Buying a Nikon D200 in 2018?

Hello, I’m looking for a beater camera to take out when I KNOW I’m going to do stupid stuff with it (think blizzard conditions, definitely sub-zero, possibly rain, frequent and sometimes unavoidable knocks against rocks, possible theft) Found a good condition Nikon D200 at a price that’s low enough that I wouldn’t care if I something happened it assuming I liked it, but high enough that I’m hesitant to just splash the cash. Looking for other people’s opinions (for and against arguments both welcome).

Other suggestions? For comparisons I’m shooting with Nikon D500/D610 combo right now. I know they’re (very) solidly built but I’d rather sacrifice something less expensive for this particular application (build quality doesn’t protect against theft haha). I’m waist deep in Nikon gear, so other brands aren’t quite as appealing to me, but I am open to suggestions. Weather sealed preferred. Lenses not a problem.

Hello.

Why not?

I own a m43 system with good lenses and a nikon d700 with primes. mostly i make portraits but not for professional work. recently i came across a fuji s5 ( is based on the D200 nikon body) the price was pretty good and bought it. Now i used this camera for all kind of general photography , taking anywhere without worrying if it get damaged or not, because i bought it cheap. although is big camera i feel it more right to my hand that the big d700. So i am like you, this camera is all around camera taking lovely photos. i guess the d200 will be nearby.l have to say that the screen is bad so dont expect to view the images on the camera screen.but for the reason you want to buy it i think you will love the camera. by the way i think this camera is 10mp enough for a lot of things today.

D200 was a nice camera with a crappy 10mp CCD sensor. Image quality will be abysmal in comparison to your D500. You should feel right at home in terms in handling, it felt like a solidly build camera if memory serves.

I vote yes, assuming it's dirt cheap.

Assuming it is in good condition then yes, it will be a really good camera, handles well and not too big, well built too. Look here and sort by date taken, the last few are D200. The colours are a bit pastel, the DR isn't huge but there are enough pixels and contrary to some suggestions the rear screen is perfectly useable.

for your stated intentions it makes perfect sense

coudet said:

D200 was a nice camera with a crappy 10mp CCD sensor. Image quality will be abysmal in comparison to your D500.

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The silly categorical nature of this comment is right up there. It's easy to sell to people like you in camera shops though.

The D200 was famous for its attractive colors, the caveat is that you only get nice image quality up to iso 800. You still get an image at iso 1600, but it will probably look like iso 6400 on a D500. I haven't checked.

Also, the AA filter in the D200 is quite strong, you will probably need to add sharpening.

Maybe you should stretch to a D300 if you need an extra stop of high iso out of it. Presumably <$300?

I have to say that I have trouble getting my head around the idea of buying an old DSLR to use in conditions where it might get destroyed or stolen, especially since you are presumably going to lose a lens, battery and memory card/images as well.

I think that my starting point for such a situation would be to look for a camera that is more likely to survive those situations and small enough to be carried securely, e.g. an action cam or something like an Olympus "Tough".

I think that my other approach would be to work out ways of protecting and using my current equipment in at least some of these dangerous situations.

I might be inclined to follow your approach if this was for a one off trip and the benefits of shooting with a DSLR rather than, say, an Olympus TG, outweighed the risk of losing everything.

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Chris R

I would say buy it if the price is really cheap. Possible better alternative would be a D300. However if you are concerned about theft or damage what lenses do you intend to use with it? The cost of these probably exceeds the cost of a used camera body.

I actually have a D70s a D300 and a new D7200. The 70s is ok for taking photos where I don't need the Dr or autofocus of either other camera. A big plus of it is I can use a pair of yongnuo triggers and sync the flash at 1/1000 which I cannot do with the later bodies! For lenses I use a 18-70 and an old AI 50mm f2 which is really quite good.

So go for it and enjoy working within its limitations.

Peter