Pro review bonus: Nikon D200
Finally, the successor to the Nikon D100 makes the scene
with lots of impressive features and performance passed down from the D2X
By Joan T. Sherwood
I have been shooting with the Nikon D200 for a month now, and really I have mostly great things to say about it. Before the full review appears in the March issue of Professional Photographer, here are notes on the results of my initial experience with the camera using a Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED AF-S DX VR lens, which is an 11.1x zoom lens designed for everyday photography. It's NOT a pro-level zoom lens. In the action shots, I believe focus results would be much better with a fast, 2- to 3X zoom. (And I'm not a sports photographer.)
The Basics:
10.2 effective megapixel DX Format CCD creates maximum 3,872x2,592-pixel images,
JPEG FINE file sizes generally between 3-6MB, NEF files are in the 15MB range, 1.5X focal length conversion factor
Advanced Image Processing Engine same as the Nikon D2X with high-speed 4-channel data output;
new Optical Low Pass Filter to help prevent moire, color fringing and shifting, and improve resolving power
Storage: Compact Flash and microdrive, no secondary media slot; NEF (RAW) and JPEG files
ISO Sensitivity: 100 to 1600 in 1/3 or 1/2 steps; a boost up to 1 EV over 1600 is possible
Speed: Shutter speeds from 1/8,000 second to 30 seconds in 1/3 or 1/2 steps, bulb
Metering: 1,005 pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II; algorithms evaluate a large area of
highlight and shadow detail while the system references an onboard database of
exposure information from 30,000 actual images and makes instantaneous real-time
comparisons as part of its exposure determination
Autofocus: 11-area AF system, convertible to 7-wide area AF
Wireless: iTTL wireless Speedlight control built in (use the camera to control remote
Speedlights that are part of Nikon's Creative Lighting System); wireless image transfer
available with optional WT-3 Wireless Transmitter (slated for spring 2006 release)
Synch Contact: synch terminal built into the body, X-contact only,
flash synch up to 1/250 second; ISO 519 standard terminal
Flash: built-in flash GN 12/39 (ISO 100 m/ft); accessory shoe compatible with
SB series Speedlights, including SB800, SB600, 80DX, 28DX, 28, 27, 23, 22S, and 29S
Viewfinder: Type-B BriteView Clear Matte focusing screen Mark II with
superimposed focus brackets and on-demand grid lines; approximately
95% frame coverage; focus indicators include metering, AE/FV lock indicator,
flash sync, shutter speed, aperture, exposure/exposure compensation, ISO,
exposure mode, flash output level compensation, number of remaining exposures
LCD: 2.5-inch 230,000 dot, low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with brightness adjustment,
170-degree viewing angle from all directions
Playback options and information: full-frame, thumbnail (4 or 9 segments),
zoom, slideshow, RGB histogram, shooting data, highlight point display, auto image rotation
Lenses: Compatible with the digital-exclusive DX Nikkor lenses and the 35mm/digital compatible AF Nikkor System
Price: $1,699.95 (body only)
Visit the Nikon D200 product page on the web for a more complete specs listing.
I started out shooting before having cracked open the manual, everything set on auto, Program mode, Dynamic Area AF, Auto White Balance, and 3D matrix metering in Pattern mode, and letting the camera make all the decisions on a bright sunny afternoon. The event was the Peachbowl Parade, so I had both fast moving and relatively still subjects. The afternoon light was harsh, combined with heavy shadows from buildings along the parade route. In hindsight, I should have used a little exposure compensation to make allowances for all of the bright whites in the band uniforms.
All of the photos this article here were taken with the High ISO NR (Noise Reduction) set to Normal. Photos have been sized down to a maximum 600 pixels (bicubic sharper), and saved for the Web (medium quality 50) via Adobe Photoshop CS2. The images were captured in Adobe RGB color space, but the small images shown here were converted to an sRGB profile for better Web viewing; the downloadable originals have not been converted to a new color space. The JPEGs were created from NEF files via Nikon Capture Editor or captured simultaneously with NEF files. No sharpening has been applied unless otherwise noted. You will need Adobe Camera Raw 3.3 plug-in or Nikon Capture Editor to view the NEF files.
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.7MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/250 second at f/8
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Focal Length: 120mm
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.4MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/180 second at f/7.1
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Focal Length: 200mm
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.4MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/250 second at f/7.1
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Focal Length: 170mm
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.4MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/160 second at f/6.3
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Focal Length: 200mm
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.3MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/320 second at f/10
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Focal Length: 170mm
In Austin, Texas, before the IUSA Conference started, I took some very low-light images in an antique store on South Congress Avenue. The following images were taken hand-held at ISO 640. I used White Balance on Auto mode and got very warm results (evident in the downloadable JPEG). The light in that place was indeed extremely yellow, but the images look much more neutral on my calibrated monitor if I change the White Balance to Tungsten in Adobe Camera Raw.
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.5MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/125 second at f/5.3
Exposure Mode: Auto
ISO Speed Rating: 640
Metering Mode: Pattern
Focal Length: 170mm
Right-click the image and Save Link As or Download Image File
(or similar command) to download the full-size NEF (15.9MB).
©Joan T. Sherwood
Exposure: 1/25 second at f/5
Exposure Mode: Auto
ISO Speed Rating: 640
Metering Mode: Pattern
Focal Length: 75mm
In my next test shoot, it was a grey, overcast day, and I took photos of field practice for the Atlanta Xplosion, a women's professional full-contact football team. I took the opportunity to delve into the sophisticated Custom Settings menu that really shows the D200's ties to the Nikon D2X. Here you can custom design a slate of settings and give it a descriptive name like ACTION or FOCAL LOCK. You can edit the settings in your custom bank, or completely reset the bank and create an entirely new selection of settings. How great is that?
