D200 or D90?

Well RichA the price on the D80 has been steadily falling for the last year.
You can now buy a D80 body for under $600 if you shop around.

Some of the camera stores are already starting to discount the D90 and its
just been released.


"RichA" wrote in message
...
On Sep 14, 11:01 am, "G" wrote:
If I was you I would wait till around Xmas, the price of the D90 will come
down.


Not by much. The D80 had one of the most solid pricing lines I've
seen in a digital.

In article , Me
wrote:

How is live view ideal for macro work?

For tripod work, the high resolution screen allowing zooming 10x or so
allows for critical manual focus and depth of field preview /much/
better than any dslr viewfinder. For hand-held macro, photos of moving
subjects etc. the viewfinder is just fine.

exactly.

Macro is the only good use I've found for liveview. LV with a tilting
screen might be okay for hand-held overhead shots etc, but it's not very
practical IMO unless you have a very light dslr with small lenses.

live view is actually not that practical in most situations. how many
people can hold a dslr steady, especially with a larger lens, with the
camera at arms length? but for tripod work, it's *really* useful.

Alan Browne wrote:
RTack wrote:
Which would you buy - the rock solid semi-pro D200 used for about
$800-$900 or the gizmo'd up brand new D90 for about a $1000? Or more
accurately, which do think takes better photos, everything being equal?

Wait for the dpreview tests where they will very likely compare the two
side by side, including for specific technical measurements (noise,
resolution).

They won't. DPreview seem to make a point of _not_ comparing cameras
that they consider to be of different "class". I'd expect to see direct
comparisons of D90 vs 450d, K20d, perhaps a350.

If you want a D200 class camera, perhaps you should buy the D300 new for
a couple hundred more than the D90 new, although the differences are
somewhat slim, you do get a faster shutter and 1/3 stop ISO.

Depends on definition of slim:
a weather-sealed magnesium body vs plastic
metering with non CPU lenses
51 vs 11 AF focus points
15 vs 1 cross type AF sensors
100% viewfinder vs 96%
1005 pixel vs 420 pixel metering
6/8 vs 4.5 fps
150k vs 100k actuation shutter design life
MLU.
Numerous other features - some of which may be "featuritis" for many
users - relating to CLS, file formats, custom functions etc.


Consider the D700 for a true differentiation with a FF sensor and
presumably lower noise.

It's (nice - but) three times the price of a D90!

Me wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:

If you want a D200 class camera, perhaps you should buy the D300 new
for a couple hundred more than the D90 new, although the differences
are somewhat slim, you do get a faster shutter and 1/3 stop ISO.

Depends on definition of slim:
a weather-sealed magnesium body vs plastic
metering with non CPU lenses
51 vs 11 AF focus points
15 vs 1 cross type AF sensors
100% viewfinder vs 96%
1005 pixel vs 420 pixel metering
6/8 vs 4.5 fps
150k vs 100k actuation shutter design life
MLU.
Numerous other features - some of which may be "featuritis" for many
users - relating to CLS, file formats, custom functions etc.

A few of those above are a bit on the 'nice to have' side, but MLU,
non-CPU lens metering and longer shutter life do seem very useful.

Consider the D700 for a true differentiation with a FF sensor and
presumably lower noise.

It's (nice - but) three times the price of a D90!

Your point is? g

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Alan Browne wrote:
Me wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:

If you want a D200 class camera, perhaps you should buy the D300 new
for a couple hundred more than the D90 new, although the differences
are somewhat slim, you do get a faster shutter and 1/3 stop ISO.

Depends on definition of slim:
a weather-sealed magnesium body vs plastic
metering with non CPU lenses
51 vs 11 AF focus points
15 vs 1 cross type AF sensors
100% viewfinder vs 96%
1005 pixel vs 420 pixel metering
6/8 vs 4.5 fps
150k vs 100k actuation shutter design life
MLU.
Numerous other features - some of which may be "featuritis" for many
users - relating to CLS, file formats, custom functions etc.

