hal silverman

OK....

I have had my D200 for a week and a half, and have pretty close to 20 gigs worth of raw

files.

I am wrapping up a big job, shooting everything from studio high-key to location factory

warehouse situations. NOT ONE FILE has exhibited any banding. Everything was shot at the

lowest ISO setting, raw, sharpness off and properly exposed with a wide array of lenses.

Still, the only problem I am having is shooting tethered, and getting the images to show

up quickly. I think the Nikon Capture is a tank. Bibble gets the images in quickly. It is an

OK program. I am also testing the Beta of Adobe Lightroom. Can't shoot to it YET, but the

editing capabilites are tremendous. I can honestly say that this camera has brought back

the joy in shooting!

Rarely do I contribute to threads, but I read them constantly.

I am a commercial photographer of 25 years, shooting digitally for the last nine. I shoot

with a scanning back on a Sinar, 2 1/4 back on a Hasselblad and 35mm style single lens

reflex...Kodak 760.

In November I had the opportunity to test a Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and Nikon D2H. I

shot them side by side under my normal lighting/studio conditions.....product tabletop,

model/product, fine detail elements on a neutral gradated backgroung. There were

plusses and minuses with both cameras.

The Nikon outperformed the Canon with superior image quality. The Canon could not hold

the subtle gradations...BANDING. Both cameras produced good color/detail right out of

the box. The Nikon took forever to transfer the file to the computer(30 sec.) I also found

the Nikon software less than efficient...clunky would be a good descriptive.

Three weeks ago, I tested a D200 under the same circumstances as above. I was

absolutely blown away. The file quality and transfer rate was superior. The Nikon software

performed the same. But with the image results I got and the price point of the camera, I

ordered one on the spot and should receive the body this coming week.

I'll keep you posted.

Regards,

Hal