This camera is old and reviewed to death, so I’ll just limit myself to the observations I’ve made during the last 2 weeks, compared to my previous DSLR, the D40.
The camera is bigger and heavier than the D40, but not horribly so. It’s a bit harder to carry one-handed with curled fingers, and it feels fatter to hold. But this is outweighed (literally) by the feeling of quality and heft from the metal body. Very nice.
(Not so nice: the front rubber grip is starting to come loose, a very common problem on nearly all higher-end Nikons).
The shutter release and sound is much more distinct, and the added weight seems to help in keeping the camera steady.
Controls — oh my! It’s a joy to be able to change ISO, filesize, metering pattern, whitebalance etc with just a button press and some command dial fiddling. Actually, the only things really lacking in the D40 are
- AF (pretty big)
- bracketing (nothing I use)
- depth-of-field preview and mirror lockup
- two command dials
Otherwise the cameras have much the same feature set. But the D200 is much more convenient to use once to move out of the “auto-everything” comfort zone, just because everything is accessible.
Autofocus — yum. I’ve discovered that going manual focus for its own sake is just a waste of time. If your lens can AF, use it. I’ve been using the AF-ON button to AF and decoupling AF from the shutter release, it’s working fine so far.
Exposure — in today’s tech-heavy photo world, you tend to miss the really important things, such as the fact that the Matrix exposure in Nikon’s DSLRs is really really good. This said, the D200 is better than the D40. There’s none of the weird overexposure that the D40 used to expose for the shadows. The D200 usually nails the shot.
Flash — the built-in one on the D200 is pretty anemic. Of course this shows mostly in indoor shots when the built-in looks like crap anyway, I haven’t had the opportunity to try fill-flash. But the D40’s flash was better.
Lens compatibility — no contest. The D200 wins hands down. Not only does it autofocus with all AF lenses (not just the latest ones with internal motors), you also get metering with manual focus lenses (AI spec or later). While the D40’s simplified mount means it has an amazing mount compatibility, it won’t meter with any lens that doesn’t have a CPU. Going meterless is fun, sure, but it’s not fun for action shots where the light changes fast.
After two weeks with the D200 I’m very happy with it. It’s certainly not as easy to use as the D40, but if you have a modicum of knowledge and patience it’s a fine photographic tool.