Large, bright LCD screen. Acceptably large and bright viewfinder (Larger than D100 / D70). Large rear buttons - very easy to "get around" the camera. Excellent feel in the hand. Soft, easy feel to the multi selector (smoother than D70). Fairly low noise at high ISOs. Very "smooth" image processing - no blocky white buildups. Robust build - weather sealed.

Trash button a little hard to get to. Could potentially lead to some delays. Viewfinder, though more generous than the D70, doesn't hold a candle to the F100, D1x or similar. Argh - I lost my Photoshop CS RAW import plug-in with this camera. Software stinks - essentially useless. Can't complain much - I'm very happy with this camera.

I've been waiting for a (reasonably) affordable Nikon digital to come along to replace my F100 for 4 years now. I've been looking for a Nikon digital with the full feature set offered by the D1x / D2x, but just couldn't afford those cameras. Finally I am completely satisfied. I must say, selling my D70 and puting $1700 down on this camera sight unseen really put a pit in my stomach. Suffice to say - I regret nothing. This is exactly the camera that I've been looking since I veered towards digital four years ago. To me, this camera is, at its core, a digital F100. It's got a very similar feel to it - it feels like you can do great things with it. The image processing on the D200 is VERY good in my opinion and experience - the exposed file has all of the subtle information that it should have. The D200's LCD screen is massive and fun to work with. The autofocus in this camera is reasonably quick and does a reasonably good job focusing in low light, which is nice. The continuous shooting on this camera is startlingly impressive (to me at least, upgrading from a D70). The three majors are very easily accessible - QUAL / ISO / WB. I prefer the site of the trash button on the D70, but can see the virtues of its (upper left rear) location on the D200. I would swap it with its neighbor, the BKT button, in a second. It takes some strength to twist the backlight on in the upper display, but it may wear in over time. The ergonomics of the camera, especially the way the frame holds the thumb, are extremely good. All in all I would say that this camera is exactly what you (probably) think it is. It feels heavy and significant in your hand; it's a nice, robust camera with a fairly remarkable feature set for its price.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F100 Nikon D70