Love my new D200, some questions

Looks good to me

 

oh don't be silly
The D200 is a far better camera. Get Thom Hogans e-book and get the camera set up right for you
I never had the first prob.
I set it just like I did the D100 and went out shooting
I shoot raw compressed
All the color setting and sharpen to normal.
WB on auto wrks good. You can play around with that
.
I shoot manual mode (most of the time)
group dynamic... continous. 5 fps

I am 65 and have the 80-400 VR on the D200 and hand hold. I don't find the weight all that bad and my hands, arms and shoulders are in awful shape

 

Well yeah
Something gotta drive that great machine:>))))))
I got 5 gigs raw compressed one day at the air show on one battery. (no flash)
Just did not chimp alot:>))) heehee Did check the histo though
Gotta do that ya know

 

Work out. Eat a protein bar. Shoot pictures.

 

Pointa-b-c,

I think you'll find a big improvement in your sharpness with the D200. Inertia makes a big difference in stability. With a heavier camera, or lens, your body movements affect the camera less. That's why a serious target rifle is heavier than a sporting rifle. You'll love the extra weight.

 

The batteries on a D200, need to be cycled several times before they start giving you a longer shooting life. I purchased another battery when I first got my D200, as the life was terrible usually would not last through a 2Gig RAW shoot. As the battery was recharged, the longevity of the battery increased. Now I rarely carry the extra battery, but do keep it in the rotation.

My D200, usually has an 70-200mm 2.8VR, or the 80-400mm 4.5/5.6 VR and an SB800 hanging off it.

Hope this helps

 

Is there any way to speed up this process? I recall reading that add-on battery actually charges an internal battery in the D200. Is this the case? Or is it a matter of "teaching" the D200 battery to hold a charge? Maybe both are correct?

 

The D200 with grip is what half a pound heavier than the D70 at most...  

 

The D200 battery actually charges an internal battery. It would not seem to be a big current draw, but the difference in battery life when my D200 was new vs a year later is substantial, as previously mentioned. Like fine wine, the D200 gets better with time!

 

Hi Michael:

The way that I prepare my batteries is that I do not charge them until they have ~25% charge left. I have taken them lower but in general around 25%. I have two other batteries, that I rotate through the D200, battery 1,2 & 3.. So when battery #1 hits the magic charge point, I pull it out and put in battery #2, then battery #3. When I 1st got my D200, I had heard all of the stories on the lack of battery power, and decided to get a couple of spares so I would be sure to have enough.

When I get back from a shoot, I drop the depleated batteries in the charger and let them fully charge and cool down. I have heard and read that pulling the battery when the light quits blinking and is warm to the touch and installing it directly in the camera is not a good idea.

As far as speeding the process, with a single battery it will be difficult to speed up the conditioning process. But I expect there will be a noticable increase in the life of the battery with each subsequent full charge.

I shoot with VR lenses so the power draw is a little more, I do very little chimping (looking at the LCD).

I am sure that this is not what you wanted to hear, but as a previous Cafe member indicated, you just cannot rush fine wine.

 

Looks like you are getting the hang of it.

 

pointa..those shots are goooood

 

Michael,

To condition the battery through discharge-charge cycles, you can drain the battery faster if you set your D200 so that the meter remains on. Go to the Pencil icon, C3, and then choose "No Limit."

Be careful though, as I believe it is Thom Hogan who says that you should never let your battery completely drain. It would be best to keep tabs on the battery indicator icon.