Nikon D200 User Manual

Nikon D200 User's Guide

CONTENTS

Topic Page No.

BASICS: 3 EXPLICIT DETAILS:

KNOBS and BUTTONS FRONT 6 TOP PANEL 8 BACK 13 MENUS PLAYBACK 16 SHOOTING MENU 18 CUSTOM SETTING MENU 29

a Autofocus 30 b Metering/Exposure 33 c Timers/AE&AF Lock 35

f Controls 40

SET UP MENU 42 RECENT SETTINGS MENU 45

d Shooting/Display 37 e Bracketing/Flash 38

APPENDICES:

1 - D200 Image Quality Settings 46

2 - Getting Great Battery Life 48

INTRODUCTION

(Added by Paul Deakin) I made this printable version of Ken Rockwell’s Guide as a handy reference I could carry

round with my D200 – I suggest spiral-binding it with clear plastic front and back covers. I did mine at A4 (letter to you in the USA), but the .PDF should print just as well smaller.

To save space I left out a few pictures and trimmed some words. The links should work on a computer, but of course they won’t if you print it. If you want the all-singing, all-dancing version with all the photos and links to many useful articles, go to www.kenrockwell.com and search for it. Ken has User Guides for the Nikon D40, D80 and Canon 20D, 30D too.

Paul Deakin,

Hong Kong January 2007 Intro by Ken Rockwell continues: This guide will teach you to be an expert on the Nikon D200's controls and menus. It also

includes a lot of tips, tricks, and the settings I prefer to use. This took a long time to explain clearly because the D200 isn't clearly organized itself. I set

my D200 and leave it alone most of the time because many settings are so well hidden.

BASICS:

CAMERA

I leave most settings at their defaults. I reset everything every time I use my camera, much as a pilot uses a checklist before

flight to prevent any switches from being in the wrong position. Nikon has an easy reset feature. My standard operating setting is only one click different

from the defaults, and that's only because I use one trick I'll explain in the menus to improve image file size.

RESET: Find the * QUAL and +/- * buttons on the top of the camera. Hold them both

down for a few seconds. The top LCD blinks and everything is back to normal. I may have the resolution or White Balance or ISO set to something screwy and spoil all

my shots. I'll see WB problems on the LCD, but I won't notice if I left my D200 at ISO 1,600 from the night before. That's why I always use reset.

Reset leaves the detailed menu tweaks alone and is smart enough to reset only the big dumb things I might have moved overnight.

QUALity: Large, JPG, BASIC, Optimal Quality Mode.

Reset brings you to NORMAL JPG. Once I've reset I'll immediately change to my preferred QUAL setting: BASIC. Do this by pressing the QUAL button and spinning the rear dial one click to the right. This shows as L and BASIC on the top LCD.

This is the only thing I change from the reset mode. Everything else I tweak below is unchanged by reset.

I use a hidden menu option to set the JPG compression mode to Optimal Quality instead of the default Size Priority. Do this at MENU > SHOOTING (green camera icon) > JPEG Compression > Optimal Quality.

I'll set the size down to Medium JPG BASIC, Optimize Quality mode for parties and sports when I'm shooting hundreds of images. In these cases I'm more concerned with time for the files to transfer, copy and archive than I am about the 1% quality loss.

ISO: I use 100 and Auto ISO. Auto ISO increases the ISO automatically as it gets

dark so I don't have to. It shoots at ISO 100 in good light, and at 1/15 of a second it starts ramping up the ISO to a maximum of 1,600 as it gets darker. Only if it gets still darker will it let the shutter speed go below 1/15 at ISO 1,600, exactly as I'd do manually.

I explain how to select the shutter speed at which the ISO starts to increase and the maximum ISO to which it will increase in the Custom Setting Menu.

I set Auto ISO to 1,600 max because the noise from the D200 at ISO 1,600 looks much better than blur. I set 1/15 because my 18 - 200mm gives great results down to 1/15. I adjust the lowest shutter speed setting in the AUTO ISO menu if I change conditions or lenses. Unlike film, the D200 looks great at high ISOs, so I use them anytime I need them.

White Balance: I use AUTO and a clear UV filter to protect my lens. The D200 has a

much warmer color balance than earlier cameras like the D70 so I don't need the 81A filter or the -3 trim. White balance is how you set the color balance, and color is critical.

