{"id":127,"date":"2006-01-05T01:55:10","date_gmt":"2006-01-04T16:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-01-05\/127"},"modified":"2006-02-04T23:43:23","modified_gmt":"2006-02-04T14:43:23","slug":"my-trip-to-see-the-nikon-d200","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-01-05\/127","title":{"rendered":"My trip to see the Nikon D200"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

\n\nContinuing with my new camera<\/a> posts...\n\n<\/p>

\n\nSo, yesterday I went down to the Joshin\nDenki<\/a> electric shop with Anthony, to actually look at and handle the Nikon D200<\/a> camera\nI'd pretty much decided on.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nAlthough the shop we went to was the closest of the various branches in\nKyoto, it doesn't have parking so it's quite inconvenient unless I go<\/span> by\nbike (which I didn't<\/span> want to do at night, with Anthony, in the cold). I'd called<\/span> around other Joshins in Kyoto to see if they had the D200 on\ndisplay, but only this one had. So, after much traffic and a painful<\/span> search\nfor parking, we walked in to look at the camera.\n\n<\/p>\n

Prior Expectations<\/h3>\n

\n\nOf course, I'd seen pictures<\/span> of it, such as this one from\nDigital Photography Review<\/a>:\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\n
Nikon D200<\/b>MSRP: $1,700<\/td>Nikon D2x<\/b>MSRP: $5,000<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n

\n\nNow, the Nikon\nD2x<\/b><\/a> there on the right is a true<\/span> professional's camera. It's\nhuge, and by all accounts it's heavy. It has every<\/span> feature known to man,\nand probably some that aren't. It's a 12<\/span>.4 megapixel monster. By\ncomparison, my D200 seems somewhat elfish, even emaciated. But it's got the\nfunctions I want,<\/span> so I'm still gung-ho for it.\n\n<\/p>\n\n

At First Sight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\n\nSo, we walk into the store and right there is the camera section. I see some<\/span> of the models I'd been considering earlier, and when I finally<\/span> find\nthe D200, I'm filled<\/span> with an overwhelming feeling of “big”.\nThis thing is huge<\/b>. Words like beefy<\/b> and husky<\/b> and\nmanly<\/b> flow through my thoughts. So do words<\/span> like heavy<\/b> and\nmuscle strain<\/b> and tired<\/b>. I'm filled<\/span> with a mix<\/span> of total\n“I'm not worthy” awe<\/b> and “I'm not strong\nenough” apprehension.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI pick it up and the “too heavy” feelings immediately subside. It feels<\/span> very solidly built, yes, but is lighter than it looked. I'm sure that<\/span> I can<\/span> handle it deftly for long periods of time. On the other<\/span> hand,\nupon picking it up the feelings of “beefy” are augmented with\nwords like thick<\/b> and manly<\/b> (again). Now, I'm just in<\/span> awe.\nTotal awe<\/b>.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nOf course, these are just superficial feelings. Yes, it's nice to have a\nfeeling<\/span> of solid construction, but in the end it either works or it doesn't\n(as the recent breaking<\/a>\nof my feels-very-well-built SD500 attests to).\n\n<\/p>

\n\n(Upon reflection, I recoil<\/span> in horor to contemplate how large the D2x<\/b>\nis in real life. I'm not that<\/span> man a man.<\/span>)\n\n<\/p>\n

At First Touch<\/h3>\n

\n\nThere was no memory card in it (and darn, I forgot<\/span> to bring my own), but\nthere was power so I turned<\/span> it on and gave it a try.<\/span> I lifted<\/span> it to my eye\n(with SLRs, you actually look through the viewfinder instead of looking at\nthe screen on the back) and it felt very nice. The lens on<\/span> it is the\npresumably crappy kit lens, different from the one I want<\/span><\/a>, but\nit still felt very nice.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI played with the autofocus a bit.<\/span> I don't<\/span> know how to describe it other\nthan virtually silent and virtually instantaneous.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nFor comparison, I also tried<\/span> the autofocus of the Nikon D70<\/a> that was\nright next to it on the display. It was loud<\/span> (sort of a grinding<\/span> motor\nnoise), slow (took a second<\/span> or two to adjust the focus), and was\naccompanied by physical movement of the focus ring (which was unwelcome\nsince I was<\/span> trying to hold the camera there). To be fair<\/span>, the noise and\nmovement were from the lens<\/b>, which is generally sold separately from\nthe body<\/b>. If a lens<\/span> is sold together with a body,<\/span> it's called a\n“kit”. Since it's common that a good<\/span> lens can cost more than a body<\/span> (people\nupdate to new bodies, but collect<\/b> lenses), any lens included with a\nbody<\/span> is generally fairly cheap, as likely buyers have no other lens and\ndon't know any better.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nAnyway, as for the autofocus speed, well, perhaps the lens on the D200\nwould have been just as fast on the D70. I don't<\/span> know.\n\n<\/p>\n

