I bought it back in 2012 for aprx. 250 € because i wanted a Nikon DX
body to hold my Nikkor 40mm lens. i chose this camera, because it had a
Nikon mount, was cheap and i thought it was a good camera. Back then 10
MP already where already considered not much. the camera which i had
before (Pentax K10D) had the same Sensor (10MP CCD Sony) and made even
slightly better pictures with it, so it didnt feel really like an
improvement camerawise , but the 40mm made all the
difference. i never regreted the purchase.
The rubber parts are going off on most "pro" units. this is on
purpose by nikon. they claim that this is inevitably. but
it is possible to glue it back with a strong adhesive like i did. it is
necessary to cut the rubber back too, because it tends to extend too,
so it wont fit in anymore, unless you cut it back. i
lost the rubber part on tha back of my D200. so i replaced it with with
a piece of leather. no problem.
i glued a piece of leather on my D200 to replace a piece of rubber wich fell off.
i glued back the grip on my D200 with a stron glue.
i glued the bottom rubber back too. looks awful, but works fine.
What i like:
if it gets enough light it is capaple of producing images with a
neutral tendernes and balanced colorrichness which is just plain
beautiful and caressing to your eyes. the pictures have such a gentle
natural awesomeness. it is really great. especially if you use flashes.
constructed to very high standards.
it has very good ergonomics. in fact the best ergonomics of any camera i ever used.
Here a comparision of the grip D200(left)/D700(right): i think that the
D200 has an better ergonomic than the D700. this is because the D700
has to integrate a bigger screen in a more or less identical sized
body. therefore the thumbbutton had to move to the right. this results
in less space for the thumb.
My thumb on
the D200
My thum on the D700
notice, that my thumb rests more
confortable on the D200. On the D700 on the other side my thumb is
somewhat squeezed. Doesnt feel very comfortable.
What i dont like:
low dynamic range,
useable only up to ISO 400(800)
the rubber of the grip tends to go off. this is true for every "pro"
grade Nikon camera since the F100. but that can be glued back with a
strong glue.
My recommendation:
in combination with flashes it is even today (2019) a camera, that can impress
thanks to its beautiful CCD Sensor. not so much for available light
photography or for high dynamic range.
you decide!
btw: the pictures on this site where made with the Sony RX100. This is
a capable camera i n general but i have to notice the softness of the
lens at 18mm, wide open and close up pictures. the Micro Nikkor 40mm is
much better in this regard.
