Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: MartynK on April 16, 2006, 01:07:24 pm

Title: D200
Post by: MartynK on April 16, 2006, 01:07:24 pm
Hello everyone. First post.

I ran something similar on nikonians and dpreview, but I'd really like more advice from people with hands on experience.

I have about 30 years background with Nikon SLRs, and a few years with digital (Dimage 7i). Main photographic  interests: travel/historical and some wildlife - little or no portraiture or posed shots, and I prefer MF most of the time. I'm fairly comfortable with PP.

Time for a DSLR. The D50/D70 viewfinders are too small and I'd pretty much decided on the D200 (I have 28mm, 50mm and 100 - 300mm Nikkors, all manual, and they will work on the body for the time being), but the camera costs R17,500 in South Africa. That's about $2,700 US. All photographc gear is very expensive here, but Nikon is even more overpriced than most.

I handled the D200, and a Canon 30D, at a dealers the other day and far preferred the build and ergonomics of the Nikon - I'm a bit emotionally attched to the brand too - but is is a lot more expensive (roughly R5000/$800) than the Canon. I can probably live with this, because I won't have to buy glass right away, but two questions:

I know a lot of US owners reckon the camera (price/build/performance etc) is a good deal at $1700, but how would you rate it at $2700? How does the viewfinder work out in practice? The one I handled was powered up and fitted with a 17 - 55 2.8, but I was just a little disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much after film SLRs, but I'd read a lot about the size/brightness and I wasn't quite sure about it.

Just for the record, none of our dealers offer "buy to try" and return options, and an internet purchase isn't very viable for various reasons, including the warranty problem.

Thanks a lot.
Title: D200
Post by: tony field on April 19, 2006, 11:04:40 am
Seems as though you have no choice!  I assume that all cameras are priced in the same proportion as in Canada - the 20D is priced below the D200 which is below the 5D, etc.    If I were presented with this problem and decided that digital is a "necessity" for me, I certainly would purchase the D200 - and feel very envious of people who have purchased it at lower costs.
Title: D200
Post by: BernardLanguillier on April 20, 2006, 04:12:30 am
Does something prevent you from buying over the net from a US based vendor like B&H?

You will of course have to ship your camera back to the US in case of problem, but that risk might be worth 800 US$?

Regards,
Bernard
Title: D200
Post by: MartynK on April 21, 2006, 05:42:01 am
Quote
Does something prevent you from buying over the net from a US based vendor like B&H?

You will of course have to ship your camera back to the US in case of problem, but that risk might be worth 800 US$?

Regards,
Bernard
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=63148\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Thanks guys. B & H won't supply Nikon bodies to SA customers. They seem to have some sort of restrictive agreement in place with the US distributor, and there are a couple of other problems.

The D200 is readily available in SA, over the counter, but seems to be in short supply in the US.

I'd have to pay for courier delivery from the US, which is quite expensive, because the SA Post Office would probably steal the camera. No, I'm not exaggerating.
Title: D200
Post by: HiltonP on April 21, 2006, 08:55:41 am
Martyn,

Nice to see another Sarfie on the LL boards. Yes, the "premium" we have to pay in SA is a rather hot topic amongst those who buy camera equipment. It seems Nikon, and Canon, and all the others for that matter are more intent on strangling (or creaming) our photographic market rather than expanding it. They don't however appear to understand the power of the Internet, or the global marketplace, but I concede that they do know how to hang the service / repair threat over our heads!  I know of 18 acquaintances two have purchased digital cameras during the last 24 months. Not one of them purchased inside SA. All of them bought either online, or overseas.

With the current exchange rate the D200 (body only) is actually closer to $2900, excluding any form of postage. Can you not get a friend to bring one in to SA for you?  Buy it from B&H, ship it to a US address, and get them to walk it through. You'd save enough money to comfortably cover any service / repair issues. In fact, considering that you would be paying R17000+ for the body here, and then need at least two fast 2Gb cards and possibly a decent card reader, you might be better off buying a ticket to NYC, going to B&H yourself, and walking the kit through. You might even end up with some change over!

Are you aware of these three SA camera sites?
www.outdoorphoto.co.za
www.sacamera.co.za
www.cameraguy.co.za

ODP is a local discussion forum as well, and you find find other SAfricans who have tried the D200.