THERE ARE SOME ADDITIONAL D200 PHOTOS, TAKEN WITH THE NEW NIKON 105mm AF-S VR LENS IN ANOTHER GALLERY: www.pbase.com/nc_bill/nikon_105mm_afs_vr_lens

Photos taken with my new Nikon D200, received just before Christmas 2005. I ordered the camera sight unseen the day after the D200 was announced. Some very minor tweeking was done to all photos in PhotoShop Elements.

SOME OBSERVATIONS: The D200 is built like a tank and is the easiest to use DSLR I have ever had in my hands. The controls are extremely intuitive and the more important controls are operated by buttons on the camera, not through a series of menus. The huge LCD screen allows me to use the camera without my glasses. The new buffered mirror design WORKS! I have taken some hand-held shots as low as 1/20th second. I have never been able to do that with an SLR or DSLR before, even with my F5. Autofocus is FAST and very accurate. Automatic color balance and the presets are very accurate. The large files allow maximum cropping, when required, while leaving much data. The lack of noise at the higher ISOs is amazing. I have frequently used ISO 1600 and the results speak for themselves. The Nikon SB-800 flash works amazingly well with the D200. Looks like natural light when the settings are right and bounce flash is used. What you see on the screen pales, when compared with actual hard-copy prints. Prints made on Epson's ColorLife semi-gloss photo paper "knock your socks off"! Despite being a very early production model (U.S. Ser. #3007XX), my camera does not suffer from the "banding" reported by some owners (Nikon has traced that problem to a few early production models and now has a "fix"). COMMENT ADDED 18 FEB 06: The D200's default sharpening is too soft. If you purchase a D200, immediately change the sharpening to 1+ or 2+ for "normal" photos, unless you want a soft focus effect. COMMENTS ADDED ON 8 MAR 06: I just installed a MB-D200 battery pack on my camera and it feels great. The vertical AF-on button, shutter button and the main and auxillary dials are great and make things so much easier. Makes me think I have my old F5 again!

A HELPFUL HINT: When taking photos where depth of field is shallow (macros, etc.), use the "AF-C" focus selection on the D200 body. The autofocus on the D200 is fast enough to compensate for the typical back and forward motion experienced when taking macro shots or other shots with limited depth of field. Using the AF-C setting allows slower hand-held shutter speeds. This may also work on other Nikon models, but I have no experience with them.


PLEASE ALSO SEE MY GALLERY ON THE NC BAPTISTS DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS IN GULFPORT, MS AND MY GALLERY SHOWING TEST SHOTS USING THE NEW NIKON 105MM F/2.8 AFS VR LENS.