First Shots<\/h3>\n

\n\nI didn't know whether you could take a picture<\/span> without a memory<\/span> card, but I\ngave<\/span> it a try.<\/span> As a habit<\/span> picked up 20+ years ago, I'm used to<\/span> squeezing a\nshutter<\/span>-release button gingerly so as not to induce shake. The D200's\nshutter-release button is easy to press, with nice tactile feedback. I gingerly<\/span> gave it a squeeze<\/span> and before my finger was back up I'd taken five\npictures and had a somewhat<\/span> startled, somewhat “damn!<\/i>”\nlook on my face (“damn” in the “wow, this rocks”\nsense). It all happened<\/span> so quick that it was over by the time the smile\nunconsciously crept to my face.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nSo, you apparently can take a picture<\/span> without the card. It showed<\/span> the final\nshot on the rear screen, and I was<\/span> able to cycle through them and see them\nall in a thumbnail<\/span> display, which is how I know<\/span> that there were five.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI can scarcely describe the combined feeling of holding the beefy<\/b>,\nmanly<\/b> camera while it made such a solid<\/b>, manly<\/b>\nrapid-fire sound. It was nice<\/span>. (To be serious, I'm exaggerating<\/span> the\n“manly” bit for comic effect, but still, it was a very<\/span>\nsatisfying<\/i> feeling.)\n\n<\/p>

\n\nOne thing I didn't like was the manual focus, which I also<\/span> tried. The lens itself<\/span> was heavenly<\/b> to touch — I could<\/span> just grab the focus ring and\nmove it, and voila, I was in<\/span> manual focus mode. (With the lens on the D70, I had to<\/span> move a switch<\/span> to the manual mode before being able to manually\nfocus, but I'm not sure if that's a function<\/span> off the camera body, the lens,\nor both.) But, the split-prism focus I remember<\/span> from my last SLR (20+ years\nago) was missing. The only indication<\/span> that you were focused well was that\nthe image looked sharp. Well, we had that before, but the split-prism (or\nwhatever it's called) feature allowed a much<\/span> stronger level of detail.\nMaybe none of that is needed anymore in the autofocus world....\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI played around with it a bit more, and with some of the other models as\nwell. Anthony was being such a good<\/span> boy just standing there looking around,\nbut was starting to get a bit<\/span> impatient, so I couldn't<\/span> indulge myself\nfurther.\n\n<\/p>\n

On Order<\/h3>\n

\n\nSince no one had them in stock, I knew that<\/span> they had to be ordered. I asked<\/span> how long it would take, and the guy had no idea. I asked<\/span> to get a ballpark<\/span>\n— is it closer to two days<\/b> or two months?<\/b>, but really, he had\nno idea. They fulfill orders as fast as Nikon sends them, which is\napparently not nearly fast enough to keep up with demand.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI explained that I was 99% sure I wanted<\/span> to get it, and asked what would\nhappen if I placed<\/span> an order now but decided against it by the time it came\nin. As expected, he said that it'd be no problem to cancel, since after\nall, it'd only make the next person in line happy. So, I placed<\/span> an order\nfor the D200 body and the aforementioned “AF-S DX VR ED18-200mm\nF3.5-5.6G(IF)” lens.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nSo, now I have a little piece of paper. I leave<\/span> my cell phone on all the\ntime, awaiting the call!\n\n<\/p>\n\n

Random Comments<\/h3>\n

\n\nA few random thoughts, mostly in response to comments left on the earlier\nposts....<\/p>\n\n