Neil Harrington wrote:


I'm not familiar at all with the D200. However, a couple of my older Minolta
DiMAGE cameras (7i, 7Hi) do have a lock on the mode dial and I find it
annoying. It's a spring-loaded tab on the dial, so it's not always in the
same place -- its location depends on what the dial is turned to, so you
always have to look to see where it is before you can turn the dial, and
though that's hardly a major impediment it often seems awkward to me. The
mostly similar A200 doesn't have the lock and I like that a lot better. I
see your point about accidentally moving the dial, though. Mostly that's
happened to me with cameras that had too-weak detents in the dial, and that
was a nuisance.

The D200 has a little lock button next to the dial, but the dial's
function is completely different than that of the D70. The D70 dial
sets modes like AUTO, P, A, S, M, and a few programmed modes. The D200
dial sets the multiple shot function for the shutter -- single frame,
slow (programmable) multiple mode, fast multiple shot mode, self-timer,
and "Mup" (mirror up). The D200 has no AUTO mode, nor does it have any
of the programmed modes found on the D70 or D80 (which has the same
mode dial as the D70), but it has P, S, A, and M. These are selected by
pressing the MODE button next to the ON/OFF/LCD Light switch and
rotating the primary function dial.

I really have not got a clue why the D70 and the D80 have an AUTO mode.
The first thing anyone does with them is to turn it off in order to get
rid of the annoying pop-up flash. No one I know uses AUTO. (Or if they
did, I would not admit knowing them. :-) ) The chief function of AUTO
is to turn the camera into a point and shoot. I have no objection to
that, but it seems to be a waste of a lot of good features.