Digital Camera Information

Here is a very interesting review on the speed comparisons between the Nikon D200 and the Fujifilm S5 Pro by RaduGrozescu.com.

He writes: “Most Fuji S5 pro owners will use it in a wide DR setting, so they will have to live with 1.6 fps which is about what one can “pump” the shutter release in Single advance mode. This is enough for most applications which do not require “motor drive” speeds.

But if one is after speed for a particular assignment the Fuji S5 can be set to 100% DR and with a SanDisk Extreme III the figures become:

Jpegs, Image Display OFF:
Camera: fps, Buffer, Time (seconds)
Nikon D200: 5, 25,2.0
Fuji S5 Pro: 3, 19, 2.3,

Jpegs, Image Display ON:
Camera: fps, Buffer, Time (seconds)
Nikon D200: 5, 25, 2.3
Fuji S5 pro: 3, 16, 2.9

RAW, Image Display OFF:
Camera: fps, Buffer, Time (seconds)
Nikon D200 standard: 5, 21, 3.0
Nikon D200 compressed: 5, 21, 2.2
Fuji S5 pro: 3, 21, 2.8

RAW, Image Display ON:
Camera: fps, Buffer, Time (seconds)
Nikon D200 standard: 5, 21, 3.4
Nikon D200 compressed: 5, 21, 2.8
Fuji S5 pro: 3, 19, 3.2

As indicated by the results, you can easily notice that apart from the fps difference which is 5:3 in Nikon’s favor, the buffer size and flush times are quite similar, with the Fuji even having better flush times in RAW compared to the Nikon in uncompressed RAW.

So the Fuji S5 pro is not such a slow camera, after all.

Full review

It seems the marketing department at Nikon has put enormous effort into its “Vibration Reduction” lenses by creating a new dedicated website. The website has some great videos that goes through a step by step process of the blurring problems associated with normal lenses, followed by the benefits of its new Vibration Reduction lenses such as clearer viewfinder, clearer pictures, the mechanism on how its technology and systems work and finally the range of lenses which has this VR incorporated into it.

The main point they left out is the high prices for buying these great lens. I guess that’s why they needed a whole website to explain the benefits.

Click here for the website.

Think Camera has conducted a preview of a pre-production Fuji film S5 Pro DSLR. In the preview all tests were conducted using jpegs only as the pre-production did not come with the software used to read RAW files. The new S5 Pro is based on the Nikon D200 body with a Fuji chip and Fuji firmware built inside.

Here’s what they write about the ISO of the S5 Pro:

“This is where we started. The Fuji film S5 Pro has built in noise reduction like all recent DSLRs. Shooting jpegs you can never be entirely sure that you’ve turned this off completely. Again this is an area I didn’t want to test scientifically only to find that all the results changed at production time. Some add hoc testing puts the Fuji film S5 Pro way ahead of the Nikon D2X for apparent noise. I didn’t shoot it directly against a Nikon D200 but as a very rough figure I would estimate that the noise is about 1 stop better than the Nikon D200 - a Fuji film S5 Pro picture at 3200 looks as good as or better than a Nikon D200 at 1600. Whether the S5 Pro is in the same league as the Canon 5D (our current favourite for low light) remains to be seen.

I didn’t get the chance to print files in the short time I had the S5 Pro but I think I would be happy squeezing a 10 x 8 out of a 3200 ISO file without any software noise reduction. There’s no other camera that takes Nikon lenses that I can currently say that of. The colours are certainly better at high ISO than a Nikon D200 - as noise increases colours tend to look a bit “mushy”. Check out the pictures at the top - that’s what you’re gaining with a Fuji chip.”

For the complete preview click here

The Japanese Camera Press Club has given the Camera Grand Prix 2006 award to the Nikon D200. This is the most prestigious award for cameras in Japan and was determined by a panel of 49 (in 2006) which includes respected photographers, scholars and technical writers in the field of photography, as well as chief editors and magazine representatives of each of the 12 magazines that comprise the Camera Press Club. The Nikon D200 came out on top with a top of 149 cameras all released between April 2005 and March 2006.

