Nikon D200 review

15th February 2008

Written by Gordon Laing

Nikon D200 gallery

The following images were taken with the Nikon D200 using the Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 G ED lens. Each image was recorded using the Large Fine JPEG mode, optimised for quality rather than size. The D200 was set to Matrix metering and its Optimise Image parameter set to the default Normal for sharpening, tone, colour, saturation and hue. The individual file size, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, ISO and lens details are listed for each image.

The crops are taken from the original files, reproduced at 100% and saved in Adobe Photoshop CS2 as JPEGs with the default Very High quality preset, while the resized full images were made in Photoshop CS2 and saved with the default High quality preset. The three crops are typically taken from far left, central and far right portions of each image.

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City: 4.59MB, Program, 1/200, f7.1, ISO 100, 17-55mm at 44mm (equivalent to 66mm)

This shot of The London Eye was taken on a sunny Winter’s day with the Nikkor 17-55mm zoomed-into 44mm.

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 44mm middle left crop

There’s a high level of detail in the crops and low noise as you’d expect at 100 ISO.

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 44mm middle crop

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 44mm upper right crop

City: 5.24MB, Program, 1/160, f6.3, ISO 100, 17-55mm at 17mm (equivalent to 25.5mm)

				This shot of the Hungerford footbridge over The River Thames was taken with the 17-55mm lens at its widest focal length. The combination of dark shadows under the bridge and bright sky behind it has caused no problems for Nikon’s Matrix metering. The exposure is well balanced and the crops reasonably sharp, although there’s evidence of a little fringing around areas of high contrast.

City: 4.75MB, Program, 1/80, f4.5, ISO 400, 17-55mm at 17mm (equivalent to 25.5mm)

				This shot of London’s Borough Market was taken with the 17-55mm lens at its widest focal length. While many exposure systems are fooled by the very bright skylights in this composition, the D200’s metering system has delivered another well-balanced exposure. The dimmer conditions forced an increase in sensitivity to 400 ISO, but noise levels remain low.

Portrait: 3.57MB, Aperture Priority, 1/1250, f2.8, ISO 100, 17-55mm at 55mm (equivalent to 82.5mm)

This shot was taken using the Nikkor 17-55mm lens zoomed-in to its longest focal length. The aperture was set to f2.8 to minimise the depth-of-field.

Despite only having a maximum focal length of 55mm, this Nikkor lens offers great portrait results and an attractive bokeh with its aperture wide open.

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 55mm lower right crop

Again at 100 ISO, there’s no noise to speak of.

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 55mm middle crop

Nikon D200 with 17-55mm lens at 55mm upper right crop

City: 4.65MB, Program, 1/125, f5.6, ISO 800, 17-55mm at 26mm (equivalent to 39mm)

				This shot of the London New Year’s Day parade was taken with the Nikkor 17-55mm lens at 26mm. To achieve decent exposures on this dim, overcast day we increased the ISO to 800 and set the compensation to +0.7EV to counteract the very bright sky area. The crops show no fringing against the bright sky, while the noise levels even at 800 ISO remain very usable.