Nikon D200 Review

I have had extensive experience with scanning film. The scanning process is very time-consuming, so I was waiting for a digital SLR that would deliver the same resolution as my Nikon Coolscan IV and a quality pentaprism viewfinder at an affordable price. The D200 promised all of this and goodies like mirror lock-up (MLU) that Nikon had previously restricted only to its top-of-the-line bodies. Unfortunately, I experienced the banding issue that seemed to be related to imprecise calibration of the 4-channel readout of the CCD. Nikon USA fixed this problem of early series cameras (serial no. is 3007XXX), but I was surprised to find the battery missing when I received my camera back. Nikon Customer Service was nice enough to overnight me a new battery. This was of course all done free of charge, but more hassle than expected for a $1700 body.

Digital "slides" from my first hikes with the D200

The magnesium alloy body is reassuringly solid and feels just right in my medium-sized hands. The viewfinder is bright and constrasty, but significantly smaller than on my F5 due to the APS C-sized CCD sensor. Because of that crop factor, my working distance and my depth-of-field are increased. This can be a plus when taking images of little critters, sensitive plants, and wildlife. I have replaced the standard focusing screen with a Katz Eye Plus screen to facilitate manual focusing. I recommend to have the screen professionally installed; the way Nikon keeps the D200 focusing screen in place is not satisfying if you are used to their F5. The Multi-CAM1000 autofocus provides 13 sensors, though only the central one is a cross-type sensor. Another accessory that I find very useful is the RRS L bracket (BD200-L) for this camera. Nikon made a battery pack for the D200 that was reputedly not as well constructed as the D200 and with which I do not have personal experience.

Flash is an area where Nikon really shines. Its pop-up flash is able to trigger external flashes as part of the Creative Lighting System. I found the D200 to be very reliable with the SB-600 and SB-800. As is typical for Nikon cameras, one would need to dial in +0.7 to +1.0 flash exposure compensation in bounce mode. Since this is my nature photography camera and I exlusively use available light for nature photography, I could have done without the pop-up flash and would have preferred a 100% viewfinder instead. I use the D200 at ISO 100-400 all the time; ISO 800 is workable with noise reduction, but I do not recommend higher speeds. I archive my images as losslessly compressed DNGs, so each file weighs in at 7-10 MB. That is about 15 % the size of the 16-bit TIFFs I created for scans of similar quality.

The D200 offers the option of including GPS information into my photographs with my Garmin GPSmap 60c. Unfortunately, this requires an expensive MC-35 cable and a legacy Garmin serial cable to connect the GPS to the MC-35 cable. Furthermore, I often do not have GPS reception where I hike which is hardly the camera's fault. If D200 and GPS unit are both powered on and connected, the D200 meters constantly, draining the batteries quickly. Even when I do not use a GPS, the D200 battery does not last anywhere close to the up to 1800 shots per charge that Nikon promised in its press release. I keep an extra charged battery in my backpack at all times. Nikon has continued to use the EN-EL3e battery for the its D300 and D700 cameras.

The D200 was discontinued by Nikon in 2009 with the remaining stock selling new for around $600. I have had my camera converted by Life Pixel for UV-Vis-IR photography. This means that the antialiasing filter is gone and slightly higher resolution at the cost of introducing moiré which is only a minor concern in nature photography. This also means that I need to use an IR-blocking filter any time I photograph in the visible spectrum. With a good viewfinder, relatively high resolution, and a CCD imager (as opposed to CMOS sensors in more recent cameras), the D200 may be the best camera for photographing invisible light. This feature by itself makes the D200 a classic camera that I hope will continue to serve me for many years to come. I wish the D200 had a live view option as there is focus shift for UV and IR light for most lenses, so the viewfinder is not reliable for focusing in the invisible spectra. The LCD screen seemed huge in 2006, but I have sometimes misjudged the sharpness of images on the LCD. The automatic white balance has become inaccurate after the UV-Vis-IR modification; I find that pictures taken in the visible spectrum with a color temperature of around 5000K consistently need to be adjusted for a color temperature of 3000K in Camera RAW. Despite my (minor) issues with the D200, I can highly recommend this camera. It has made me a much better photographer. All 2006-2009 images on my homepage were shot with this camera.

Great Blue Heron, Old Hickory Lake, TN
Nikon D200 (mod.), 500mm, 1/1500s, f/4, ISO 100, Camera Raw
© J.C.Krause, 2002-2010, last changed: 11/21/09 – FAQ – Visitors since 11/22/05: