6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Perfect camera for any situation
Date of Review: Mar 28, 2007
The Bottom Line: I save thousands of dollars by being able to meter an older manual focus 600mm manual focus lens from the 1970s with the D200.
I do both wedding and wildlife photography and often shoot 1,000 pictures in a session. I need a camera that can stand up to the elements and shoot in any situation. The D200 never misses a beat.
What I like: It's sturdy enough to hold up to blinding snow, hail, rain, bright sunlight, dark churches, etc. It's also great that I can plug my studio lights straight into the body. I save so much money by being able to use 1970s lenses like the 600mm (which is a 900mm with the 1.5x magnification). It meters these old lenses beautifully and it saves me thousands upon thousands of dollars in those long lenses I use for wildlife photography. The 1.5x magnification is also a great savings, meaning my 600mm is turned into a 900mm (a 900mm would be the price of a sportscar if purchased new).
What I don't like: I've compared my pictures shot under the same conditions, same ISO, etc. with my friends' Canon bodies and there is a HUGE difference in the noise. The D200 (and all Nikon DSLRs) have awful noise past ISO400 whereas the Canons can shoot at 1600ISO and it looks like it was shot at 200ISO. It's not even worth shooting past ISO400 with Nikon DSLRs if you want to have professional-quality prints, which is a shame since I do a lot of photography in dark forests and jungles.
That said, I'd rather trade off noise and be able to use older lenses. Canon's DSLR mounts will only take newer lenses.
http://www.naturestocklibrary.com/gallery/2637474
