The Nikon D200 combines the solid look and feel and advanced camera operation of Nikon's D2 professional series with the approved user friendliness and stunning image quality that are the hallmarks of all Nikon digital SLRs.

The D200 has been crafted to connect a range of newly developed Nikon technologies with advanced features inherited from the Nikon D2x, ensuring an ultimate shooting experience with exceptional and versatile imaging performance, high speed, and an instant response. The result is a blend of superb features, high quality components, and fantastic results.

This combination makes the D200 perfect for passionate, dedicated amateur photographers, business users in fields such as the police, dentistry and museums, and professionals or semi professionals looking for a second camera to complement their Nikon D2x or D2Hs.

A lightweight, durable, and robust magnesium alloy chassis is the foundation for the D200.

Solid look and feel
The D200 boasts a lightweight, durable, and robust magnesium alloy body and an advanced sealing system that protects the camera from moisture and dust, making it suitable for a range of rigorous and challenging assignments. The integrated double bladed shutter, which incorporates a refined mirror balance system, has been tested to well in excess of 100,000 cycles.

Advanced operation
The D200's camera operation is inherited from the Nikon D2x, and boasts more than 40 well organized custom settings, so it is ideally suited to the user's needs and preferences. The large, bright viewfinder offers .94x magnification and 95% frame coverage both horizontally and vertically to guarantee exceptionally detailed viewing control.

The D200 sports an impressive 2.5 inch high resolution LCD.

A 2.5 inch high resolution LCD screen provides an ultra wide 170 degree viewing angle from all directions. Images on the D200 can be magnified by up to 400% so users can check for fine detail.

The top LCD panel is the largest in the industry, containing a wealth of data such as shooting mode, battery condition, card information, gridline display, shutter speed, f stop, and shots remaining. A new color coded menu display facilitates easy viewing, supported by intuitive keywords to assist speedy navigation.

The newly developed high energy EN EL3e rechargeable lithium ion battery delivers enough power to the D200 to support the shooting of up to 1,800 images on a single charge, which takes no longer than 2.5 hours. Battery status can be checked through a real time fuel gauge system, found in the menu. An optional MB D200 battery pack extends shooting capability, using AA size batteries (six are needed) or two NE EL3e's.

Ultimate shooting experience
The D200 is ideal for capturing unexpected or fleeting moments, thanks to the 0.15 second power up, a speedy shutter lag time of just 50 milliseconds, and a shortened viewfinder blackout time of 105 milliseconds.

The D200 is also capable of ultra high speed continuous shooting of five frames per second, capturing up to 37 pictures in JPEG or 22 in RAW format (when using a SanDisk SDCFH Ultra II or SDCFX Extreme III 1 GB CF card). A newly developed and highly flexible Multi CAM1000 Autofocus features a pinpoint 11 area AF system inherited from Nikon D2 series as well as a 7 area wide AF to focus on larger moving objects easily.

Continuous shooting mode captures five frames per second for up to 37 pictures in JPEG or 22 in RAW format.

Another feature inherited from the D2x is the 3D Colour Matrix Metering II, which delivers optimised exposure using new technology developed for the Nikon 1,005 pixel RGB exposure/Colour Matrix Metering sensor. This system evaluates seven parameters in every shot including brightness, color, contrast, selected focus area, and camera to subject distance and references this data against an on board database of over 30,000 actual photographic scenes to instantly and accurately calculate the final value.

The Nikon DX Format CCD delivers excellent sharpness, color, and resolution.

Professional results
A fundamental feature of the D200 is a newly developed 10.2 effective megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor that captures high level sharpness and color at 3,872 x 2,592 pixel size, delivering the right resolution to support significant image enlargements and enable greater freedom for creative cropping. The highly sensitive new sensor covers an ISO range from 100 to 1600, rising to 3200 in Hi 1.

