View Full Version : Nikon D200 for $599 at Best Buy
Best Buy Link (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7633313&st=7633313&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1130987191339)
I figured I had to share this deal somewhere here (even though it's basically an ad) since I know there are a lot of camera geeks out there. Yes this camera is a four year old model. Yes it's not even made anymore, but it's the same price as a D60. :o
Maybe we can expand the Nova Bazaar to include one sticky "Hot Deals" thread or something?
ThunderPoit
2009-02-24, 07:49
got me all excited until i saw it was body only :P
the lens that they show with it would add another 500-600 to the price tag.
Nice find tho. I just bought a D40 two weeks ago.
Must have been a typo, because its they changed it to $799.
Must have been a typo, because its they changed it to $799.
"See price in cart"
Dorian Gray
2009-02-24, 18:54
That is a seriously good price for a new D200! But it says it's sold out online.
I have a D60 with a similar sensor (and little else similar), and the sensor gives little away to anything on the market except full-frame, even today. High-ISO noise is higher than the CMOS sensors, but low-ISO noise is perhaps even lower, and overall image quality is superb.
That is a seriously good price for a new D200! But it says it's sold out online.
Yeah I expected it to sell out within hours of being posted on the bargain/coupon websites. The price is amazing no matter how you spin it. I paid $1800 for mine less than 1.5 years ago.
From what I've heard, other than better controls, the D80/60 is better. I've heard some pros say that they would use the D80 to ISO 800, but the D200 only up to ISO400!
From what I've heard, other than better controls, the D80/60 is better. I've heard some pros say that they would use the D80 to ISO 800, but the D200 only up to ISO400!
The D80 uses the exact same sensor as the D200, except with half the ADCs, so I your pro acquaintances are basically making shit up. In the end the EXPEED in the D60 might provide a hair better in-camera noise-reduction and processing to JPEG, but then you're discounting the long list of pro features on the D200 that put it closer to it's successor (D300).
I am aware it is the same sensor, which made me think what they said was BS, but you never know.
BTW, since you have the D200, or had it, other than the differnent placement of ISO/shooting mode controls, what is the main advantage of the D200 over the D80? Is the screw motar driver faster? I know one is the ability to meter AI-S lenses, which might be nice. I'm asking because I have thought of picking up a lightly used model, and using my D80 for a backup.
I am aware it is the same sensor, which made me think what they said was BS, but you never know.
BTW, since you have the D200, or had it, other than the differnent placement of ISO/shooting mode controls, what is the main advantage of the D200 over the D80? Is the screw motar driver faster? I know one is the ability to meter AI-S lenses, which might be nice. I'm asking because I have thought of picking up a lightly used model, and using my D80 for a backup.
It's just a beefier camera overall, with better electronics surrounding the CCD itself. Like I said, it has double the ADCs, which means better FPS and shutter speeds. You also have more options in terms of strobes because of the flash sync connector. And best of all, the D200 actually has a CF slot... :err: There's also a lot more manual control available through the LCD/dials that you can save to different profiles. I'm not sure if the D80 supports making 4 custom shooting profiles. It's really convenient for going from outdoor to indoor shooting, and when I just want to use auto-ISO with a press of a single button.
I'm not familiar with the term ADCs, what is that? Is that something to do with the how many actions the shutter is designed to take? I find the D80 a light small to grip, which is another factor in my thinking. Might be a while, but changes that are taking place at work may accelerate my drive into photography professionally.
I've never used CF cards, but I'm assuming CF is a lot faster? I know that CF card slots are more prone to failure than SD slots, which is one reason I got a D80 over a used D200 in the first place. Having more external flash controls might be nice, but I've been satisfied with the SB-800 and used it in wireless mode when more than one flash has been needed.
Dorian Gray
2009-02-25, 13:02
An ADC is an analogue-to-digital converter. They're used in cameras to convert the signal from the analogue chip (CCD) to a discrete value which expresses the brightness of the pixel in question.
ADCs add noise, and they add more noise if they run faster (other things being equal). If you want to take more photos per second you either need faster ADCs to read out the millions of pixel values per second, or more of them, with the latter adding less noise. The D200 has more of them than the D60 or D80.
If you don't particularly care how many frames per second you shoot, as I don't, then it's pretty irrelevant. The best features of the D200 to me are its robust build and materials, metering with AI lenses, and great viewfinder (compared to the D60; the D80 has the same viewfinder as the D200).
CompactFlash cards can be faster than SD, but you'd need a camera with UDMA support (e.g. D300 or 50D, not D200 or 40D) to really benefit. CF cards don't have DRM, unlike Secure Digital cards, but SD cards never use it anyway so it's pretty irrelevant. I doubt there's a significant difference in reliability.
In the end the EXPEED in the D60 might provide a hair better in-camera noise-reduction and processing to JPEG
EXPEED is marketed as a magic chip or something, but it's just a woolly concept that's difficult to pin down. As you suggest, it only messes with JPEG anyway, and guess what? JPEG is a waste of time on the D60 because you're forced to shoot JPEG Basic if you want to shoot raw at the same time. Therefore I shoot raw only (which has an embedded JPEG Basic anyway) and presumably don't benefit at all from EXPEED.
Yeah, EXPEED is nice if you use the in Camera RAW editor or shoot jpeg, but otherwise useless.
Ah, maybe the faster ADC and higher noise in continuous shooting is why some of the people I talked to said they didn't use it over ISO400? I do shoot continuous, but honestly not that much in spite of the fact I shoot birds. I find that the shooting speed of the D80 is fast enough for me, so that wouldn't be a driving factor.
Build quality, slightly larger grip, weather/dust reistance would be the primary reasons for my moving up into the Dxxx range over the Dxx range. I will most likely wait a while yet though, as I have the purchase of some better lenses in mind before that. I find the viewfinder brightness of the D80 excellent, so the bigger and brighter ones of the higher end modern cameras isn't a biggy.
Dorian Gray
2009-02-26, 19:18
Ah, maybe the faster ADC and higher noise in continuous shooting is why some of the people I talked to said they didn't use it over ISO400?
But the D200 doesn't have faster ADCs (they run at 25 MHz like the D60/D80), but instead, twice as many of them. I think it's more likely that any noise complaints about the D200 versus the D60/D80 are related to the fact that the D200 sensor (the Sony ICX483AQA) requires higher voltage than the D60/D80 sensor (the Sony ICX493AQA) and dissipates more power, heating the sensor more and possibly causing more noise. The D200 might also suffer from more banding due to imperfectly matched ADCs. The differences are probably very slight, though perhaps exaggerated in JPEG output.
Dorian Gray
2009-04-06, 12:40
They have them in stock again (and have had for a while), but now the price is up to $640. What's up with that?
Who knows, but considering people are paying more than that on eBay for used ones...
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