D200 just got cheaper !

[Biscuit761]

Am currently considering a D200 which I have seen second hand with 6 months warranty for £599 as a few of you are already aware of - many thanks by the way to Tonto, JMB and others for PM's on this subject.

Had a bit of inspiration this morning (well lunch time actually if the boss is looking) - phoned Jessops and explained what I could get a s/h one for in the same town, what could they do for a new one ?

£651.57 sir was the answer !!!

Thats £100 less than one-stop, sounds like a bargain.

Only problem is that someone came into work today with a D300 and I had an extensive play (well 10 mins). It feels and looks superb, the viewfinder is huge and bright and I suddenly don't really want a D200 anymore (although may still end up with one)

One-Stop are doing the D300 for just over £1000 so still silly money but if I bought the D200 now would I be wishing I had paid that bit more in a few weeks ?

May either go for a new lens (like the Nikon 80 - 200 F2.8 as an option) or go just part of the way by going to the D80 and a Sigma 10 - 20 for now.

Wait and see if there is a bonus this year.

Bill

[Yandros]

The dreaded 'mission creep' begins....D80->D200->D300

Why not just say oh s*d it and get a D3?

The main thing I'd say about the D300 is that it's sounding like a much more capable low light camera than the D200, to the tune of about 1-1.5 stops. You've got to be VERY careful about going over 800ISO on the D200, whearas 1600 is looking useable on the D300.

[monkeyboy69]

This is something I've been thinking about more and more myself, do i go for the 300 or get another 200 as a backup.
I went to a d300 demo the other week and had a good play with the new fella.
Yes the 300 has a few more in camera features and can make a good workflow quicker should you decide to shoot jpeg, but if you're shooting raw this does exclude a lot of the factors theyve included.
Currently apart from a better higher iso/ lower noise output and a slightly higher pixel amount, I couldnt understand why I'd spend that much more on the new body, but hey im open to persuasion I just havent convinced myself its the right move to make when I can get decent shots inside already with a 2.8F 70-200 lens on the front.

[tontoshorse]

Bill, you've got a very bad dose of upgradeitus!

If you've played with the D3££ and now lust after one why not keep your D50, buy a couple of nice lenses (10-20mmmmm) and save up?

You'll not be happy with the D200, but thats an amazing price for Jessops.

[py6km]

I think you should be able to get a good D200 on ebay for a little over £500 - many on there are still in warranty as lots of people are trading up to the D300.

I sold mine on there yesterday for £560 (and it was a year old), so I got a very good price, but there are cheaper ones around on there (including many with the grip).

In terms of the D300, I'm very pleased with it, and would say that it's a decent step up from the D200. Autofocus is marginally faster, but appears more accurate. I've had a play in low light, and in the conditions I was in at the time the images I took at ISO 3200 looked to me as good as my D200 on ISO 1000-1200. Different conditions may give different results, but I'm pleased with this performance so far. As you say, the screen is excellent, and really allows you to make a call on focus which you couldn't practically do on the D200 (or many other cameras).

Had a play with the 51 point 3D tracking, and it's quite impressive. It basically locks onto a particular colour in the focus point you select, and then tracks that if it moves. I tried it very low light, and it worked well. I can imagine that in better conditions it would be very good, but only time will tell how good the software is at discriminating between a colour you want to lock onto and background in tough conditions. It seems to pick up faces extremely well (but that appears to be able to be over ridden). Have I convinced you yet !

Not had a chance to properly play with Live View yet - my feeling is that it's more of a toy than a useful tool (except for tripod work, when it could prove valuable).

The D200 is really an excellent bit of kit, and now would be a good time to get one, but only if you intend to keep it for at least a year I would say. I'd probably be inclined to wait until after xmas and see if the price of the D300 comes down any more and get that instead to be honest.