[Steve]

Nikon launches the D200 Bridging the gap between professionals and enthusiasts

Available: End of December 2005
RRP: Guide price

D200 body only £1299.99 / €1940
D200 & 18-70mm £1499.99 / €2240
D200 & 17-55mm £2299.99 / €3435

Nikon launches its powerful, feature-packed D200 digital SLR camera, delivering a high-precision, high-performance package and creating a new class of camera between entry-level and professional digital SLRs.

The Nikon D200 combines the solid look and feel and advanced camera operation of Nikon’s D2 professional series with the approved user-friendliness and stunning image quality that are the hallmarks of all Nikon digital SLRs.
The D200 has been crafted to connect a range of newly developed Nikon technologies with advanced features inherited from the Nikon D2x, ensuring an ultimate shooting experience with exceptional and versatile imaging performance, high speed and an instant response. The result is a blend of superb features, high quality components and fantastic results.

This combination makes the D200 perfect for passionate, dedicated amateur photographers, business users in fields such as the police, dentistry and museums and professionals or semi-professionals looking for a second camera to complement their Nikon D2x or D2Hs.

Solid look and feel

The D200 boasts a lightweight, yet durable and robust magnesium alloy body and an advanced sealing system that protects the camera from moisture and dust, making it suitable for a range of rigorous and challenging assignments. The integrated double-bladed shutter, which incorporates a refined mirror balance system, has been tested to well in excess of 100,000 cycles.

Advanced operation

The D200’s camera operation is inherited from the Nikon D2x, and boasts more than 40 well organised custom settings, so it is ideally suited to the user’s needs and preferences. The large, bright viewfinder offers a great 0,94x magnification and 95% frame coverage both horizontally and vertically to guarantee exceptionally detailed viewing control.

A 2.5 inch high resolution LCD screen provides an ultra-wide 170° viewing angle from all directions. Images on the D200 can be magnified by up to 400% so users can check for fine detail, adding to the rich and varied experience.
The top LCD panel is the largest in the industry, containing a wealth of data such as shooting mode, battery condition, card information, gridline display, shutter speed, F stop and shots remaining. A new colour-coded menu display facilitates easy viewing, supported by intuitive keywords to assist speedy navigation.

The newly-developed high-energy EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery delivers enough power to the D200 to support the shooting of up to 1,800 images on a single charge, which takes no longer than 2.5 hours. Battery status can be checked through a real-time fuel gauge system, found in the menu. An optional MB-D200 battery pack extends shooting capability, using AA-size batteries (six are needed) or two NE-EL3e’s.

Ultimate shooting experience

The D200 is ideal for capturing unexpected or fleeting moments, thanks to the 0.15 second power-up, a speedy shutter lag time of just 50 milliseconds and a shortened viewfinder blackout time of 105 milliseconds.
The D200 is also capable of ultra high-speed continuous shooting of five frames per second, capturing up to 37* pictures in JPEG or 22* in RAW format. A newly developed and highly flexible Multi - CAM1000 Autofocus features a pinpoint 11-area AF system inherited from Nikon D2 series as well as a 7-wide area AF to focus on larger moving objects easily.

*When using a SanDisk SDCFH (Ultra II) or SDCFX (Extreme III) 1GB CF card.
Another feature inherited from the D2X is the 3D-Colour Matrix Metering II, which delivers optimised exposure using new technology developed for the Nikon 1,005 pixel RGB exposure/Colour Matrix Metering sensor. This system evaluates seven parameters in every shot – including brightness, colour, contrast, selected focus area, camera-to-subject distance - and references this data against an on-board database of over 30,000 actual photographic scenes to instantly and accurately calculate the final value.

Professional results

A fundamental feature of the D200 is a newly developed 10.2 effective megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor that captures high level sharpness and colour at 3,872 x 2,592 pixels size – delivering the right resolution to support significant image enlargements and enable greater freedom for creative cropping. The highly sensitive new sensor covers an ISO range from 100 – 1600, rising to 3200 in Hi-1.

High speed image processing is inherited from the Nikon D2x, guaranteeing fine colour gradations and smooth transitions. A new Optical Low Pass Filter helps prevent moiré, colour fringing and shifting to get even greater colours.
For added control, saturation and highlights of a shot can be controlled easily using the D200’s RBG histograms on the LCD monitor.

In addition, new image optimisation modes enable D200 users to produce results that more closely match their intended results, with the ability to optimise sharpening, tone and contrast, colour, saturation and hue in choices including Softer, Normal, More vivid, Portrait and Black and White in-camera.

Unparalleled possibilities

Like all Nikon digital SLR cameras, the D200 is compatible with Nikon’s Total Imaging System which means it can be teamed with over 50 high quality AF Nikkor lenses, including renowned DX Nikkors as well as non-CPU lenses. It also opens up the creative possibilities that can achieved with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System thanks to a built-in i-TTL Speedlight which can serve as master in Advanced Wireless Lighting systems.

The D200 incorporates an x-Sync terminal to connect to studio lighting and features GPS support to record geographical data of the shot, as well as wireless functionality for image capture and transfer.


More information and the full press release available from Nikon


Many thanks to Sonsey for bringing this news release to my attention.

[dod]

that looks to be serious competition for the 20D, if I was in the market that would be seriously considered

[CT]

Anybody not committed to a particular system has got to look at the D200 very hard - that's a fantastic spec at that pricepoint.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by CT

Anybody not committed to a particular system has got to look at the D200 very hard - that's a fantastic spec at that pricepoint.

I agree, weather sealing, 10mp, loads of custom functions, magnesium body and the quality will be excellent. Its a great package at a great price point, even more so if you import.

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by Steve

Many thanks to Sonsey for bringing this news release to my attention.

Your very welcome Steve

[Dave]

Originally Posted by dod

that looks to be serious competition for the 20D, if I was in the market that would be seriously considered

Spec wise yes, but not price wise.....£850 for 20D at the mo. I'm sure it will take a while for any deals on D200, so potentially £400+ diff

[Sonsey]

What's the betting that Canon will announce the replacement to the 20D before the Nikon D200 hits the streets?

[Steve]

Originally Posted by DJW

Spec wise yes, but not price wise.....£850 for 20D at the mo. I'm sure it will take a while for any deals on D200, so potentially £400+ diff

higher resolution and weather sealing make it worth the difference plus if you import it it will be cheaper. Also you are comparing brand new technology against old technology..the new is bound to be top price and the Canon is now discounted. The 20D was £1299 when it was first released.

[Venomator]

Thanx for the HU Steve (Sonsey !) - excellent news !

This is what all nikonians have been waiting for surely !

Anyone want a brand (nearly !) new D70s ...

[Dave]

20 page review here