Luckily AUTO works great most of the time. I look at my LCD, and if it's not right, I'll set it to whatever looks good. Usually that's the Direct Sun or Cloudy positions. These settings give much warmer results than earlier cameras. I rarely use the warmer Shade setting on my D200 while I used Shade often on my D1H and D70.

OPTIMIZE IMAGE: This is set in the menus. I crave vivid color! I tweak my D200 to give

color as vivid as I can get. If it went to 11 I'd use that, too. I go to MENU > Shooting Menu (green camera icon) > Optimize Image > Custom.

Image Sharpening: Auto (default). Tone Compensation (contrast): Auto (default). The D200 automatically adjusts its

contrast and dynamic range to each and every shot. It works great. Color Mode: III (three). This is critical: this gives brighter colors than the default of I. No,

color mode II is pronounced "two" and not to be confused with 11 (eleven). I had Nikon lock mode II out of production cameras. You don't want Mode II even if you could use it.

Saturation: +, of course. This gives brighter colors in addition to the boost from Color Mode III.

Hue: 0 (Default). Don't touch this! it will subtly mess around with your colors. Leave it at 0. After setting this it's critical to save it by selecting " Done" and clicking to the right actively

to select OK. If you forget to hit OK it won't remember all these settings!

Shooting Menu Banks

Shooting Menu Banks let you save and name groups of all these settings. Once I have my Optimize Image options set, I save them as a Shooting Menu Bank and

name it BOLD. For photos of people I like this bold look on the D200, they look vibrant and alive. If you

prefer a more subtle look for people, use a different Shooting Menu Bank, leave the colors alone, and name it PEOPLE (I call mine DULL, sorry). Now you can select either of these depending on your conditions.

Color Space: sRGB (default). I don't touch this.

FOCUS:

Still subjects: AF-S, set as "S" (single; focus once and hold) on the C-S-M lever switch on

the bottom front by the lens, and single AF area, set on the AF area mode switch on back of the D200.

Moving subjects (sports): AF-C (continuous), the C position on the C-S-M switch on the bottom front of the camera. Set the rear AF area mode switch to either of the two middle positions. These middle positions let the D200 use all its sensors to track moving objects! It really works for tracking birds in flight, runners, and anything that moves.

Wild times, or handing my D200 to someone to take my picture: Set the rear AF Area Mode selector to the top position, which looks like a big white rectangle. The D200 will now look at all the sensors and guess which is your subject. If I'm too lazy to define a focus area, or things are happening around me faster than I can respond, I use this position.

I use AF-C (continuous AF) if shooting wild times. Either AF-S or AF-C is OK if handing your camera to a stranger to take your picture.

METERING: Matrix. Switch to the right of the viewfinder window. Matrix is the middle

position. I always use Matrix. I never use center weighted (top), and I certainly never use spot (bottom position). I use the exposure compensation control if I need to correct it.

LENS SETTINGS

Many lenses have no switches or settings. If so, don't worry. If the switch says "M/A - M ", use M/A. This gives autofocus. If I grab the focus ring it lets

me make manual corrections. As soon as I tap the shutter button again I get autofocus.

EXPLICIT DETAILS: FRONT CONTROLS

Depth-of-Field Preview Button (upper button on the left of the lens as seen from the

front): It lies naturally under your middle finger. Tap this to stop the diaphragm down. The viewfinder probably gets darker, but look carefully and you can see what's in focus or not. This is a legacy feature from film days. Today most people look at the LCD playback.

FUNCTION Button (lower button to the left of lens as seen from the front): It lies

naturally under your ring finger. I program this button for setting flash exposure, eliminating people blinking with flash and

for easy setting of manual focus lens data. This button is programmed in the Custom

Function Menu.

Built-in Flash Release Button (unmarked black button on the top right of the

viewfinder as seen from the front): Press it to pop up the flash.

Flash Bolt +/- Button (right side of flash hump as seen from front): This sets the flash

sync mode and the brightness of the flash. Flash brightness is more formally called flash exposure compensation.

Press and hold the flash button and turn the front dial to change the flash exposure compensation. + makes the flash brighter, - makes it dimmer. This setting only changes the brightness of the flash. It leaves the background ambient exposure alone. Set it to - if your subjects are getting washed out. If you run out of flash power beyond 10 to 20 feet then setting it to + can't make the flash any brighter.

If you set flash exposure compensation to anything other than zero you'll see a little "+/bolt" icon in the finder and on the top LCD. This resets when you do a green reset.

