Rear of camera controls

The rear of the D200 looks fairly similar to the D2X apart from the use of beige color on buttons related directly to use of the LCD monitor / playback mode. Kudos to Nikon for the larger-than-normal buttons.

Buttons (single press)

	Delete *p In playback or record review, pressing this button displays a 'Delete?' confirmation dialog, press again to confirm deletion. This 'double press' feature is very easy to use and understand and much faster than other delete implementations (why can't all cameras be this simple?). It becomes second nature to press Playback then 'Delete, Delete' if you want to delete the last image.
	Format (Delete + Mode) Hold the Delete and Mode (top right of camera) buttons simultaneously for approximately two seconds for a shortcut to format the Compact Flash card, the camera first blinks 'For' on the top display and you must release the buttons and press once more to confirm the card format.
	Playback Enters or leaves playback mode, display mode used depends on the last used (left / right press of the multi selector) or thumbnail display mode. As with all shooting priority cameras the D200 immediately removes the playback display if you half-press the shutter release button although interestingly you can trigger AF (press AF-ON) without clearing the screen).
MENU	Menu Display or cancel the camera menu, as with playback mode the menu is automatically cancelled if you half-press the shutter release button.
	Protect / Menu Help *p Press to toggle the 'read only' flag on the displayed / selected image. This button can be used in both playback and record review modes. In menu mode (with a camera menu displayed) you can press and hold this button to display a page of help about the currently highlighted function, this is especially useful for the custom functions.
ENTER	Enter / Playback zoom The Enter button is used to confirm menu selections and dialog options. In playback or record review modes it is used to switch in and out of playback zoom mode.
	Multi selector With no image displayed on the screen the multi selector is used to choose AF area, note that this function can be locked by turning the lock lever which surrounds the multi selector (this doesn't affect function in playback or menu mode). The multi selector is also used to change playback display modes (left / right), browse images in playback (up / down) and navigate menus / select dialog options. Various options are available for customizing this control: CSM f1, CSM f2 and CSM f3.

Buttons (combined with a command dial)

	Thumbnail display *p  • Single image  • Four images (2x2 grid)  • Nine images (3x3 grid)	Page through thumbnails *p Turn sub command dial to page through a full page of images (4 or 9 at a time).
	Playback zoom *p Turn the main command dial to change the playback zoom level.	Playback zoom area display *p Turn the sub command dial to switch between zoomed view or single image view with the zoom area display shown.

*p - In record review or playback mode

Auto Focus Area Mode selector

Note that the exact function of the AF area mode also depends on the focus mode (AF-S or AF-C), a full summary of all combinations of focus mode and AF area mode can be found at the bottom of this page.

	Dynamic area AF with closest subject priority The camera uses all eleven focus areas and selects the focus area with the subject closest to the camera.
	Group dynamic AF Allows you to select a group of focus areas at the center, left, right, top or bottom of the frame. The camera calculates focus position from the focus area containing the subject closest to the camera.
	Dynamic area AF Allows you to manually select one of the eleven focus areas, however the camera will use information from multiple focus areas to determine focus. Useful for focusing on specific subjects which may move out of the focus area briefly.
	Single area AF Allows you to manually select one of the eleven focus areas, the camera will only use this area for auto focus.

Front of camera controls

On the left side of the camera front are two unlabelled buttons, the top is depth of field preview, press and hold this button to stop the lens down to the selected aperture. The bottom button is a customizable 'FUNC' button, the exact function of this button can be set via CSM f4. On the right side of the camera we have the flash mode button and just below the lens release button is the focus mode selector, this allows you to choose between continuous auto focus, single auto focus or manual focus mode.

Buttons (combined with a command dial)

	Flash sync mode  • Front-curtain sync (normal)  • Slow sync  • Rear-curtain sync  • Red-eye reduction  • Red-eye reduction with slow sync	Flash exposure compensation  • -3.0 EV to +1.0 EV  • 0.3, 0.5 or 1 EV steps (CSM b4)

Focus Mode selector

S	Single servo AF (AF-S) Camera focus when shutter release button is half pressed and locks when the in-focus indicator (a solid dot) appears on the viewfinder status LCD. If the subject is moving when the shutter release button is half pressed the camera will focus track until a lock can be obtained. In this mode the default is for focus priority, this means that a shot can only be taken with a good focus lock, you can also choose release priority via CSM a2.
C	Continuous servo AF (AF-C) The camera will focus continuously while the shutter release button is half pressed, if the subject moves the camera will adjust focus to compensate. In this mode the default is for release priority, this means that a shot will be taken whether or not the camera has a good focus lock, you can also choose focus priority via CSM a1.
M	Manual Focus Focusing is achieved manually by turning the lens manual focus ring. Focus indicator on the viewfinder status LCD will still indicate whether or not the selected manual focus is the same as the calculated auto focus. This mode is always release priority.

Summary of Auto focus options

Focus mode	AF-area mode	Focus area selection	How it works
AF-S		Manual	Camera focuses on subject in selected focus area. Focus will remain locked while shutter-release button is pressed half way.
		Manual	Camera focuses on subject in selected focus area. If subject moves before cam era has focused, camera will focus based on information from other focus areas. Focus will remain locked while shutter-release button is pressed half way.
		Camera automatically selects focus area from within group	As above, except camera automatically selects focus area containing subject closest to camera from group of focus areas selected by user.
		Automatic	As above, except that focus area containing subject closest to camera is selected from all eleven focus areas.
AF-C		Manual	Camera continues to focus on subject in selected focus area while shutter-release button is pressed halfway.
		Manual	Camera focuses on subject in selected focus area. While shutter-release button is pressed halfway, camera tracks subject as it moves from one focus area to the next.
		Camera automatically selects focus area from within group	As above, except camera automatically selects focus area containing subject closest to camera from group of focus areas selected by user.
		Automatic	As above, except that focus area containing subject closest to camera is selected from all eleven focus areas.

Table above reproduced with permission from the Nikon D200 user manual.