Got new D200 today

I'm very excited, but overwhelmed! I have a bit of reading to get through

with the manual. It was such a long time ago that I looked at this camera,

and now I own one. I'm used to the D70 and D70s, so the D200 seems so big in

my hands compared! But I'm excited to finally have it and thought I'd

share :o)

It's a wonderful camera- have a ball! Do yourself a big favor and buy Thom Hogan's CD "Complete Guide to the Nikon D200". See www.bythom.com for information (no connection- just a satisfied customer). Cheers- Bob

Congrats- it's a great machine. I was a bit overwhelmed, and still can't remember everything. After a series of more-or-less controlled experiments, I settled on color mode I, +1 on the sharpening, 0 tone (not auto), 0 saturation, 0 hue. Set a2 mode priority to focus, not release. I use fine jpegs, with jpeg compression set to optimal quality, not size priority. That gives me excellent out-of-camera results in terms of natural color rendition. There are a ton of interacting auto focus settings, so read Thom's book and/or check out the note at the Nikonion.org site on how the autofocus works. Shot the following at a wedding a week or two ago, using the above settings. Minimal processing, though the smoothness of the tones is completely lost in the small file. The full size file, even with the square crop, is unbelievable. ISO400, available evening light.<div></div>

Of course, no photo is truly complete without a post growing out of the subjects head...

Conrad...hahahaha...so true!

Conrad: As a Hasselblad finatic, your image points out that the D200 gives medium format a run for its money. The D200 is so good that I have a heck of a time figuring out which digital shots are with my Hasselblad and scanned, and which are with the D200.

 

Laura: Congrats. It's been one of my favorite Nikons since I got it in December and even though an early one, I've had no troubles with it at all. It always delivers shots with stunning color and sharpness.

I recently (four months ago) made the transition from the D70 to the D200. You will be amazed at how easy the transition is.

 

And the D200 is orders of magnitude superior the the D70's.

 

Just enjoy the camera. Using it is a pleasure.

I have to agree with Gerald. I find my D200 far easier to use than my d70...to the point where in the past couple of months I have been shooting entirely in manual format, except in situations that demand faster CPU than my brain...like rapid action shooting..

 

steven

The D200 IS orders of magnitude better than the D70. But what I really meant to say was that its MANUAL is better.