FLASH SYNC MODES

Press and hold the flash button and turn the rear dial to change the flash sync mode. You'll see the mode shown on the top LCD in the box with the bolt.

Normal (blank on the top LCD): this is the default position. In Program and A exposure modes, the shutter won't stay open longer than about 1/60

second. You can change this minimum speed in Custom Setting Menu option e2, which defaults to 1/60 second. I have mine set to 1/30. Set a longer time like 1/8 to allow more

ambient light in the photo and prevent inky black backgrounds. Set it shorter to prevent subject motion blur.

This is brilliant. In the old days we'd have to use Manual exposure to set this to a reasonable number like 1/8. The problem with using the slow mode, explained below, is that in dark locations the shutter may stay open a stupid long time and ruin the shot. This Custom Setting lets you have the camera adjust itself automatically and stop at the longest time with which you feel comfortable.

I usually use Normal mode, since if I don't I can get some scary long exposures if I'm not expecting them in the dark.

Red-Eye (eyeball icon): I never use this. It shines an obnoxious light in your subject's eyes for a couple of seconds and then releases the shutter. Use this only if you have some people you want to get rid of at a party. WARNING: If I set this mode by accident it bugs the heck out of me, because the camera doesn't go off until several seconds after I've pressed the shutter, but I've set no self timer! It doesn't do much to reduce redeye anyway. Skip this mode. You won't know you've set it, since there is no in-camera indication.

SLOW (called SLOW on the top LCD): This mode is very useful. It lets the shutter stay open as long as it needs to so dim ambient light can expose properly with flash. Of course if it's dark these exposure times can get stupid long, in which case you want to use the setting I covered under Normal.

In daylight SLOW is the same as NORMAL, since exposure times are short. SLOW unlocks the camera in P and A exposure modes to make exposures as long as it wants to in dim light.

Have a look at most issues of National Geographic and you'll see many indoor shots made in this mode. The background exposes correctly, people may be blurred, and a burst of flash freezes them along with the blurry ghost images.

Normal and SLOW do the same thing in S and M exposure modes, since you or the camera may select any shutter speed in these modes regardless of flash sync.

Default apertures and shutter speeds are unchanged in Program mode, unlike in the D70. Red-Eye SLOW (eye and SLOW icon): This is the SLOW mode and redeye. I don't use it

for the same reason I don't use Redeye mode. REAR (called REAR on the top LCD): Normally the flash goes off the instant the shutter

opens. This looks stupid if you have a motion blur as part of your photo. Select REAR mode to have the flash go off as the shutter closes.

Another reason to select REAR is because the flash goes off at the end of the exposure. People presume photos are made the instant a flash fires, then leave. If you use REAR mode with long exposures they'll stay put until your long exposure completes.

REAR doesn't do anything with short exposures. REAR also engages SLOW, but SLOW doesn't light up on the LCD until you take your finger off the flash mode button.

Trick Flash Exposure Lock Mode: I set my FUNC button in the Custom Menus to lock flash exposure and eliminate preflashes which make people blink.

AF Mode Switch: I set it to S. This is the little lever at the bottom of the lens marked

C, S and M (hidden in the above). This means AF-S, or Single Auto Focus. Once the camera gets good focus, it locks until you take the picture. Use this to focus and then compose without the subject in the center. I do this for almost every shot.

By default the D200 won't release the shutter until perfect focus is achieved and locked, shown by the green focus confirmation dot on the bottom left of the viewfinder. This makes some people think their D200 locked up.

C means AF-C, or Continuous AF. The D200 will track and keep tracking the subject for as long as you hold the shutter. By default the D200 will shoot regardless of being in focus. The D200 will fire any time you press the button, and you could get tons of fuzzy photos.

I explain in the menus how to change this so the D200 only goes off when in perfect focus. It slows down the frame rate a little, and ensures all frames are in focus.

M means manual focus. In manual focus you have to twist the focus ring yourself and look for a sharp image in the viewfinder. In manual you also can look for the green dot at the bottom left in the viewfinder. The green dot lights up when you're in focus. It's not very precise and you'll probably lose sharpness with f/1.4 lenses. With f/4 lenses it's good enough.

