Are D200's Still worth buying?

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I've got a Nikon D50 at the moment but have been unhappy with it for a while and I really want to upgrade soon.

I'd absolutely Love to get a D300 but at around £1000 for body only, its just too much money.

I keep looking at D80's and D200's and i've noticed the price of the D200 to be pretty good. But are they still worth looking into. Or should i look at a D80.

I'm mainly interested in getting good motorsport shots but i also delve into all types of photography.

Should I go buy a D200? and is it worth me trying to sell my D50 or should i keep it as a spare camera.

Cheers.
 
The d200 is still a good camera, ok not as good in low light as the d300, but still good, I'd keep the d50 as a backup just in case. Wayne
 
Well if your going to be using the camera for motorsport then get the D200. It's got more fps than the D80 and the D200 has some more features also.

Seeing as the D50 is basically the same as the D80 it seems a bit pointless getting the D80 just because it has more pixels.
 
cherryrig said:
Well if your going to be using the camera for motorsport then get the D200. It's got more fps than the D80 and the D200 has some more features also.

Seeing as the D50 is basically the same as the D80 it seems a bit pointless getting the D80 just because it has more pixels.
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I was under the impression that the D80 was far superior than the D50, if thats not the case then i wont look at the D80.

With regards to the D200 not being as good in low light, i'm assuming its going to be alot better than what i currently have with the D50?
 
D200 and D80 are both still good cameras and are getting to be a very good price. The D300 just has a few years more research and development behind it. In normal daylight conditions I doubt many would notice much difference in the photos from your D50.

Looking at your kit in your sig I would suggest that you'll get milage and better pictures spending money on some better glass. You can find good deals on old Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and/or 35-70 f2.8, these were the best you could buy 15 years ago and can be found in very good condition I bought both for £450 earlier this year (which is just under the price of a new D80 body).

If you are definately wanting to upgrade the body the D80 uses SD cards just like the D50 so is a logical move. Although the D200 take CF cards and you'll need to go out and buy a whole new set it probably is a better upgrade from a D50 IMO.

If it interests you I am about to put my D80 body for sale for £350.

As for the D50, if you get a new body I'd keep it and use it as a second body IMO it's probably not worth selling as I'm guessing it's probably only worth £150-£200 with the 18-55 included.
 
Dal said:
I was under the impression that the D80 was far superior than the D50, if thats not the case then i wont look at the D80.

With regards to the D200 not being as good in low light, i'm assuming its going to be alot better than what i currently have with the D50?
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The D80 is an improvement over the D50 just as the D300 is an improvement on the D200. There are improvements in the AF and metering system as well as having more MPs in the D80. There are even more improvements in the D200 metering and AF system.

I don't know but the D200 could possibly be worse in at high ISO than the D50 as the smaller size of each pixel means an increase noise. If you want low light performance, get the faster f2.8 lenses on your D50 you'll see more of an improvement than a buying a D80 or D200.
 
I was in the exact same situation as you earlier this year.
I was unhappy with the D50, i looked at the possible upgrades.
D300, D80 and D200.
D80 wasn't a big enough step up, didn't appear to have much over the D50 tbh.
D300 is my dream at the mo, but the price was a killer as i was just buying a house.
So i went for a low actuation second hand d200, i already had a F2.8 lens for the 200.
I don't regret it, i find it easier to use and better to handle. Image quality is stunning.
All the options are at fingers reach, instead of having to hunt them down in the menu.
The high iso handling of the D200 is far better than the D50.
As everyone has said, keep the d50 as a second body, resale value isn't massivly good enough to sell on anyway.
I have mine in my bag ready for if i need it or if my gf wants to have a play.

Hope my story helped.
 
SimonTALM said:
If you are definately wanting to upgrade the body the D80 uses SD cards just like the D50 so is a logical move. Although the D200 take CF cards and you'll need to go out and buy a whole new set it probably is a better upgrade from a D50 IMO.

As for the D50, if you get a new body I'd keep it and use it as a second body IMO it's probably not worth selling as I'm guessing it's probably only worth £150-£200 with the 18-55 included.
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You can buy memory so cheaply, so dont let that sway your thoughts. I bought 4GB Extreme III for £15, which is enough for about 300 shots in Raw.

With your D50, question whether you will ever use it, and if so, will you use it that much? If you don't think so, don't let it gather dust and depreciate, sell it. I don't know much about part exchange, but thats always an option, and saves the hassle of selling it yourself.

Oh, and the D200 is a lovely camera! Much better than the D80 I think. I have used both a lot, and you wont regret either, but D200 is lovely. Go to a store, and test one out.
 
To answer the OP's question: Yes. The D200 is still worth buying. You can get a mint 2nd hand D200 for the price of a new D80. Same pixel count, but just so much more camera...I would go used D200 over new D80 any day of the week.

One of the main reasons I bought a D300 to replace my D200 was that I just could. I had the cash, and I wanted to buy something shiny:) My D200 was still perfectly capable, and will remain so for many years to come.
 
I would not hesitate to go for the D200 and there have been a good few exellent examples on the for sale section of the forum recently. I have the
D200 and whilst its low light perfomance might mean you need to ramp up the ISO which is not great, it is still a great camera. I kept my D50 and it still produces images that sell as well as the D200.

As ever lots of very good advice from the forum - mine would be to buy a good quality 2nd hand D200, save about 600 quid in the process and get some CF cards and enjoy!

In 6 months if you change your mind and want the D300 then your D200 will only have dropped a little and so hopefully will the D300.

Bob
 
BobR said:
In 6 months if you change your mind and want the D300 then your D200 will only have dropped a little and so hopefully will the D300.
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Being semi-pro spec bodies, this is indeed true. I managed to wing my D300 from Jessops for £965 in the end, combination of web discount code and blagging the manager;)

To be fair, apart from the larger screen (3" vs 2.5"), the only visible external difference is there is no separate bracketing button on the D300 - it's task has transferred to the front programmable function button... Both mag-alloy, weather-sealed bodies, CF cards, 10-pin accessory socket yadda yadda yadda:)
 
Is this a joke question?
 
The D200 was a superb camera when it was released not that long ago.

That hasn't changed just because there are newer toys on the market :)
 
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