kenneth_rhee

<i>"the 17-55mm was well worth buying for me. with your budget, i'd get that and the 70-210mm 'D' version and with the change, get an SB-800 and you are on a good start......if you do street shooting, tight indoors and the like, go for combo #3. just bear in mind that the 18-200mm VR is a slow lens."</i>

 

 

I don't know where you shop, but he only has $1500 to spend. Between 17-55 (about $1200) and SB-800 (about $320), you are already over the budget. That's not including shipping (and tax if bought within state).

I would go with #1 or #3. #1 would give you 26-82.5mm (35mm), and that would reproduce a popular 28-75(80) range. If you need more zoom, then I would go with #3. 18-200 is an excellent all-in-one lens (I use it all the time even though I got more expensive lenses since it's on my D200 most of the time), and if I need a little extra wide, Tokina would do nicely.

That's strange. You shouldn't have any problem with the card. In fact, you shouldn't have to format the card for the first time since most cards come formatted.

 

My suggestion would be to try to read the card with a card reader and see if you can also format the card.

 

It is probably the case the card might be defective, but you won't be able to tell unless you tried the card in other media.

The price will eventually drop but not so in the near future. It's still hard to get the D200, and there are still people waiting to get the camera. Perhaps by this late spring, the supply problem will be solved, and you might see a little discount by the vendors ($1659 for instance). It will probably drop to $1499 range in about a year to 18 months, but why wait. It's such a great camera that extra few hundred dollars for the use for one year to me is definitely worth the extra cost. BTW, the D200 is a different league than the 30D, and it's closer to the Canon 5D (sans full sensor) which costs close to $3000.

I'm not sure why you can't get a sharp picture out of the D200, but if you are new to Nikon Dslr, then I would suggest spending more than a week before making that judgment. Are you taking your pics in RAW or JPEG's by the way?

 

I for one had no problem taking sharp pictures in my D200.

Good luck. Personally, I think you are simply throwing money away by doing this. Given that you already have 80-200 Nikon, with less than $200 with Tamron or Kenko 1.4 teleconverter, you could have 2.8 lens that reaches up to 300mm in Dx format, and then 4.0 lens that goes to 420mm with the teleconverter (w/o any noticeable loss in quality).

Tamron AP converter seems to be superior to Nikon teleconverters BTW.

 

Check it out at here: http://www.nikonlinks.com/articles_teleconverter_review.htm

I haven't tried the Sigma, but Nikon 80-200 is one of the best zooms in that range (sans 70-200 VR). What I did was I got Tamron's 1.4x which made the lens made the lens 170 to 420 in my D200 at f4 for less than $200 without any noticeable change in the sharpness. This way I have the best of both rather than settling for something less.

Check out this review: http://www.bythom.com/1835lens.htm

 

Bear in mind that once you are using this lens with the Dx sensor, all his reservations about the lens disappear and making this lens "equivalent" to 17-35mm except 2.8 f/stop and 1mm difference at wide end.

Why not buy the Nikon 18-35mm instead? It should be little less than $500 brand new USA. I've compared the two when I bought mine, and besides the f/stop difference and build-quality, I couldn't tell the difference between the two lens with my D200. It was a bargain as far as I was concerend.

I don't have the D70s; so, I don't know, but the best way is to check your manual for compatible lenses and TC. For instance, the TC16a does not provide auto focus or 3D matrix metering with the D200. At this point, unless you use Nikon AF-S lenses exclusively, you have to go to the third-party vendor to get AF and 3D metering (e.g., Tamron, or Kenko).

I get great results with Tamron 1.4 SP TC with my 80-200 2.8. Make sure you get the SP version.

If you want something wider than 18mm, then there are a few options. Nikon 12-24, Tokina 12-24, Sigma 10-20, Tamron 11-18.

 

I think Tokina is the best bet if you are on the budget. I got one over Nikon since I didn't see any difference between the two except Tokina flares a bit more and Nikon might be a tad sharper at few f-stops on corners, but even if you blow up 20x30, it's not really an issue.

Actually Canon

This comes from default in-camera JPEG processing. Unlike its competitor who thinks its users don't really know what they are doing and thus tries to take care of them up front, Nikon is treating its users as "professionals" who know how to process digital imaging. I'm not trying to disparage "C" users here, but the way "C" decides to operate. It's always better to sharpen the image in post-processing since once sharpened image leaves the camera, it's hard to revert sharpening. If you feel you must do this in camera, then you can turn up the default sharpening in camera, and that should make your pictures as sharp as what you get from "C."

My understanding is on a rare ocassion, B&H takes backorders, but otherwise, you would have to order when they have them in stock. I would suggest you bookmark the page and check daily to see if they have them in stock.

I think I need more info before I can recommend.

 

Which kit lens are you talking about 18-55 or 18-70. If it's 18-70, I'm surprised at what you are saying about soft images. How are you post-processing these files? What format are you using (RAW, JPEG)?

<i>The Nikon 18- 70 is a good price, but I've read about its (relatively) poor optical quality and vignetting problems</i>

<p>

I wonder where you got this from. The lens is probably best at that range that costs less than $500.</p>

I think it's pretty clear Nikon won't introduce the Dslr with a 35mm size sensor (I still think full frame is a misnomer since full frame to what) in any time in the next few years. My prediction is we will get D3H with a 10+ megapixel sensor and D3x will probably come with enhancements (such as better high ISO performance) and might be a slight increase in megapixels (I think 12.4 is pretty high given the current Dx sensor technology, but Sony just released a new sensor technology; so, you never know).

The autorotate should work fine as per instructions above. Never had a problem with it.

 

Also any new lithium battery needs to charge a few times before it'll show its full strength. However, given the larger LCD screen and frequent use, you can't expect the battery to last the same as the D70's.

Nikon never stopped shipping the D200. There have been a number of stores that always had some body for the last few months (Circuity City and BestBuy for example). Also they were shipping the D200 kits with 18-70mm lens, and they are in good supply as far as I can tell.

I had the Tamron 28-70 2.8 before I got the Nikon 35-70 2.8. If I were, I would grab the Nikon lens before Nikon stop making this. Tamron was a good lens, but this Nikon lens is fabulous. Great contrast, sharpness. . .It's a bit more expensive than the rest, but it's worth it.

In film, you had to develop the film and process/print the prints. In digital, I think of post-processing as being similar to film development/processing. Rather than thinking of this as a disadvantage, think of this as an advantage that we have in digital over film.

 

Also if you shoot in RAW rather than JPEG, you would need post-processing (RAW conversion) in order to print out your pictures anyway.

"I really wonder how many units are affected. If it isn't big percentage then why would nikon make such statement? It will slow down sale most definitely. This does not look good..."

 

My perspective is actually different. I think this gives Nikon the integrity to own up to the problem rather than sliding it under the rug. Besides, there has been a lot of pressure from the forum users for Nikon to own up to the banding issue. Personally, I think the issue has blown a way over proportion. BTW, I'm not saying the issue doesn't exist or mitigating the problem for those who had this problem.

I was on the waiting list for Adorama and J&R, but eventually found one at BestBuy.com toward the end of Jan. I got it on sale; so, the total price was the same as if I ordered from Adorama even with tax. Good luck.