163 replies to this topic

[Rocha]

Check out DPreview, the pics of the D2X and D200 shows a much smaller VF. Not cool to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah? Here is text copied and pasted from a post by Bjorn Rorslett at the Nikoncafe forum:

"Had the pleasure of attending the Press Conference this morning and thus can confirm that D200 is for real, that it not only looks nice but feels and handles even nicer. The viewfinder is slightly bigger than on D2X, a surprise and showing that Nikon does listen to customer complaints. I could easily focus a 50/1.2 with it, something not even the F5 did in a convincing manner. Also in the same vein is the return of AI indexing to allow you to do full matrix metering with non-CPU lenses. I positively know that Nikon itself doesn't want this AI feature at all, but has given in to demands of customers - at last."

Don't know if this is exactly true or if he is just being enthusiastic about it, but if the viewfinder in the D200 is not about the same as the D2x, I will be surprised.

[Drew]

Don't know if this is exactly true or if he is just being enthusiastic about it, but if the viewfinder in the D200 is not about the same as the D2x, I will be surprised.

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Luiz
Go check DPreview's preview. They have them side by side and the VF is significantly smaller. I think Bjorn meant the magnification which has improved over the D100, but size wise the glass is definitely smaller according to the pics. Maybe SSRA30 can comment since he's seen it and has both cameras.
D200 Preview

Craig
I thought you had faculty discount?... $2999 isn't that great a price... unless it is laced with 16 GB of RAM... What I dislike most is my RAM isn't backward compatible so I have to give away all 6GB of RAM and buy new ones... and the next gen will need DDR5000 or faster ram.

[anthp]

I think Bjorn meant the magnification which has improved over the D100, but size wise the glass is definitely smaller according to the pics.
D200 Preview

I hear you Drew, the glass is definately smaller as show in some of the pictures I uploaded earlier in this thread. But the actual mag of the finder is x0.94 which is higher than the D2X x0.86, the D100 x0.80 and the D70. So maybe we should be reserving judgment on this? Any comments SSRA30?

[davephdv]

The 200 and it's controls look like a sawed off D2X. I was wondering if the 200 with the battery grip added might fit in some D2X housings. Some controls would be usable but maybe all the necessary ones would be usable. Will have to wait to see.

[ssra30]

I did not compare the viewfinder on the D200 side by side with a D2X but my impression was that it was quite similar, may be a tad smaller but definitely was a big improvement over D70s.

Autofocus wise, with 18-200DX VR with VR on, in a room with fluorescent light, not very well lit, AF was very fast. I would say faster than 70-180mm on D2X but well, 70-180 is not exactly fast and it is not AF-S so it could have been just the lens. At 200mm, AF was able to lock on very quickly even when lighting was not very adequate.

[Tom_Kline]

I just got an email saying the Sea & Sea D200 housing will be out in February. Can't see how they can be so sure, but its a guide.

Alex

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Out as in prototype or out as available for sale? Sounds like a few folks there might be taking a short holiday in December. <_<

[ssra30]

Out as in prototype or out as available for sale? Sounds like a few folks there might be taking a short holiday in December.  <_<

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Now aday, it seems like if you are the first to come out with the housing for a popular camera, the amount of sale could be incredible. Look at how many housing Subal managed to sale before Nexus/Seacam manage to bring out their housings.
Over here, Sea and Sea was the first to introduce D70 housing and they certainly did manage to sale quite a number of housings before Nexus's arrived.

[Tom_Kline]

Now aday, it seems like if you are the first to come out with the housing for a popular camera, the amount of sale could be incredible. Look at how many housing Subal managed to sale before Nexus/Seacam manage to bring out their housings.
Over here, Sea and Sea was the first to introduce D70 housing and they certainly did manage to sale quite a number of housings before Nexus's arrived.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Major league carrot! This is especially true as the life of the camera may only be a few years. The early bucks get the worm!, or the bucks!! B)
Tom

[Claude]

I had a conversation about availability with the Subal and Seacam Team at the Underwater Festival - as soon they have the Camera, it will take about 8 weeks !
So the first one should be delivered by middle of February... but as they expect a big success for it, order needs to be done early !

[Claude]

About the viewfinder : a French journalist had a D200 sample model for some days and said "the viewfinder is looking like the Nikon F5's one" !
(for people understanding french, it's here - there is an audio-presentation)

[Alex_Mustard]

Good info, Claude, thanks for that.

So most housing manufacturers are talking February. Interesting. It will probably end up being March, but nicely in time for the diving season.

Alex

[ssra30]

I asked a friend at Niks Thailand to measure the size of the viewfinder since Nikon did not list it in its spec. The viewfinder is approximately 1cm x1.5 cm in size.
The image is a bit smaller but it looked big. Anyhow, I think I am going back there tomorrow to pick up some stuffs, I will bring my D2X along and compare it side by side.

[Rocha]

Ok, that solves the question then. I've just measured my D2x viewfinder, and it is about 1.9cm wide. So, the D2x viewfinder is larger, you can see it from further back (eyepoint of 19.9mm as opposed to 19.5 in the D200), but the projected image on the D200's viewfinder is slightly larger and more magnified.

[Claude]

I did the same on my F100 : 1.4cmx1.8cm - seems like it's nearly the same as D2x !
Rocha, what do you mean with "the projected image" ?
Claude

[Rocha]

I think that when you look through the viewfinder, the image that you see inside is apparently larger. In the D2x, there are dark borders around the image in the viewfinder. Maybe those borders are narrower in the D200.

[Rocha]

Ok, here is an image that James posted earlier, with views of the D200 viewfinder:



And here is how the D2x viewfinder looks like:



By projected image, I mean the frame inside the black borders. See how there is relatively more dark area inside the D2x viewfinder? Does this make sense?

What remains to be seen is how this is going to affect the viewfinder inside a housing. I for one have nothing to complain about the D2x viewfinder. I find it as good as my housed F100.

[Claude]

It make sense... thanks !
Claude

[ssra30]

hmm, I did not realize D2X VF is significantly bigger 1.9x1.4 is almost twice as big as 1.5x1.0. I don't have D70 anymore but if this is the case I imagine that it can't be that much bigger than D70 VF. Hmmm..I thought it was fairy big. Anyhow, I will take another look at it tomorrow.

[ssra30]

I did some comparisons between D200, D2X and D70s viewfinder today.
Basically, physical size of D200 is a bit bigger than D70 and not nearly as big as the D2X. However, may be due to the magnification factor, when looked through the viewfinder, I felt that D200 viewfinder is much closer to what I see through D2X rather than D70s. D200 VF is also much brighter than D70.
Here are comparison pictures of the VF of the cameras:

D2X and D200


D200 and D70s

[Alex_Mustard]

What worries me a bit is that from the outside the D200 viewfinder looks a similar size to the D70. But when you get your eye right up to it you see this big bright view. The problem is that when the camera is in a housing and your eye is behind a mask you can't get your eye right up to the viewfinder.

This is just speculation, mind.

Alex