D200 tips & tricks?

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Howdy folks,

Just got a lightly used D200 and am psyched to finally have a decent digi-slr to play around with. My N90s is going to get sold and the F100 will be stored away...

Anyway, wondering what you Nikon shooters might have to say about this camera that's not immediately obvious to a digital noob. I've done a lot of film photography over the years so have a good handle on the basics but would appreciate anything that will help me get over the learning curve and anything specific to this camera I should know about.

For example, there is an "optimize image" menu. Should I use anything other than "normal?" Will "Vivid" or "More Vivid" produce results similar to what I'm used to getting from a heavily saturated film like Fuji Reala with a polarizing filter? I see that I can setup a custom image optimization scheme so I'll play around with that too, but curious whether you guys use any of that stuff.

What about in-camera sharpening?

And finally - When I'm after the best shot, say when getting a real nice outdoor landscape shot, should I shoot RAW or is JPEG Fine acceptable?

The camera has a 4GB card in it and will hold about 450 shots in jpeg fine mode or about 250 in RAW.

Thanks for any info you care to share!

PS - what's my best source for decent used Nikon glass? I currently have a 50mm f1.8 that's sharp as a tack but not very versatile and a 24-120 f3.5 - 5.6 that's extremely versatile but not very sharp. Something like the 24-70 f2.8 AFS would be sweet but I don't have $1700 in the budget right now...

[g_man80]

Here is a good dose of info:
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200/users-guide/index.htm (user's guide)
or
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200.htm
He covers a lot of what you are asking about (color, constrast, etc. setting). He's definitely opinionated, but I find his settings and reviews useful.

[hop]

I have been shooting my D200 at pretty much stock settings for three years and have had excellent results. I never use a polarizer (probably will change soon) and have been shooting at "normal", however I'm thinking I'm going to bump it up to vivid tomorrow and see what happens.

I also have been shooting 98% jpg but since my work is asking for RAW, that's what they get. Gunder suggested changing them to DNG which I have been doing, and I expect to be back shooting jpg once I get off this boat. I'm totally useless when it comes to post-processing so if I don't get the shot the first time I'm probably not going to be able to save it later. I'm also only shooting for work and not for artsy-fartsy action, although I do try on occasion.

Bread-and-butter lenses are 70-200 2.8 VR (never on), 300 f4, and the 18-70 3.5-4.5 that came with the thing. I want a faster wider zoom but as you mentioned... $$$$$.

The point of this post? I dunno, but I'm happy with my D200 and I don't see the need to upgrade anytime soon. The thing works perfectly for what I need. Have fun!

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Thanks for the tips so far, keep 'em coming if you got 'em.

So far I cannot make this thing take a flash photo to save my life. The flash fires, THEN the mirror flips up. What's up with that? Every flash photo I've tried has come out severely underexposed to the point that it often just looks black. Doing exactly what the manual says...???? Even tried turning exposure compensation way up, then the photos look fine on the LCD but still dark to the point of uselesness when downloaded to the computer. WTF?

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Uhhh, okay. Figured it out, sort of. The previous owner had some custom settings stored in the bracket/flash menu that were screwing things up. Reset to defaults and it's working fine.

[Hugh Conway]

Menu -> builtin flash -> TTL mode

For used Nikon glass www.Keh.com. Glazers and Kenmore camera some used gear at not horrible prices. The Nikon 18-70 is better than you'd expect, but for a few more $ check out the Tamron 17-50f2.8. You can borrow mine if you'd like.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Thanks Hugh, that's a mighty generous offer. I was just at Glazer's today picking up a USB cable and remote shutter release. Didn't see any decent used lenses that weren't $$$ (a couple of 80-200 f2.8s). Going backpacking up around Glacier Peak next week and going to haul my tripod along and try to get some good pics. Would like to pick up some good glass before then. There is an 18-70 on Craigslist for dirt cheap right now. Have read some decent reviews about that one, great bang for the buck. Sent an e-mail to the seller to see if he still has it.

I'll get ahold of you Saturday evening if I want to borrow your lens.

[The Suit]

This one is from Ken Rockwell:

I leave most settings at their defaults.

I reset everything every time I use my camera, much as a pilot uses a checklist before flight to prevent any switches from being in the wrong position. When I don't check first, I often have left my D200 in some screwy mode from shooting in the dark the night before.

Nikon has an easy reset feature. I use it every time! My standard operating setting only is one click different than the defaults, and that's only because I use one trick I'll explain in the menus to improve image file size.

RESET: Find the * QUAL and +/- * buttons on the top of the camera. Hold them both down for a few seconds. The top LCD blinks and everything is back to normal.

I do this every time I use my D200. If I forget, I may have the resolution or White Balance or ISO or God knows what set to something screwy and spoil all my shots. I'll see WB problems on the LCD, but I won't notice if I left my D200 at ISO 1,600 from the night before. That's why I always use reset.

Reset leaves the detailed menu tweaks alone and is smart enough to reset only the big dumb things I might have moved overnight.

I always shoot in RAW. I use Lightroom to organize and do simple processing on my pictures.

The 18-200 lens is pretty nice as a do-it-all option. I use my 70-200 f2.8 lens more than anything else.

I just recently learned how to do the wireless remote thing with my SB800 flash. Both the SB800 and SB600 can be wirelessly controlled by the D200's built-in flash. Here's Ken Rockwell's explanation of how to set it up. Since figuring this out, I've lost much of my fear of flash photography.

[amyzilla]

I just picked up a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 and I'm happy with it. Obviously it's no replacement for the Nikon lens, but it was worth the price. I found it at a camera shop in Ballard for cheap. Try calling around to see if anyone has something like that - that's how I found this one.

[jbc28]

I just picked up a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 and I'm happy with it. Obviously it's no replacement for the Nikon lens, but it was worth the price. I found it at a camera shop in Ballard for cheap. Try calling around to see if anyone has something like that - that's how I found this one.

The Sigma 24-70 will underexpose by 1 stop at 70mm and 28mm (I think) unless it has been updated. Sigma will do it for free if it needs updating.

To the OP...Nikonians has a great spread sheet for setting each of the D200's 4 memory banks.

http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcbo...topic_id=22300

I use these settings with just a few tweeks.

[Bawheed]

BTW, if you didn't already know, Glazer's has a rental shop about a block away from their main store. If you want to use exotic glass for a day or two, that's yer place right there. The deposits are pricey @ $2000, but being able to rent the 600mm f4 for $80 a day aint too bad. Pro tip: Pick up your rental after 3pm on Friday, and you'll be able to keep it through Monday and only pay for one day.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Didn't know about the rental shop, thanks! I just took a totally irresponsible plunge and plunked down the coin for a 24-70 F2.8. What a tank. Also picked up a used 55-200 F4-5.6G VR. Can't wait to get some good shots with that 24-70, and reviews indicate the 55-200 has surprisingly good optics for such a cheap, cheesy looking/feeling lens. Dunno why Nikon doesn't charge $50 more for lenses like this and make them with metal mounting rings and a little better feel.

Anyway, here are a couple pics I got Saturday with the new D200 and the old 24-120 F4-5.6D (non VR version). Not bad for handholding a zoom with that kind of range that's universally known for not being all that sharp.









All three of the above pics were treated to unsharp mask in Photoshop at 0.5 pixels/50%, just enough to help them "pop."