The committee members issued the following statement in support of bestowing the Camera Grand Prix 2006 honor on the D200.

“The Nikon D200 contributes to the widespread dissemination of photographic culture as a digital SLR offering superior operability at an affordable price for both entry-level digital SLR camera users as well as professional and high-end amateur photographers. This high-quality camera received superior evaluations for many of its facets, including performance, price, design, operability and durability. Furthermore, the D200 offers the first 10.2-megapixel CCD image sensor in APS-C Format. Delivering immediate performance, including instant and world-leading*1 power-up of only 0.15 seconds, a remarkable shutter release time lag of only 50 milliseconds, and up to 54 consecutive shots*2 at 5 fps, this camera challenges or surpasses higher-priced products. For enhanced reliability, the D200 features a magnesium body with a superb sealing system that protects against dust and moisture and the shutter unit has been tested through more than 100,000 cycles. The approximately 95% viewfinder frame coverage and approx. 0.94x high-magnification viewfinder with glass pentaprism also contribute to the D200’s high overall performance as a digital SLR camera.”

Source

Is the banding on the Nikon D200 really a problem? To some people yes, however to the majority no. If you can’t see any banding at the 100% crop then it surely isn’t going to show up in your prints (less than A3) or in your reduced sized web postings. On top of that, a study found that 80% of people don’t even print their own images.

Here’s an interesting quote from Ken Rockwell on the Nikon D200 banding issue.

“Every time a new camera comes out there are those who have to jerk it around looking for problems more than I’ve been jerked around by the used car department at Irvine BMW. I respect and admire camera hackers’ curiosity; however they often discover effects which are insignificant for actual photography. Once they post them on the Internet these scare others who don’t understand how hard the hackers have to work to see these things.

It’s all the same effect although different people call it banding, striping or corduroy. This striping almost looks like a much more subtle version Mac OSX 10.1’s gray horizontal stripes which I always liked. “

Source

www.DigitalCamerainfo.com has an excellent head on comparison between the Nikon D200 and the Canon EOS 5D. Although they did not give their own recommended conclusion, they did highlight the advantages and disadvantage of each camera.

Here is the their conclusion

“We elected to debut our Head-to-Head review format with a comparison of the Nikon D200 and Canon EOS 5D - the latest designs by the two premiere DSLR manufacturers. Again, we chose the Canon EOS 5D and not the EOS 30D because the 30D internals are over a year and a half old, while the 5D much more accurately illustrates where Canon is in their developmental progression. In comparing these cameras, many core differences between Nikon and Canon’s approach becomes apparent. Canon has directed their efforts towards developing and engineering the camera’s internal components – manufacturing most of their own parts, particularly their sensors, and concentrating on high ISO performance, dynamic range, and obviously high resolution. Nikon on the other hand, has focused more on furthering the general design of the camera – engineering fast, reliable autofocus, flexible metering, logical control layout, and advanced flash capabilities. Both the D200 and EOS 5D have a lot to offer consumers: high resolution, strong dynamic range, fast internal processors, and extensive control at price points that would have been impossible just a year or two ago. However, neither presents a perfect camera.

These two models stand to represent the leading DSLR manufacturers and indicate that professional-level quality is now accessible to general consumers. Nikon has voiced that they will remain with APS-sized sensors, alluding to less expensive models than Canons counterparts; while Canon will continue to develop their full-frame designs and at least for the time being, offer an advantage at high sensitivities. Although there is a significant degree of differentiation in these two particular models and each manufacturer’s current design ideology, both represent remarkable breakthroughs in their own right that continue to force the rest of the industry to play catch-up.”

My bet is the more affordable Nikon D200. Click here for the full review

Dsresource has an excellent review on the Nikon D200. Although there were some pros and cons with the camera, the pros outweigh the cons proving the Nikon D200 to be an excellent camera. Interestingly, the recently released Canon 30D was also mentioned briefly in this review.

