NIKON D200
Building on Success

In a move that has solidified Nikon’s commitment to APS-C sized digital cameras, Nikon has recently announced a replacement to its long staple and best seller the D100 with the new and improved D200. In a lot of ways the D100 set the standard that DSLR’s aimed to aspire to and the D200 promises to do the same some three and a half years later. The big question on everyone’s mind however is whether sticking with an APS sized sensor is enough of a recipe for success, or will Canon’s full framed 5D be the winner of the hour. With Nikon’s recent announced plans to drop film cameras all together with the exception of the F6 flagship there is now more at stake then ever in the success of new digital single lens reflex models.

Before I get into the actual performance of the D200 I think it’s important to get a few technical specifications out of the way. The D200 features a 10.2 million pixel CCD tucked away in a compact, yet incredibly robust, SLR body. Top of the line features include a 5fps shooting rate, 2.5” rear LCD display, multiple auto focus modes, and advanced 3D color matrix metering. Also to round out the package, the D200 incorporates USB 2.0 support, custom exposure and white balance modes, and more image parameter options then one could ever want. In short, everything you could ever want from a modern DSLR is there. With this many features its no surprise that many people are already dubbing the D200 as a ‘mini-D2X’ referring of course to Nikon’s top flagship ‘pro’ DSLR.

All of that of course looks really great on paper, but true performance is another thing entirely. Thankfully, upon initial use the D200 seems to fall in-line with Nikon’s tradition of producing quality photographic equipment. For me, the first true test of any new camera is how it feels in your hand. After all, if you don’t enjoy holding it, you certainly won’t enjoy shooting with it.

The D200 feels very solid and well balanced and it becomes crystal clear the moment you put one in your hands that this is a photographic tool in your hands, not a toy. The casing feels top-notch with no creeks or rattles, even when giving the hand grip a forceful squeeze. All buttons are large and easily reachable without taking the camera far from your eye and thankfully Nikon has minimized the need to push multiple buttons to achieve simple function changes. One minor complaint however comes in the form that Nikon is still incorporating a joy-pad type button for navigating menus instead of the large rear dial seen on Canon models. I fully realize this is a love it or hate it solution navigating several screens worth of menus but I personally find the rear dial method to be much easier and quicker when shooting in the field.

I’m personally always wary of using any professional grade camera that has too large of a body. Cameras like Nikon’s own D2X or Canon’s EOS-1D are simply much too large for extended outdoor and sometimes indoor usage. Never mind the fact that they grow heavy in your hand after a short period of time, but in many cases they simply draw attention from onlookers when no attention is needed or desired. It is precisely this reason that the relatively smaller size of the D200 is appreciated while still maintaining a professional grade build quality and proper weather seals.

It is also worth noting that the large 2.5” LCD on the back of the D200 is among the brightest and clearest of any digital camera I have ever used. The screen as a very wide viewing angle and the menus are laid out in a logical and professional manner. It’s obvious that the design team over at Nikon put in a lot of thought in this area and the results are certainly appreciated. Now if only they had included an anti-reflective coating on the screen and I would have considered it perfect. The included plastic clip-on protector is nice, but not quite good enough for a camera in this price range.

The viewfinder on the D200 is bright, crisp, and a joy to look through. The official frame coverage is 95% which is more then acceptable for most photographers these days. Though it lacks a focusing screen (I don’t know any cameras that have one these days) I had no trouble switching over to manual focus and doing some fine tuning with the naked eye. Fortunately the auto focus system of the D200 is spot on, even in low light situations, making the need to do this a rarity. In fact, I found myself switching over to manual focus purely to stay in practice, not because the performance of the camera required me to do so. With eleven auto focus points at the cameras disposal I was quite pleased with the D200 in this area.

Of course, as important as it is for a camera to feel good and be fun to use, the true test of its quality is the images it produces. I’ll admit I’ve been a little disappointed with Nikon over the past few years with this area and have felt like many of their digital cameras produce over-saturated and over-sharpened output right out of the box. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered this was not the case with the D200. Setting the camera to complete auto mode, I found my output images to be even toned with remarkably accurate white balance. Of course, as a seasoned photographer I rarely let my camera do the thinking for me, but this showed remarkable promise straight away.

I am also pleased to see that Nikon has adjusted their ISO range to include 100 as its lowest value. In previous Nikon digital SLR’s the lowest ISO value has been 200 and while I know that unlike film this is all relative I enjoy the incorporation of a more ‘film-like’ range of ISO options, especially when you consider that the majority of my outdoor shooting is in sunny desert or beach type terrain. I give high praise to Nikon for finally jumping on the bandwagon in this area. Noise levels offer no big surprises with digital grain kept firmly under control all the way up to ISO 400 and still usable even as high as ISO 1600.

In all other areas the image quality of the D200 is simply outstanding. Dynamic range form the darkest shadow to the brightest highlight is excellent and quite breathtaking, especially when shooting exclusively in RAW mode. It’s safe to say that the D200 has comparable image quality to the D2X and significantly higher image quality then Nikon’s starter D50 and D70 models. At 10.2 million pixels per square inch, the D200 is more then capable of producing large prints, provided of course the resulting images are properly exposed.

To make an already excellent camera even more tempting; thanks to its new AI aperture ring connector, the D200 supports A / M modes and metering with AI manual focus lenses. Essentially anything made since 1977 in a Nikon mount will be compatible with the D200. This is especially good news when you consider the recent announcement of Carl Zeiss lenses now being produced with a Nikon mount. The combination of a tack sharp Zeiss lens with the D200 should make for a very tempting team-up in the eyes of many photographers.

For existing owners of any of Nikon’s current line-up of digital SLR’s, or for anyone who owns Canon’s now aging 20D, the D200 makes for a very attractive and tempting upgrade choice. Superior body design and image output ensure that the D200 will be on the top of many photographer’s Christmas lists for a long time to come. Nikon certainly made a wait a long time for a camera like the D200 to come along, but the wait was most certainly worth it.