behind all of this is the quality of the end product, and this is where I return to my earlier 'hold the front page' statement. I don't work in a studio. My work is not likely to be used for building sized advertising hoardings. My market is prints that you would hang on your wall or images that would be used in books or magazines. For that purpose the output generated by purely digital means is easily a match in terms of quality for the scanned transparency. This wasn't the case with the early digital SLRs but technology has moved on. I can match the results I used to get from the Bronica in terms of image quality, but now I have access to a huge range of affordable lenses and equipment, plus the flexibility in the field to change ISO settings, white balance settings, aperture or shutter priority, not to mention auto-focus. I can take pictures with the D200 that would have been out of the question with the Bronica and get still get the quality I need. For my circumstances and needs it's, to put it in today's parlance, a 'no-brainer'.

But what is the D200 like to live with? Actually it's remarkably easy. No arguments over toilet seats or Mother-in-laws, and it never complains when I go off on another expedition as it always comes with me. Seriously though, the D200 is a very easy camera to use. I may have an advantage as I have had two Nikons previously so I am already used to the layout and way Nikon does things, but it is, none the less, a very intuitive camera to handle. It is substantial without being unwieldy, this is no doubt due to it's magnesium chassis, but even with the bolt on MB-D200 battery pack it is still comfortable in the hand. I have to say I find that adding the MB-D200 actually makes the camera easier to use. Sure it is heavier, but it is more balanced and as I have large hands anyway it gives me something to hold. I had a play with a friends Canon 350D a little while ago and although it is no doubt an excellent camera I found it just too small and light to be comfortable. The build quality of the D200 is reassuring though short of the 'brick out-house' levels of the D2Xs, but let's not forget the D2Xs is roughly three times the price. The more relevant comparison is probably with the D80 which shares much of the D200's internals, including it's sensor. Was I a touch worried that I had just spent more than I needed to when the D80 was announced? Yes. Did I need to be? No. The D200 is worth the extra. Not just in basic build quality but also in terms of additional functionality. If I had gone with the D80 I would always have been thinking 'what if…' right up to the point that I went and got the D200 anyway. I have never had that feeling over the last 12 months and have never found myself in a position where I couldn't get the image I wanted because the camera wouldn't let me.

Sounds too good to be true? Well no relationship is perfect and the D200 does have it's idiosyncrasies.

Battery compatibility is one. The D200 takes the EN-EL3e (Like it's cousin the D80) so the spare EN-EL3s from my D100 wouldn't work. Bummer. Especially at £49.95 a pop for the new ones. Thankfully market forces have intervened and third party equivalents are now available for less than half this price and they work fine. Which is a good job, as the EN-EL3e doesn't last anything like as long as it's predecessor. Another reason to invest in the bolt on battery pack.

The remote release is another. My F80 had a standard screw thread in the shutter button. So did my D100. Nikon was hailed as a beacon of common sense for this little detail. The D200 has to rely on an expensive plug in electronic remote. I admit that this would allow me to do all sorts of fancy trickery with flashguns and stuff, but virtually all my work is landscapes. I just want to fire the shutter. I got round this thanks to e-bay where I sourced a compatible release that does just that for about £10. Including post and packing. But I still have to plug it in which neatly brings me to a design flaw that makes me grind my teeth every time. The video output socket (no, I don't know why a stills camera has one either) is located behind a lovely big rubber flap that can be opened and closed with one finger. I have never used this function. The remote release socket, which I use every time I take the camera out, is covered by a tiny plastic screw cap that is so fiddly it's almost child proof. And when it's cold and your wearing gloves, which happens a lot in this country, it is almost impossible. When you do get it off where do you put it? Mine is still hiding at the bottom of my bag leaving the delicate electric connections exposed to the elements. Please, please, please Nikon, put the remote release socket under the big rubber flap! You know it makes sense.

But these are mere trifles in the great scheme of things. I think it's time I settled down and I think the D200 is the camera to do it with.

I wonder if I should introduce it to my parents…?





About the author: David Stanley is a freelance photographer concentrating on landscape and travel images. He has growing portfolios of royalty free images with Alamy and istockphoto. For more articles and reviews, along with a selection of his work available as open and limited edition prints, please visit his website at www.davidstanleyphotography.com.

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