Nikon D200 hints and tips

Gentlemen,

Once again the advice is top notch, I have downloaded the spreadsheet and will set my camera up with it, the capture software offer has been taken up but my laptop may not be man enough for it but I shall try it for now until I get my big boys home computor.

I am off to cockpitfest this weekend so hopefully I will post some shots soon.

Happy snapping all:D .

John.

I have one little query, is it beneficial to shoot in RAW?, My D70s was useless on Jpeg and the only way to get quality shots with it was to shoot in RAW 100% of the time, on first impressions the D200 in Jpeg mode is awesome and not that much different from the RAW shots.

John,

I’m glad to have been of help to you.
I always shoot RAW as this gives me the widest range in postprocessing capabilities, especially white balance, exposure correction and colour modes.

For RAW (NEF) development I prefer to use Nikon Capture NX, which provides me with the best picture quality possible. Another advantage of NX is that it makes full use of your in-camera settings. Programs like Rawshooter, Adobe Lightroom and ACR only read the white balance settings but disregard all other in-camera settings. Also the incorporated U-point technology is a real benefit, which saves me from applying the much more complex layers options in Photoshop.

The only disadvantage of NX is that it is rather slow compared to the others and you really need to have a minimum of 2gb memory installed in your PC. When I’m in a hurry with a large batch of pictures, I sometimes use Adobe Lightroom.

John

Nikon UK are doing an offer just now for a free copy of Capture NX with the D200 purchased between 15May and 13 July, details here. There is also a 30 day free trial of NX available from Nikon, try it.

there is also a spreadsheet on the nikonians website which helps withthe multitude of custom settings on the D200, here

I’ve had my D200 for 18 months now and still learning how to use it :confused:

happy snapping
Ken

Septic,

Spare batt in the pipeline, I am hunting for a grip but demand has outstripped supply so I will have to wait a bit.

Jur

Thanks for the link it works perfect, strange how my Rawshooter Premium does not recognise the D200 yet the Essentials does.

I have one little query, is it beneficial to shoot in RAW?, My D70s was useless on Jpeg and the only way to get quality shots with it was to shoot in RAW 100% of the time, on first impressions the D200 in Jpeg mode is awesome and not that much different from the RAW shots.

Can’t wait for the airshow season now:D , many thanks for all your pointers, keep em comming.

Regards,

John.

I have today bought a Nikon D200, what an amazing camera!!, I would like a few hints just to get me going……

1, My rawshooter does not recognise the D200, will the Nikon Capture software enable me to use and convert RAW or is there a free download available?.

2, I have the boggo 18-70 Nikon Lens and a 70-300 VR Lens for airshows, is there a particular ‘gem’ that works well with this body? I am looking for a good lens to work in low light museums in particular.

John,
Although I don’t have a D200 (my DSLR is a D2x), I have the following suggestions to make:

1. Rawshooter is discontinued, because the Pixmantec company has been aquired by Adobe. An updated version of the Rawshooter engine is available in the new Adobe Lightroom program, which could be an interesting option for you. The browsing and library options in Lightroom are much better than in the now discontinued Rawshooter.
2. Although Pixmantec no longer exists, you could try to download the last version of Rawshooter somewhere else, e.g. http://www.download.com/RawShooter-Essentials-2006/3000-12511_4-10518796.html Hopefully this version is compatible with the D200.
3. For lowlight work in museums there are a few good (and lowcost) options from Nikon: AF-D 1.8/50mm (best value for the buck) and AF-D 2/35mm. However those lenses could prove to be too long for full aircraft pictures in aviation museums. For these kind of pictures I would use the AF-D 2.8/20mm or the AF-S G 4/12-24mm, but those are not cheap. You could also consider the Tokina 4/12-24mm (recommended) at about half the price of the Nikon equivalent, or something like the Sigma 1.8/20mm EX DG ASF (about the same price as the Tokina).

Hope this helps a bit.

Hi John,

Glad to hear that you went the Nikon route, I’ve had the D200 for about 18 months now and have been really pleased with the results.

I’m surprised to hear that you can’t use Rawshooter to convert the raw files as I use Rawshooter Essentials 2006 which works fine for me.

Regarding lens choice, I have two short zooms a Sigma 17-70mm 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC which works very well in low light and a Nikon 18-200 3.5 5.6 G IFED AFS VR DX which is very versatile lens and is great for low light conditions.

The two aspects of the D200 that I don’t like are; 1. cleaning the sensor, it was far easier on my earlier D100. 2. Battery life isn’t very good, get a spare.

All the best

Septic.