I'm drawn to the Nikon D200 for my next trip abroad, but I just noticed the D40x, which is about half the price...
Given I'm looking to spend under $2500 for my first DSLR, which would be a better option in your opinion?
(I'm a good photographer who loves her 35mm SLR, hates scanning photos, frames her own large prints, wants to go digital, but is conscious that a "great" camera may get nicked in Cambodia...) I like the 5fps of the D200 (I work for a sports company, so this could come in handy), and I don't like that the D40x only uses SD memory.. But is that enough?
If someone has used one/both and has an opinion, I'd really love to hear it.
Thanks guys!! I own a D200 and D50. If you are an experienced 35 mm photographer, you will love the D200. It is not loaded up with "modes" the way the D50 (and D40x) is. It has P,A,S, and M, and that's all you need if you know what you are doing, so why cloud the issue? When you feel lazy, just choose "P" and let the camera make you look brilliant.
The D200 is a lot more hefty. While I love the weight, you might prefer the D40's weight.
If you have a few Nikon lenses, you will need to check to see if they are AF-S lenses, as these are the only ones that will auto-focus with the D40's.
The D40's only have 3 autofocus zones located along the horizontal and the D200 has 11 spread where you would expect them to be. The autofocus groupings of the D200 are extremely flexible and this could be an advantage to you. Since the spot meter is linked to the focus zones, you might find having only 3 zones to be a handicap for metering.
The D200 uses CF cards and the D40's use SD cards. I like the size of the CF cards, but there is probably no real advantage to this.
The D40 only has one command dial, which means you will have to go into the menus more often on the D40 than you do on the D200. This is the one thing that would drive me nuts.
There is no depth-of-field preview on the D40's, but there is on the D200.
There is no exposure bracketing and no white balance bracketing on the D40's, but there is on the D200.
That's all I can think of for now, but my first line is my bottom line. If you are an experienced 35 mm photographer, you will love the D200. Enjoy! Wise decision. Report It
unless you need speed, get the D40 and spend the extra on lens The D200 will meter with any Nikkor lens including older manual focus ( modified AI, AI, AI-S, series E lens).
These lens can be mounted on a D40, and D40x but the meter will not work, it will work only on Nikkor AF lens, and the auto focus system will only work with AF-I, AF-S Nikkors.
The D 200 also has a multiple exposure (It's nice to have just in case it is needed ) the D40 doesn't it has an image overlay
feature. D200 has the advantage of body build (solid light metal body with plastic wrappings and weather seals opposed to D40x which is full-plastic) as well as a good deal of its functions have dedicated buttons, not to mention the extra LCD backlit panel that saves you the trouble of always searching exposure info in the viewfinder.
If you have the money and need the extra fps, go for the D200. In my opinion it's not much of a choice. If you can afford the D200, get it. You can't go wrong with that. Say you purchase either the D40x or the D200 right now and then next year comes still another better Nikon DSLR which catches your eye and still you are again, faced with another possible purchase to acquire the newest "state-of-the-art" Nikon camera. There's an easy solution to "keeping up" with the state-of-the-art camera technology. Did you ever look into "renting" your dream Nikon camera during the course of your trip? The weekly rates should be very affordable and when you come back, you'll still a large hunk of change left over and in your pocket. Again, the majority of professional photographer "don't own" their equipment, they "rent" them in order to fulfill a partciular photographic assignment.
On the other hand, perhaps I am mistaken about your finances, and therefore if you have the money and are rich, then you can buy anything, any Nikon model whatsoever.
As an afterthought, there is another camera system which is far more "affordable" than the DX40x or the D200 and is superior in addressing the issue of "Image Stabilization." Check out the Pentax KD series beginning with the K100D. It rounds circles around the Nikon D40X starting at $650 with a two Pentax lenses kit: a 18-55 normal and a 50-200 mm telephoto.
Good luck! |
