Nikon D200

Look like Nikon will officially announce a Nikon D200 dSLR on November 1st at the same time as a new Nikkor 18-200DX VR lens and new macro ring flash. Camera should be available sometimes in December. I had a chance to play with a preproduction sample o fthe 18-200DX VR lens and D200 at my local Nikon distributer last week and it seems very nice.
Definitely something worth looking at if you want something better than D70s but not as big or expensive as D2X. Also people who are interested in Canon 5D should take a look as well (if you are not already invested in all the Canon lenses) as it is a bit cheaper and feature wise, should compete very well with 5D (leaving out full frame vs cropped sensor for the moment).

Looks similar to the D70. Should be interesting...

It has magnesium alloy body so it feels a lot heftier than the D70s. The size is quite similar but buttons are not the same so it will definitely require a new housing.
The 18-200DX VR is also quite nice, not quite as good as the 70-200 VR but I think should be a significantly improvement over the 18-70DX and 55-200DX but also quite a bit more expensive.
The viewfinder is also quite a bit bigger than D70s.

ssra30:

It has magnesium alloy body so it feels a lot heftier than the D70s. The size is quite similar but buttons are not the same so it will definitely require a new housing.
The 18-200DX VR is also quite nice, not quite as good as the 70-200 VR but I think should be a significantly improvement over the 18-70DX and 55-200DX but also quite a bit more expensive.
The viewfinder is also quite a bit bigger than D70s.

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Nice, but I own 3 D100s, so i will not be getting one of these D200s

Big view finder and large LCD. good for the visually impaired like me. Great focussystem too and nice small rechargable batteries

As for the D100, although a very nice camera, its time is up. the D70s improved on the D100 as well as my Fuji S2. The D200 has addressed the shortfalls of the D70. This will be my next UW camera for sure!

I am very happy that the camera is not a big bulky unit like the D2 or the Canon 1D. this will help a lot with traveling where the airlines are doing their best to make my life difficult.

Chris Bangs:

Big view finder and large LCD. good for the visually impaired like me.
I am very happy that the camera is not a big bulky unit like the D2 or the Canon 1D. this will help a lot with traveling where the airlines are doing their best to make my life difficult.

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Yes, I almost am very tempted as it would be nice not to have to carry my D2X everywhere.
However, for now if I am going to get a second body, I think I better stick with a D2X so I can have a backup body when I go diving. Unfortunately the price of D200 and housing will cost more than another D2X body otherwise I might be very tempted to get one

Do you know the MP & MSRP?


Dave

Today November 1st, there should be an official announcement from Nikon Japan. There are already a lot of leaks some true some not true about the camera. I was asked not to give any spec until the official announcement but since it is today, I guess it is ok
10.2 mp CCD, 5 FPS, iso 100-1600 with a special mode to go upto 3200, flash sync speed of 1/250s. The official price is not announced yet but in Thailand, it is expected to be around $US2500 give or take a bit. When first released, D70 in Thailand was a couple of hundreds dollars more than the US but D2X was the same price. I imagine that in the US, it should be closer to $2000 but some sites claimed around $US 1700 for the price.
We should hear something pretty soon.

The D200 has been officially announced. Here is a detailed preview:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond200/

Assuming it shoots as good as the specs look, which I'd bet on....

Priced at $1700!! Not bad.... and that price will fall likely to under $1500 within six months (big guess on my part).

I'll be keeping the D1x most likely, but the is too good to NOT get. I'll likely wait until after the initial wave of consumers buys up the first batch. That will give the price time to settle down, and any defects time to surface. However Nikon is excellent at NOT putting out defective bodies, but no manufacture is perfect.

This camera is basically a D2x minus 2mpix, and the crop mode. I can not think of a reason an UW shooter would even consider the D2x after this camera is available as there is really nothing that the UW shooter would need that this camera does not offer...

Quote from DPREVIEW:
"It would be fair to describe the D200 as a 'compact D2X', while some features have been removed to preserve the D2X's uniqueness you would be hard pressed to find a situation (other than high-speed crop continuous shooting) where the D200 couldn't stand up to its bigger brother."

Of course this assumes that the 10mpix chip is of the same quality as the D2x.. if not all bets are off....This is a CCD sensor vs. the D2x CMOS, so only time will tell...

I'm looking forward to some samples, and an in depth review.. my bet.. highly recommended and a BIG seller.