Nikon D200

reply on January 7, 2006 by LouCutrone

Dear Bruce, I am returning my Nikon D200 and 18-200 VR lens to Ritz Camera as I am completely dissatisfied with image quality and battery life. Pictures that should be in complete focus appear, blurred, soft and muddled . . color is drab, poorly saturated, algorithyms don't work well in Photoshop and so phtos are hard to correct. Battery lasted for about 150 shots(maybe) whereas my D70 never ran out of battery power . . . the D200 actually shut down during image transfer to my computer and I lost images!! In short, i don't like the camera. Its heavy and behaves strangley for me . .The touted improvements in megapixels, focusing engine etc don't translate into better photos for me and so the price differnce between the D70s and the D200 just isn't worth it, particularly since I got much better photos with the D70! (I wish i hadn't sold it!!) . But I will say the D200 is built like a tank, but then again I always babied my D70 which by the way held up great in the jungles and rainforests of Costa Rica with contant rain and heavy humidity! Many of my D70 Costa Rica pics are magazine quality as you saw when you visited my office. I've now taken over 300 pictures with the D200 and not one is a keeper . . My kids and girlfriendactually liked my Canon SD200 ($250 camera) shots better than the D200 pics and so did I!!. I've compared my D200 pics to my D70 pics and hands down my D70 kicked butt. <br><br>Bottom line, I'd wait a while before dumping your D70 to see what prosumers/consumers will luttimately say about the D200. Nikon says you get some 1800 shots per battery charge but I was lucky to get 150 . . . For the life of me I can't figure out why my D200 images are so poor . . I am using the same lenses, 50mm F1.4, 105mm F2.8, 85mm F1.2, 28mm, F2.8 and all are Nikon AF lenses in mint condition, usually very, very sharp!. I don't get it. Anyway, the D200 and 18-200 will go back. I can always repurchase them if I choose to do so down the line once the camera has been in the field for a while and consumers/prosumers have really put it through its paces . . For me, right now, I miss my D70 and the $2500 i spendtto acquire the D200/18-200 combo . . I will most likely buy a D70s outfit with the 18-70mm DX lens which I liked a lot . . . <br><br>Talk to you soon<br><br>LOU