There are four banks with default names A, B, C, and D. It looks a little more complex than it really is. Once you've read a bit of the manual and worked with the Custom Settings, it's a huge feature for a pro photographer to have at her fingertips. The cusomizeable settings are broken down into six groups, designated by lowercase letters.
a: Autofocus
b: Metering/Exposure
c: Timers/AE&AF Lock
d: Shooting/Display
e: Bracketing/Flash
f: Controls.
When you go back to your custom settings, an asterisk next to the setting letter-number (e.g. a5 or b1) will let you know which ones are set to something other than the default.
Here's how I set my custom bank to use for the majority of the shoot:
a1: AF-C Mode Priority set to Focus, which means photos can only be taken when in-focus indicator is displayed. Keep in mind that what is in focus and what you want to be in focus are not necessarily always the same thing. Sometimes I'd be wanting eyes in focus and I'd get shirt in focus.
a5: Focus Tracking with Lock-On set to Long, which asks the camera to wait a "long" time before adjusting focus if the distance to the subject changes abruptly. This comes in handy when something or someone passes between the lens and the subject you're tracking. This worked well.
a7: AF Area Illumination set to On, which always highlights the focus area, regardless of brightness of the background. Frankly, I didn't really have any conscious awareness of this feature.
b1: ISO Sensitivity Auto Control set to On. With this, you're supposed to set your ISO to what you want, and if the camera thinks you need more to get the proper exposure, it will give it to you. I set my ISO a little high at 640 at first and then backed it down to 400. There was enough available light out on the field so that an ISO boost never kicked in during the shoot.
I set the VR lens on M/A (autofocus with manual priority), VR (Vibration Reduction) On, and the VR mode to Normal, which is better for panning, according to the instruction manual.
The Camera was set in Continuous-servo AF, and CH (Continuous High Speed) Shooting Mode. CH is supposed to give you an average of 5 frames per second with continuous-servo AF, manual or shutter-priority auto exposure, a shutter speed of 1/250 or faster, and memory remaining in the memory buffer. I got up to 5 frames per second (according to my metadata) in Program mode, capturing NEF+JPEG Fine at shutter speeds 1/250 second or faster and using a Lexar Professional 1GB 80X CompactFlash card with Write Acceleration.
I also took a custom White Balance that morning to use the White Balance Preset mode. Taking a custom white balance reading turned out to be not too complex, but it did require manual reading, took some timing, and involved flashing codes on the top LCD Control Panel. It took me a couple tries to get it right the first time I tried it.
©Joan T. Sherwood
©Joan T. Sherwood
great, even zoomed out to 200mm. The shot above was taken for 1/180 second at f/7.1, ISO sensitivity 400.
The top frame shows the full shot with no sharpening. The second frame shows the use of a scant 30%
strength level of sharpening for Display using nik Sharpener Pro 2.0, which really makes it pop.
The third shot is the 100% pixel view with no sharpening.
©Joan T. Sherwood
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Nikon D200's performance so far. I have yet to push the continuous shooting mode to see what my real-world results are. Nikon claims performance at 5 frames per second with bursts up to 37 JPEGs (Fine-Large) or 22 NEF (RAW) images. I also need to do some tripod and macro lens shooting before I feel I've really given the D200 a full test.
The Nikon D200 body (magnesium alloy chasis and enhanced sealing system) feels great in my smallish hands -- sturdy, but not like a brick. The start-up time is super fast at .15 seconds and shutter release lag time is quoted by Nikon as 50 milliseconds; I really have no way of measuring such tiny time lapses. I can say that it was ready as quickly as I could be ready to shoot. In fact, if I turn the camera on as I'm lifting it, the D200 is ready and waiting by the time I can put my eye to the viewfinder.
For me, the Menu interface is easy and intuitive. It's even got a Recent Settings selection on the main page that takes you to the last 12 menu items you accessed, and a Help menu that shares functionality with the Protect button next to the back LCD display. If you're looking through menu items and you're not exactly sure what a selection does, highlight it, press the Help button, and you get a more detailed explanation on the display screen.
My biggest frequent problem with the camera has been the hair-trigger response of the four-way rocker that you use to navigate the menu. Several times I feel like I've barely touched the thing and before I know it I've zoomed to three menu items past the one I was trying to select. This could be an issue that only shows up in random units, or it could be more universal.
One of my favorite functions is the Battery Info, also known as the Fuel Gauge, which tells you how many shots you've fired on a particular battery charge, and how much charge is left on the battery in a percent value. After 495 shots, my battery reads at 40%. Nikon says the EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery can deliver enough power for up to 1,800 images, but when you factor in the variables of driving a lens' zoom motor and using flash and viewing photos on the LCD, that Fuel Gauge is an excellent way to check to see if you've got enough power left to do what you want. It also reports the state of the life of your battery so that you'll be forewarned when your battery is about to reach the end of its effective charge-holding life and give up the ghost.
I also appreciate the ability to change the file naming system. Mine is set to use JTS instead of DSC in front of the sequence number. Now we just need to convince Nikon to add a YYYYMMDD variable to the name. I'm suppose there's some engineering hurdle that has prevented us from seeing that as an option already.