TOP PANEL CONTROLS

The Three Kings: WB, QUAL and ISO: Hold any of them and spin the control knobs

to adjust. In detail:

White Balance (WB): spin the rear knob for broad changes. Spin the front knob to fine

tune. See my White Balance Examples page and my White Balance page for the specifics. Here is a run down of the individual settings from left to right, as shown on the bottom of

the top LCD: Auto (A): I use this all the time. It makes its best guess for WB. It's usually very good.

Indoor tungsten can be too orange unless you have some bright tungsten light also in the image. If you do, it removes the orange and compensates completely. If not, the D200 only partly compensates and you have a nice warm image instead.

Tungsten (hanging light bulb that's easy to confuse with the sun): This makes the picture very blue. Use this only for deliberate freezing Arctic effects, or under conventional tungsten light bulbs.

Fluorescent (glowing tube icon): Used to make crappy fluorescent light look less crappy. These settings rarely work; use the preset setting for better results.

Direct Sunlight (sun): Use this outdoors with sun on the subject. It looks great.

Flash (lightning bolt): I never use this. It's almost the same as direct sun. I'm told it's really for studio strobes, since the Auto mode compensates magically for flash if you use it on-camera. The reason to use this is if you use a different trim value for your strobes than you do for sunlight. I'll get to trims in a bit.

Cloudy (cloud): Warmer than the sunlight position. I use this in shade, too. Shade (house casting a shadow): very warm. Use this for sunset shots. Continuously Variable (K): This setting lets you choose any amount of blue or orange.

Once you select "K" you choose the value, from 2,500 to 10,000, with the front knob while holding WB. The calibrations are abstract in what we scientists call (degrees) Kelvin, Forget that, because it's backwards to how it really works. More degrees look warmer!

2,500 K is very, very blue. I'll use something around 2,650 K in dim home lighting to get neutral results. 3,200 K is the same as tungsten above. 5,400 K is the same as direct sun above. I'll use something around 4,000 K indoors with a mixture of sun and tungsten light. 10,000 K is very orange. The shade setting is similar to 7,500 K, and 10,000 K is warmer.

Preset (PRE): You use this setting with a white or gray card to get perfect color matching. The D200 can recall five settings: just hold "WB" and spin the front know after choosing PRE with the rear knob. You need to use menus, explained later, to save the five settings.

To set it to a white or gray card:

1.) Ensure your card or other neutral object is in the light representative of the light on your subject.

2.) Hold WB and spin the rear dial to get to the PRE setting.

3.) Release WB.

4.) Press and hold WB again for a few seconds.

5.) PRE starts to blink.

6.) Release the WB button.

7.) Point your D200 at the card and press the shutter.

8.) If the display flashes "good" you're set.

9.) If the display flashes "ng" then repeat from step 4.) The D200 stores this as value d-0. Recall other saved values by holding WB and spinning

the front knob. The five values are d-0 through d-4. d-0 is always the value you just saved. Thank God you can use this without menus. THe menus (explained later) are only for storing, sorting and managing these. I have mine set to 1.) indoors under crummy residential light, 2.) the screen of my laptop computer, 3.) mercury street lights and 4.) a cloudy day. I'm sure you will be more inventive.

Quality (QUAL * [also has a green dot]): This sets the file format and compression

levels. Hold it and turn the rear dial to choose JPG compression and raw or not. Hold and turn the front dial to change JPG image size in pixels. I use Large JPG BASIC. I have an entire page with explanations and examples at D200 Quality Settings.

The green dot is used with the other green dot button to reset most of the common shooting parameters. I explained that back on page one.

ISO: Hold this and spin the rear dial to change ISO. Default is 1/3 stop steps. I prefer to

change ISO in more meaningful in full stops as you can set in the menu. Above ISO 1,600 Nikon calls ISO 2,000 "H+0.3," ISO 2,500 "H+0.7" and ISO 3,200 "H+1.0."

HINT: Since ISO is displayed in the finder you can set this without taking your eye from the eyepiece.

HINT: If you've selected Auto ISO then you cannot set a manual ISO higher than you allow in Auto ISO. To get to ISO 3,200 (cryptically called H+1.0 by Nikon) you must turn off Auto ISO.

Frame Advance Mode Dial (S, CL, CH, clock and Mup): This sets the frame

advance rate, the self timer, and the mirror lock up. It's located in the same protuberance on the top left as the Three Kings above.

S: Single Frame. One frame for each press of the shutter button. CL: Continuous Low. I always use this setting. Press the shutter once and you get one

photo. Hold it down and the D200 takes pictures continuously at 3 FPS. You can set this in a menu (d4) to be 1, 2, 3 or 4 FPS. 3 FPS is default and where I leave mine.

