Goodbye D2H, Hello D200...

[TROLL]

Welp, I'm reluctantly giving up the D2H in favor of a D200... a little scared to step down from the 'professional' line, but my needs in a camera have shifted lately and recent assignments require more resolution than the D2H can provide. I know that although the D200 isn't technically one of Nikon's pro offerings, it is quite a powerhouse and I expect that it will perform well for me at this point since lately its been all events, stills, and studio work (i.e. minimal sports).
The D2X would be the answer to all of my problems but it is just now being discontinued and the D2Xs is running at $4800 so its totally out of the question.
The D2H been a great camera and has served me very well, but I must admit I am excited to get ahold of the D200 for the incredible resolution it boasts. Looking forward to being able to print even larger than I have in the past, and also to better quality low light imaging. Just hope the lighter build of the camera and the optional vertical grip won't be a noticeable 'downgrade' from the D2H's solid build and integrated vertical grip. Thats about it, just wanted to make use of our nice little photography forum to post an update of where I am.
Bryan

Equipment list, for those who are curious:
D200 w/ Vertical Grip (on monday), 17-55mm f2.8 AF-S, 80-200mm f2.8 AF-S, 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye, 1.4x extender, SB-800 flash, etc.

[jspek]

sweet! now i just have to get one.

[james_ls]

Is your old ish for sale??

[den9]

what camera did you start out with or is the d2h your first

[TROLL]

ha.... camera timeline? hmm...

Minolta X-700... fully manual and totally kicks ass to this day even though its ~25 years old. It was my sisters and I 'borrowed' it for photo 1 and 2 in high school.

Canon Rebel... no, not the digital one, haha. First camera I owned myself, the entry level. You may have still been in diapers when this camera was released.

Canon Elan IIe... a step up from the rebel, some more 'pro' features and a hell of a workhorse. Used this my freshman year of college when I worked at the Arizona Daily Wildcat... it did me well.

Canon D30... these were the school newspapers cameras but I basically owned one of these for the next 2 years. One of the first 'consumer' digital SLRs... very good in its time but ancient these days.

prepare for momentus changeover...

Nikon FE-2... this is my street photography film camera. Its solid as hell, inconspicuous, and lightweight. Fully manual and stealthy, its a perfect travel and street photography camera when combined with my 24mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.4 primes. Did I mention its a 25+ year old model? Yeah, they dont make em like they used to...

Nikon D1H... yeah, made the switch to Nikon, mostly because most photojournalists, newspapers, and magazines use Nikon and I wanted to be familliar and compatible. A 'pro' camera and bulletproof... great for newspaper work but at 2.74 megapixels it left a bit to be desired as far as larger photo prints go.

Nikon D70... loved this camera. No its not pro, but it really packs a lot for the price. Image quality was great, and 6 megapixels is nice when you're aiming for prints.

Nikon D2H... this replaced both the D1H and the D70, and did a pretty good job at it. This is what I have been using for the past 2 years or so and its covered a lot of bases for me... studio work, sports, stills, people, cars, and the list goes on... I'll miss it.

Nikon D200... effective monday. Recent photo assignments I have picked up are demanding higher resolution which is the biggest motivation in the switch. The more I read about this camera the more confident I am that I wont miss the D2H very much... its not technically a 'pro' camera but it sure sounds like one to me (and to dpreview.com too). Looking forward to silky smooth images and 24" x 36" poster prints :)

whew, so there it is... that was kinda fun although I'm not sure anyone will read it.

And yes the D2H is for sale... includes original box and paperwork, battery, charger, and a remote shutter release. Excellent condition all around and 28k total shutter actuations (shutter is tested for 150k+). Contact me if you are serious, I havent nailed down a price yet but I will be looking for market value to offset the price of the new purchase.

Bryan

[R33P3R007]

Where do u plan on getting the d200. i have seen the body online for as low as 799. but that seems shady. I am hoping to get one soon, in a decent kit package. If you have a good place to go, please let me know.

[den9]

ha.... camera timeline? hmm...

