Photographers Speak To Me! Nikon D2x

I am a Luddite when it comes to cameras. I use an ancient Nikon F and FE2 most of the time, along with a couple of large and medium format occasionally.

Been waiting for medium format digital to get down to my price, sub £1000, but meanwhile I have been dabbling with some Canon DSLRs and have enjoyed the results.

I have lots of old Nikon glass, so I am now looking at a D2x, but then I have had a shot of a D200 and they are sweet as. Anyone using these two? The D200 seems a no brainer, it has all the seals which make it suitable for packing light for expeditions, and it works with most older lenses. The D2x has better AF which is good to have in hand for some bird photography. Plus it is a veritable tank, just like the old F.

I guess I might end up with both, if I can't put the money together for the D800.

26 million pixels.

Whoop whoop! Nearly two grand though, that would mean selling a lot of the lenses I would want to use it with!

Used that good old workhorse the FM2 for years at the 'paper before going over to the F4; got out while digital was in its infancy but I think Nikon still shade it when it comes to DSLR's

Sound marketing to make them backward compatible with the AF lenses too...

...though I have some old Jupiter lenses that came with a FED 35mm outfit I just couldn't resist in the dim and distant past that out-perform them in picture quality by a country mile! There are times when I am very tempted to find an adapter and fit them to a DSLR just for the hell of it

You can fit just about any lens to DSLRs with adaptors, but I like the D2x's ability to talk to all but the most outlandish lenses from Nikon's past.

I have a wee Canon DSLR that has surprised me with its abilities, so after many false starts with digital I feel I am leaning over.

Now used and warrantied D2xs are available for under £400 I see it as a no brainer, until you see that D200s are knocking around £200!

Lots of camera for the money!

FM2 aye? The holy grail for many!

Despite the cold-sweat inducing sums I've spent on Pro kit over the years I still can't resist the lure of secondhand shops (usually CashConverters these days...) and the displays of digi-compacts they always have...

...the latest photo's in my Kili Wot thread were taken on a 14MP 'Kodak Easyshare' that set me back the princely sum of £15!

Don't the easyshare have a neat docking system that was way ahead of their time?

I believe you may be speaking to me, although not directly mayhaps...

As a news photographer I have shot with Nikon and Canon during my 30-year career and I honestly have no preference, currently I am using Canon 5d MK II bodies which are great. To the question at hand the D2x and D200 are both nearly ten-year-old digital cameras which is a bit of a problem because the technology has improved vastly over that time. The D2X body should be very durable since it was a pro level camera but issues like low light noise and banding will be very frustrating. If you shoot in the RAW mode then you may be able to alleviate some of the noise issues but then there will be compatibility issues with old RAW files and new versions of Photoshop. For my personal style of shooting the D2X's cropped sensor is also a problem because I like my wide angle lenses and utilizing the full architecture of the lens. That said your thinking is solid as far as looking for a Nikon body for those old AIS lenses. I would look for the cheapest full frame sensor camera I could find, maybe the D700? Really depends on what you will be photographing...

Steven

Thanks! I handled both today and was very impressed at how solid the D200 is.

Understand your point about the age of these models, but a low usage D200 is a great piece of kit at sub £200 prices with warranty! I have a 20D for low light, which is pretty much a throw away camera at the price.
I appreciate the full frame issue, and I will be 'looking' at the D800 when the prices have dropped under a grand. Couple of years probably! Looking like the D200 for now.

If you want tank-like build and compatibility with older lenses, I'd look at a D7000 or D300S. The D2 series are getting a bit long in the tooth now so I suppose you'd at least stand the chance of a good bargain .

Well I understand budgets, news photographers are not well paid, but allow me one last bit of pontificating. I friend and mentor used to say you should buy the best equipment you can afford, and this was in the days before digital photography. Beginning about two years ago digital technology turned a corner and for the first time since the industry abandoned film I felt my pictures were as good technically as the old film emulsions. That is why I would advocate for a relatively recent advanced enthusiast camera over the pro camera of the past. Still at £200 you are spending about a quarter of the D700 and maybe an eighth of the D800. So I totally understand.

The D200 is available to me for less than £200 warrantied for a low usage model, under 20k actuations. It will tide me over until I can afford a D800, which is definitely on my horizon! The build is more or less identical as the D300 and I really don't need the extra features of the D300, or the higher ISO performance. I rarely shoot above 400, I never spend time looking at pictures on a little screen on the back, maybe just a histogram now and then. It is the cheapness that attracts me! For the D2x it is the focus performance for shooting moving objects, but I have read the D300 has stronger AF motor so maybe I am adding the 300 to the mix, as they are not far off the price of the D2x.

I treat cameras like bikes, they are never cleaned nor spared abuse.

Otherwise I would be looking at a first generation 5D or something without environmental seals.

Thanks for the advice, more food for thought!

Can I get a D800 for £1600 in the UK?

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