If I need one shot I get one shot. If the light is dim and I want a few shots to ensure I get a sharp one I hold the release down and make several from which I'll pick the sharp one.

CH: Continuous High. The D200 runs at 5FPS as long as you hold the shutter. I don't use CH because it's so fast I often get 2 shots where one will do.

Self Timer (clock): Press the shutter and the D200 takes a picture some seconds afterwards. We can set the delay in a menu later.

Mup: Mirror Up: Press the shutter and the mirror flips up. Nothing happens until you press the shutter again, at which time the picture is taken and the mirror flips back down.

NOTE 1: The Self Timer and Mirror Up modes are defective. If you forget to set either back to the other modes you'll still be in these weird modes tomorrow! Worse, the Mirror up mode is still stupid, since you need to buy a $100 cable release to release the shutter after the mirror goes up. The correct design for these two functions is to add a dedicated button. Press this button and the shutter fires several seconds later. On an SLR the correct implementation is to have the mirror flip up at the beginning of the self timer interval. You'd get sharper pictures, not have to screw with caps and cable releases, and not miss tomorrow’s shots because you forgot and left the D200 selector in last night's position.

NOTE 2: If you have no cable release, you can use the Mup mode and wait 30 seconds. 30 seconds after you press the shutter and the mirror flips up the D200 gets tired of waiting and fires the shutter anyway.

NOTE 3: At default the D200 needs perfect locked focus to take a picture in S mode, and locked focus to start the Mirror Up or self timer modes. If you don't have perfect focus the D200 ignores you in these modes.

Power Switch (right side): Tap it past ON to turn on the LCD illuminator and the meter.

There's no need to turn OFF the D200 except to prevent accidental operation when squashed in a camera bag. The D200 turns off by itself after a few seconds of ignoring it.

Exposure Mode Button (MODE, right side): Hold it and spin the rear dial to select

among P, S, A and M.

P: Program

I use "P" for program auto exposure. In this mode the camera chooses the f/stop and shutter speed for you. If I want different apertures or shutter speeds I rotate the rear command dial, which selects alternate combinations of f/stops and shutter speeds which

give the same exposure. Nikon calls this "Program Shift." An asterisk ( * ) shows up next to the P on the top LCD to let you know you've chosen a different combination for exposure. The asterisk doesn't appear in the finder, but you can see the apertures and shutter speeds. The asterisk goes away when you return to the standard combinations. The standard combinations are f/1.4 @ 1/8, f/2 @ 1/15, f/2.8 @ 1/30, f/4 at 1/60, f/5.6 @ 1/125, f/8 @ 1/250, f/11 @ 1/500, etc.

An easy way to return to these standard combinations is to flip to a different mode and back to P, or turn the D200 off and back on.

A, S and M Modes

If you want to use only one aperture or one shutter speed then use S or A mode and the camera will automatically pick the other value.

If you want to set both the hard way, use M, manual, mode. In these three modes you select the aperture with the front dial and the shutter speed with

the rear dial. You can reverse which dial does what in the Custom Setting: Controls Menu.

A Mode: Aperture Priority

In A mode you choose the Aperture and the D200 chooses the shutter speed. S Mode: Shutter Priority In S mode you set the Shutter and the D200 sets the aperture.

If the D200 runs out of good apertures you easily can get under or over exposure in S mode: watch that the D200 can select a correct aperture for your lighting.

M Mode: Manual

You set everything the hard way. I look at the LCD to check exposure. You can use the bar graph in the finder - but why? If you wanted to do that use another mode and let the D200 do the setting for you.

HINT:

enter Manual Mode. HINT: You can see P, S, A and M displayed in the finder, so you can adjust this without

taking your eye from the finder.

AUTO ISO doesn't deactivate in Manual mode. I always turn off AUTO ISO when I

Format (combined with MODE button): Hold this along with its brother on the back

of the camera (combined with the trash button). You'll get a blinking "For" on the top LCD. Release and hold both of these again and you'll completely reformat your memory card.

Professionals reformat a card each and every time a card is put in in the camera. This is because files and folder structures are sometimes messed up or changed when read with a card reader or used in any other camera. Professionals prefer to be safe than sorry. We don't use cards to archive previous photos. Reformatting completely renovates the card. Erasing does not, and may leave the potential for errors.