Minolta X-700... fully manual and totally kicks ass to this day even though its ~25 years old. It was my sisters and I 'borrowed' it for photo 1 and 2 in high school.

Canon Rebel... no, not the digital one, haha. First camera I owned myself, the entry level. You may have still been in diapers when this camera was released.

Canon Elan IIe... a step up from the rebel, some more 'pro' features and a hell of a workhorse. Used this my freshman year of college when I worked at the Arizona Daily Wildcat... it did me well.

Canon D30... these were the school newspapers cameras but I basically owned one of these for the next 2 years. One of the first 'consumer' digital SLRs... very good in its time but ancient these days.

prepare for momentus changeover...

Nikon FE-2... this is my street photography film camera. Its solid as hell, inconspicuous, and lightweight. Fully manual and stealthy, its a perfect travel and street photography camera when combined with my 24mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.4 primes. Did I mention its a 25+ year old model? Yeah, they dont make em like they used to...

Nikon D1H... yeah, made the switch to Nikon, mostly because most photojournalists, newspapers, and magazines use Nikon and I wanted to be familliar and compatible. A 'pro' camera and bulletproof... great for newspaper work but at 2.74 megapixels it left a bit to be desired as far as larger photo prints go.

Nikon D70... loved this camera. No its not pro, but it really packs a lot for the price. Image quality was great, and 6 megapixels is nice when you're aiming for prints.

Nikon D2H... this replaced both the D1H and the D70, and did a pretty good job at it. This is what I have been using for the past 2 years or so and its covered a lot of bases for me... studio work, sports, stills, people, cars, and the list goes on... I'll miss it.

Nikon D200... effective monday. Recent photo assignments I have picked up are demanding higher resolution which is the biggest motivation in the switch. The more I read about this camera the more confident I am that I wont miss the D2H very much... its not technically a 'pro' camera but it sure sounds like one to me (and to dpreview.com too). Looking forward to silky smooth images and 24" x 36" poster prints :)

whew, so there it is... that was kinda fun although I'm not sure anyone will read it.

And yes the D2H is for sale... includes original box and paperwork, battery, charger, and a remote shutter release. Excellent condition all around and 28k total shutter actuations (shutter is tested for 150k+). Contact me if you are serious, I havent nailed down a price yet but I will be looking for market value to offset the price of the new purchase.

Bryan


im not even gonna ask u to list your lenses, but how many do you have?
what got you into photography? you are a serious guy when it comes to photography!:supz:

[BradC]

You should love it man. I went to a D200 seminar held by Nikon the other day, and from what the Nikon rep showed, don't be worried about the "lighter build". He had a slide with a CAD drawing of everything that is magnesium on it...there was a lot. Also it is fairly weather sealed as well.

They have some crazy ish for this camera too. We just got a WT-3A wireless transmitter. With that and the laptop you can set the camear up and change all parameters, AF and shoot with the trackpad. It's pretty cool.

Also, check into their remote flashes. You can control them with the SB-800 or the pop up. You can also set the pop-up to strobe the remotely mounted SB-800 w/out flashing the pop-up.

This camera rocks.

[sisforsurfing]

Cool to see your list of old cameras. I'm building up a list that's really similar, going from old, rock solid cameras to 'modern' film, to decent digital SLR.

Glad to hear you're stepping up... my uncle got a D200 recently for professional work and he loves it. He could've afforded the D2X but is totally happy with the D200, and does all professional work. Good luck, be sure to post up your pictures you take with it that are your favorites.

[TROLL]

brad... sounds like you work with these? whens the next seminar that i can sneak into? :)

r33p3-- dont believe the hype of the good prices online... there are some things in life that you can cut corners on but cameras are not one of them... if the price is just incredible then its too good to be true. it will either be an imported version (no us warranty), a refurbished or used item, or the store will try a 'bait and switch' method where they get you on the phone with that but then they say its not available and they convince you to buy something else around the same price but not nearly as good. i am the bargain hunter but i have learned not to do that online. i'd recommend a local shop or the only place online i would shop is www.bhphotovideo.com . or if you want i can recommend my local pro shop to you... their pricing is competitive and they stock a lot.

as for lenses, i actually listed them above but i only have 3 AF lenses that i use... lenses, unlike digital bodies, do not get old and outdated. you buy quality lenses and you can keep them.

Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 AF-S... on my camera 90% of the time. Digital magnification on most Nikon bodies is 1.5x so its effective focal length is about 25-80mm so its a good wide to normal length lens. A lot of my photography is available lighting, which is regularly pretty poor, so I NEED the 2.8 aperture at least. (Also very much looking forward to improved high iso performance of the D200!)

Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF-S... this is the sports lens... good all around focal length for most sports (except soccer and football). Again great AF, great glass, and the f2.8 aperture make this one a winner. There is a newer 70-200 out with image stabilization but I havent sucked it up and 'upgraded' yet because this lens is pretty killer and doing just fine for me.

Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye... yeah, fisheye. Its fun... I rarely use it. I'll probably keep it for a while longer and continue to use it infrequently, but yeah its fun. Thinking of replacing it with a 12-24 so I can still have something ultrawide but rectilinear instead of fisheye.

Nikon 1.4x extender... I pair this up with the 80-200 when I need a bit more reach (for things like soccer and football). Thats about all there is to say there.

Nikon SB-800. Yup, its my flash. i-TTL is nice, especially with the built in remote features of the D200.

Manfrotto Carbon One Tripod... just had to mention it since its dry carbon fiber, and you car guys seem to like that. Woulda gone aluminum if I hadnt found a great deal on this, but it is slightly lighter and stronger than its aluminum counterpart.

Oh, I also have an older Nikon 50mm f1.4 and Nikon 24mm f2.8 prime, manual focus lenses that I use with my Nikon FE-2 body when I shoot film, although it has been a while. I can use them on the digital bodies as well but honestly havent found the need to in most situations.

OK I think thats about it. Dont be fooled though... a long expensive equipment list doesnt necessarily mean a good photographer. The photographer takes the photos not the camera! This is just the equipment I have found over the years that I need regularly, so I own it now. Its just having the right tools to do the job correctly, like a mechanic.

[R33P3R007]

r33p3-- dont believe the hype of the good prices online... there are some things in life that you can cut corners on but cameras are not one of them... if the price is just incredible then its too good to be true. it will either be an imported version (no us warranty), a refurbished or used item, or the store will try a 'bait and switch' method where they get you on the phone with that but then they say its not available and they convince you to buy something else around the same price but not nearly as good. i am the bargain hunter but i have learned not to do that online. i'd recommend a local shop or the only place online i would shop is www.bhphotovideo.com . or if you want i can recommend my local pro shop to you... their pricing is competitive and they stock a lot.


What shop do you use. Like I said 799 is just way too cheap for the camera. Also, I need to buy lenses since I don't use anything that is nikon mount currently.

[BradC]

brad... sounds like you work with these? whens the next seminar that i can sneak into? :)
We picked one up at work for taking product shots and shots of PCB's and stuff (we do electronics, and my boss likes to buy the "best". As a plus, I get to take it home!! :) ).

Not sure on the next seminar, but I will shoot you a PM if they have another. The Nikon rep that held it was awesome. He shoots pro, and mostly motorsports. He has a 993 C2 that he races on PCA track-days. He gave me some good tips on setting up the camera to make paint jobs look really saturated and how to track a car, etc, etc. Good guy.

We also have a 105mm and the R1C1 speedlight kit (lens mounting ring and a few SB-200 strobes, etc, etc). Ever want to play with them, shoot me a PM. I can bring em around and learn how to actually take a nice picture, lol

[james_ls]

Brian you dodged my question... :(

Are you selling any of your old gear to move into your new kicks??

[TROLL]

And yes the D2H is for sale... includes original box and paperwork, battery, charger, and a remote shutter release. Excellent condition all around and 28k total shutter actuations (shutter is tested for 150k+). Contact me if you are serious, I havent nailed down a price yet but I will be looking for market value to offset the price of the new purchase.

Bryan


posted above... ya gotta read my short novel to find it though i guess...