Here is what they conclude.

“It’s hard not to like the Nikon D200. Really hard. Yes, it has a few flaws (namely its price and higher-than-I’d-like noise levels), but it has so many positives and was so fun to use that it easily earns my highest recommendation.

As always, I strongly recommend trying the D200 and its competitors before you drop the big bucks on a camera!”

Bjørn Rørslett, a professional nature photographer and owner of www.naturfotograf.com has conducted a great indepth review on the Nikon D200. Here’s what he says about the Nikon D200.

“The Nikon D200 establishes itself firmly as the much longed-for “digital” F100. Alternatively, it can be seen as a wolf in lamb’s clothing. You get an image quality within a hair’s width of the D2X, Nikon’s current digital flagship. In some aspects the D200 performs even better, for example, ISO noise is slightly lower over much of the range and the risk of blown highlights is subtly reduced when the camera is run on automatic metering modes. On the other hand, D2X excels in terms of sheer ruggedness, better auto white balance, faster shooting speeds, HSC (High-Speed Crop) feature, and handling, although consideration of the latter surely is up to the end user. You get a very decent viewfinder, excellent AF performance, GPS support just like the professional big brothers (D1H, D1X, D2Hs, D2X), and a metering system that you can rely on. Plus the opportunity to switch from having a small, neat camera for long hikes to a bigger unit with the bolt-on MB-D200 power grip.

Again, if you can master it, and it’s not really that difficult, the D200 will provide you with a formidable picture taking machine. I guess many people will purchase a D200 as a backup camera for their trustworthy D2X or D2Hs bodies. It might even enamour itself sufficiently to replace some of the bulkier “pro” bodies for many applications.”

Click here for the full review.

It seems that a few Nikon D200 DSLR cameras have been affected by banding (sporadic). Here is an example of an image (100% crop) affected by banding.

Although there has been no specific official announcement by Nikon, it is interesting to hear they are repairing the issue. Below is a scanned copy of a service report by Nikon after servicing the D200 banding issue; labeled as “RPL Memory compression”. With the firmware version remaining the same, A 1.01 and B 1.00; it looks like it is a hardware issue. At least we know the problem will be repaired.

If you like further information on banding, Ken Rockwell has an interesting view on it here

Source

www.akam.no has a review on the Nikon D200. Although I cannot read Norwegian, a rough summary of their conclusion is as follows:

Nikon D200 advantages

- It has many functions
- It has many options and settings
- Generally good solid build
- Has some protection against water and dust
- Lower noise than D2X

Nikon D200 disadvantages:

- Not much better image quality than Canon 20D
- Poor battery solution and capacity
- Some mechanically weak components
- Not fully water and dust resistant
- Worse noise than Canon 20D

There were some remarks about the water and dust seals. After conducting water integrity test, they found that water can enter the battery compartment. Their conclusion is that while it has “some” resistance to water and dust, it cannot be considered “sealed” like the professional Nikon bodies. In addition, they also make notes that Nikon never claimed the D200 to actually be sealed against water and dust.

Here is the original (very rough) English translation of the conclusion using the only Norwegian to English language translator I could find.

“Conclusion am always what am arduous Ã¥ draw up in an test, as a matter of they always sit along with a bit intermixed flelserø. Frø we began the test, owned we shynessø expectations at camera – may urealistiske expectations shall a few say. PÃ¥ cause at facts, weren’t expectations vreÃ¥ fulfil, and we sit afresh and am a bit crestfallen.

- Svrtæ funksjonsrikt - Not much better than the EOS 20D
- Comprehensive innstillingsmuligheter - Drligå batterilsningø and capacity
- Large sett a lot of solid set out on - A few automatic dim components
- Any care against lake and stvø - No matter aquatic and stvtettø
- Better styegenskaperø than D2X - DrligereÃ¥ styegenskaperø than EOS 20D”

For the full English translation click here