Talk:Nikon D200

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I have removed and revised some comments in the article regarding perceived shortcomings. I do not believe this was done properly or fairly, and I have reworded it and removed parts that are not accurate. As an owner of the camera, I have experienced banding myself, and have a minor battery issue- however the claim that the camera has a shortcoming of not living up to its advertised battery duration is false. The test conditions for the referenced battery life estimate are clearly delineated and the battery is more than capable of living up to this. The so-called "problems" are actually the result of different usage patterns of the LCD image review (extensive use to review images popularly known as "chimping"), exposure duration, menu usage, long-exposure noise reduction, internal flash use, Autofocus assist lamp use, control panel backlight use, and more. The D200 also has many adopters coming from the D70, D100, and D50 cameras, which all have longer battery life due to much lower power consumption due to smaller LCDs, lower resolution sensors, and lighter power processing electronics. Despite using a modified version of the same battery those cameras use, that is also backwards compatible with those cameras, the D200 uses the same LCD as the new Nikon D2XS, and the same processing electronics as the D2HS and D2X cameras (and likely the D2XS). The D2X and D2HS cameras use the EN-EL4 Lithium-ion battery which is 11.1V, 1900 mAH, and are compatible with the new EN-EL4A battery that is shipping with the D2XS and as an accessory separately, which is 11.1V 2500mAH. The D200 uses the EN-EL3e battery which is 7.4V, 1500 mAH. Bjørn Rørslett's review, referenced in the external links, has a test of battery life under real world, extremely grueling conditions, with impressive results.

I own a D200 as well. The shorter battery life is mostly due to the smaller battery and the large, bright LCD panel. I don't consider it to be a major problem though, as you can always get extra batteries. I consider the major shortcomings of the camera to be: (1) no optical focusing aid such as a split-image focusing screen, (2) no TTL flash control for anything but the newest Nikon-compatible flashes, (3) no white balance information in the viewfinder, (4) no cable release support (you need a special remote cord), (5) in self-timer mode the camera autofocuses exactly once when you press the button and does not track the subject and (6) it is heavy: with the battery installed and any kind of lens mounted the D200 weighs in at well over 1Kg. Anyway, the first 5 are all relatively minor issues, and the last item is essentially a design decision on the part of Nikon.

The banding issue was very minor to begin with, and affected only a small number of cameras early in the production run.

References and Hyperlinks

Just out of curiosity, why was the link to kenrockwell.com removed and the dpreview.com link left intact? The dpreview site is every bit as much POV. And some of the information they offer as fact is highly misleading, especially when it comes to camera noise at high ISO, which more often than not is the single biggest determining factor in their rating scheme. Their allegations of noise problems on the D200 are pure nonsense.

There should be links to the reviews on shutterbug.com and popphoto.com. They are much more reliable and more mainstream than dpreview but are curiously left out. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Trac63 (talk • contribs) 18:33, 4 May 2007 (UTC).

Picture of D200 With MB-D200

Would anyone like me to add a picture of the D200 with the MB-D200 vertical grip attached?

I'd have already done it, but there's a pic of the grip standalone, and there are quite a few pics on the page as is... What do ya'll think? Twiek (talk) 01:26, 31 October 2008 (UTC)