High speed image processing is inherited from the Nikon D2x, guaranteeing fine color gradations and smooth transitions. A new Optical Low Pass Filter helps prevent moire, color fringing, and shifting to get even greater colors.

For added control, saturation and highlights of a shot can be controlled easily using the D200's RBG histograms on the LCD monitor.

In addition, new image optimization modes enable D200 users to produce results that more closely match their intended results, with the ability to optimize sharpening, tone and contrast, color, saturation, and hue in choices including Softer, Normal, More vivid, Portrait, and Black and White in camera.

Unparalleled possibilities
Like all Nikon digital SLR cameras, the D200 is compatible with Nikon's Total Imaging System, which means it can be teamed with over 50 high quality AF Nikkor lenses, including renowned DX Nikkors as well as non CPU lenses. It also opens up the creative possibilities that can achieved with Nikon's Creative Lighting System thanks to a built in i TTL Speedlight which can serve as master in Advanced Wireless Lighting systems.

The D200 incorporates an x Sync terminal to connect to studio lighting and features GPS support to record geographical data of the shot, as well as wireless functionality for image capture and transfer.

Nikon D200 Major features

• Newly developed 10.2 effective megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor with the power to capture exceptional sharpness and faithful color at 3,872 x 2,592 pixel size. Incorporates high speed 4 channel data output that contributes to 5 frames per second continuous shooting performance and employs a newly developed Optical Low Pass Filter that helps prevent moire, color fringing, and shifting while improving resolving power.

• Incorporates the industry leading advanced imaging processing engine of the D2x, which allows color independent pre conditioning prior to A/D conversion to work in concert with advanced digital image processing algorithms to achieve fine color gradations with exceptionally smooth, consistent transitions.

• Newly developed 11 area AF system packs the same number of focus areas available for the professional D2 series into a space efficient system, with the photographer able to select individual focus areas from 11 area wide and 7 area wide AF for Single Area AF, Dynamic AF that delivers precise Continuous servo AF mode operation for moving subjects, Closest Subject Priority Dynamic AF, and also Group Dynamic AF. All these AF options are supported by refined lens controlling algorithms that realize improved focus precision, better subject acquisition capability, keener subject tracking ability, and overall improved system response.

• 3D Colour Matrix Metering II (AE) as used in the D2x delivers optimized exposure through the use of new technology developed for the Nikon 1,005 pixel RGB exposure/Colour Matrix Metering Sensor. Evaluating brightness, color, contrast, selected focus area, and camera to subject distance, this system references all such data against an expanded onboard database that has been created using data from more than 30,000 actual photographic scenes to instantly and accurately calculate the final value with high level dependability during both automatic and manual operation. Also offers variable size center weighted metering which concentrates 75% of sensitivity within the center weighted circle, as well as spot metering supporting each individual sensor of both the 7 wide area AF and 11 area AF groups.

• New image optimization modes enable photographers to produce results more closely matching the intended results, with a range of choice comprising optimization of sharpening, tone (contrast), color, saturation, and hue, with choices from Normal, Softer, Vivid, More vivid, Portrait, Custom, and Black and white optimization.

• Multiple exposure enables up to 10 separate images to be used to create a single composite to produce imaginative and even surreal results. Image overlay function creates a composite image in camera from two selected NEF (RAW) images. The original files remain unaltered, opacity can be precisely controlled and the resultant image can be saved in either RAW, JPEG, or TIFF format.

• Connection to a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit via an optionally available GPS Adapter Cord MC 35 enables the recording of data including latitude, longitude, elevation and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) along with conventional shooting data for each image.

• A large 2.5 inch LCD monitor with a 170 degree viewing angle from every direction assists accurate assessment of sharpness by enabling image preview with up to 400% magnification. It also offers RGB information as a single display or separate histograms for each color channel to enable better exposure related decision making.

• A chassis crafted from magnesium alloy gives the D200 lightweight resilience, while an enhanced sealing system helps protect each and every exterior seam from potentially damaging dust and moisture.