A few of those above are a bit on the 'nice to have' side, but MLU,
non-CPU lens metering and longer shutter life do seem very useful.
The AF system is possibly the biggest difference IMO - a good pro system
vs a good adequate amateur system. The difference used to cost $000's,
so for a few hundred $ - if you need it - it's perhaps a bargain.
If the D90 AF is like the D80 (supposedly the same?) the difference is
truly chalk and cheese (I use both cameras).
It really depends on what an individual user might need - or might think
they may need. Detailing those sort of differences isn't well covered in
reviews like DPReview (and most others). I guess partly because
"measuring" total AF system performance to any standard isn't easy
almost as bad as trying to quantify VR/IS - or perhaps even worse. The
main "focus" of reviews always seems to be on image quality & added
whizzy gizmos. Sure image quality is important, but if the emphasis is
shifted somewhat to conclude that these days almost all current dslrs
produce images that meet and exceed what 35mm film was used for by most
people, then perhaps it's becoming a red herring. So surely features
that help "get the shot" could deserve more emphasis in reviews.

Consider the D700 for a true differentiation with a FF sensor and
presumably lower noise.

It's (nice - but) three times the price of a D90!

Your point is? g

So if money isn't an issue - then get a D3, 1DsIII, or a medium format
dslr - or get one of each - no two of each (you need a backup)!

How is live view ideal for macro work?


Man! I can tell you its wunnerful!!

Sure is. I am using a 40D, BTW.

Perhaps I should not post to this thread.

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:38:39 -0400, "Charles"
wrote:



How is live view ideal for macro work?


Man! I can tell you its wunnerful!!

Sure is. I am using a 40D, BTW.

Perhaps I should not post to this thread.

I should have posted more clearly.

My favourite macro lens is a 105mm AF Micro Nikkor which I have used
on a Nikon F801s, a D70 and now a D300. I am a mechanical engineer and
macrophotography is an essential part of my work.

Very little of what I need to photograph is at a convenient bench
level and frequently is at ground level. Nearly always it involves
using the camera at a peculiar angle. Accurate focussing is essential
and so therefore is seeing _exactly_ what it is you are doing.

I wear glasses and using the eyepiece to focus is frequently an
excercise in neck-breaking acrobatics. The purchase of a right angle
eyepiece made things easier but still not perfect. Now with the D300 I
can plaster a bloody great image on the back of the camera on the 3"
LCD screen. I don't have to get my eye up against it. I don't even
need to be accurately aligned with it. No longer to I have to roll my
eyeballs out of their sockets to point them in the right direction. No
longer do I have to dislocate my spine to get my eyeballs into exactly
the right place. I can now see what I am doing in fine detail.

As I have already said - it's wunnerful!



Eric Stevens

I cant vouch for the US prices on D200 bodes, but I do know that D200 bodies
in Britain, are really cheap now.

On eBay for example, I have seen new D200 bodies selling for as little as
£445.

Considering how well made the D200 is, and the fact that it is a tried and
tested design which has been a great hit with many photographers, I think
I'd be inclined to opt for the D200.

Personally I'd also be inclined to wait until next year to consider adding a
D90 to my camera kit. I distrust 'new' cameras and I think the price of the
D90 will be much lower after Xmas 2008 is over and done with.

I also think that 'new' camera designs tend to be slightly more 'buggy' than
cameras that have been around awhile, so I'd prefer to wait until Nikon has
upgraded the D90 firmware to compensate for any bugs the current design may
have.



"RTack" wrote in message
...
Which would you buy - the rock solid semi-pro D200 used for about
$800-$900 or the gizmo'd up brand new D90 for about a $1000? Or more
accurately, which do think takes better photos, everything being
equal?

Charles wrote:
How is live view ideal for macro work?

Man! I can tell you its wunnerful!!

Sure is. I am using a 40D, BTW.

Perhaps I should not post to this thread.


Dunno.. In this case, we're talking tripod/liveview/macro.. I'd say
you're spot-on in the discussion..



P.

Same here,I just bought a mint D200 for £480 of Ebay,better than a D90 with
things on it I don't need or want.
Bruce
"seth1066" wrote in message
...
I opted for the D200 which I picked up with 4600 actuations and a
18-135mm G lens for $875.