I havnt got a new DSLR for years since my SLRn Now I have a D200
Some questions.
Quality
Initial outing underexposed a little - it seems rubbish compared to my SLRn -not much better than my D70 - can this be true - or do I just need to expose right
Batteries
I have heaps of D70/D100 batteries - I thought they would fit
If I took a knife to them could I gouge em out to fit - would this be OK the voltage says 7.5 on both but they appear not to fit due to having a different shape wedge cut out near the connectors
Workflow (yes I shoot RAW only)
Shooting Manual focus hand held at the limit of aperture and shutter speed many of my frames are not sharp (with all cameras) but I take loads and get a few keepers
So I need a way of quiickly ascertaining if an image is sharp
My current D200 workflow is..
Browse in Photo Mechanic, check keepers
Open keepers with CS
Save as Tiff (should I upres at this point??)
Trouble is PM takes a while to build a Preview to check sharpness
Should I be checking out C1
Kodak Photo Desk was really fast with its sharpness checker
Any insights welcome..
SMM
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Morgan,
I've had a D200 since February and think it's excellent. You need a EN-EL3e battery, unfortunately the D70 EN-EL3 battery can't be used because the new one has an extra chip in it for the battery level circuit. I've set the camera to give me low contrast so I can tweak it to my desired taste in CS2. The main problem I had with the D70 was blown highlights. I reckon the D200 is in another league to the D70 and I prefer it to the D2x because it's much lighter. Also I reckon the image quality of the D200 is just a whisker away from the D2x.
The main problem I've encountered is that although the preview image looks great on the rear screen it can often be underexposed in reality. I just go by the levels display to check the exposure and only use the screen for checking composition after the event or to check for naff images so I can get rid of them. I always use Matrix metering and it's spot on almost all the time, just amazing. The flash is wonderful too, just so easily controllable for fill flash.
I download from the camera using Picture Project, I convert using Nikon Capture and I store most of the files as RAW and only convert the images that I want to work on. I don't normally correct in Capture but do it in CS2 as it looks more film like in my opinion.
Overall the camera has been a delight to use and just feels right. I tried a Canon 5D but just didn't like it. I've found the 18-70 kit lens to be as sharp as any Nikon lens I've used at f5.6-f11, so I tend to use that quite often.
The only drawback with the camera is the sensor size and the almost impossible task of getting good bokeh for portraits. If I want to shoot a portrait I put it away and get out my Hasselblad! As for quality I reckon the results I've been getting with it are as good as MF. Of course the look is different though.
Cheers !
Barrie Watts
www.barriewatts.co.uk