Exposure Compensation Button (+/- * [a green dot]): Hold the button and spin

the rear dial. + makes the picture brighter and - makes it darker. If your photo is too dark or light, just change the setting and try again. This is easy!

Remember to set it back to zero when you're done. If you don't, you'll see a "+/-" in the viewfinder and the top LCD.

See more at How to Set Exposure. Ignore Nikon when they suggest you don't use this with Matrix Metering; I do it all the time.

The green dot means if you hold it and the QUAL button down for a few seconds the D200 returns to it's default settings as I explained on page one. This clears any compensation values and other crazy things you may have set yesterday.

HINT: You can see the + or minus value displayed in the finder as well as the top LCD, so you can adjust this without taking your eye from the finder. The two displays only read the value when the button is held, otherwise those digits read exposures remaining.

REAR CONTROLS

BKT: Bracketing. I don't use bracketing. Hold it and spin the two control rings on the

right of the camera while looking at the top LCD to choose how many shots and the exposure increments. Nikon always has designed their cameras defectively here: you have to make as many exposures as the bracket sequence is expecting. If you count wrong, your next shot will be at some weird exposure offset from the last shot. Canon had this down years ago: you held down the shutter and made as many auto bracketed exposures as you wanted. When you stopped, so did the bracketing sequence.

Trash (doubles as one of the two FORMAT buttons): With an image on the

LCD, press once. You'll get an "Are you sure?" message. Press again and the shot's gone. The D200 ignores this button if it's not playing back.

Hold this along with its brother (the MODE button) to format a memory card.

Play [>] Button: Press it to see your pictures. Press again to turn them off.

There are a lot of trick play modes. My favorite is explained under the settings for the rear

thumbswitch and the Command Dials.

MENU: This gets you inside your D200.

I'll cover what you can screw up with this in the 11 long pages that follow.

Checkerboard Button: Hold it and turn the rear dial to selector one, four or nine shots

up at once.

TRICK: Hold the checkerboard and spin the front knob to flip quickly between these pages of images!

? / Key:

Playback: It protects (locks) the image from erasure. Warning 1.): it marks the file so well that it won't empty out of my trash on my computer unless I go in and remark the file on my computer first. Warning 2.): these images are erased from your memory card when you format anyway. Now you see why I don't use the lock feature.

Menus: Press for more information about whatever you're setting.

TRICK: Hold the "?" as you turn on the power and the D200 creates a new folder and saves the new images you make to it. This is extremely handy because when you

load the images into your computer they already will be sorted into folders. I find this extremely helpful!

Magnifying Glass / ENTER:

During playback: Press to zoom in on image. When you do this you can zoom in more by pressing the checkerboard button and spinning the rear dial. You can use the thumb switch to scroll around the image. I prefer to set a trick mode to zoom in a lot more by pressing the center of the thumb navigation button.

While in the menus: takes action on what you've set.

AE-L AF-L (Top center): Hold this to lock settings while shooting. You can alter what

this button does in the Custom Setting Menu c1 and c2.

AF-ON: Focuses the lens but doesn't take a picture.

This button is helpful if you disable the AF from activating when you press the D200's shutter in this menu. If you do then you can focus with this button, and have an AF lock when you release it. I'd rather it was a self-timer, but Nikon didn't ask me about this one.

Thumb Button: Used for menu navigation, selecting AF areas , scrolling through

playback images and a whole lot more. You can configure this button in custom setting

image when pressed in the center.

TRICK: If you set a move to different images at the same position and zoom! This makes it easy to pick out the sharpest image. Unfortunately as soon as you hit the delete key it goes back to unmagnified, sort of making this less useful for in-camera selection and deletion.

L / * on Thumb Button: this is a lock. It's smart: it only locks the AF selection. It doesn't lock you from anything else.

center push to zoom on playback, you can spin the rear dial to

f1 and f2. I set mine to zoom way into an

Focus Area Mode Selector Switch

The Focus Area Mode Selector Switch lets you choose how the D200's brilliant AF system uses all 11 sensors. This switch is important for switching from shooting static subjects to action.

Little Box: Leave it as shown to use just one sensor. That's how I shoot still subjects. You use the thumb button to choose which sensor. Nikon calls this "Single-area AF."

Cross: The next position up is for sports and action. Set AF-C mode on the front of the D200. Choose the AF sensor with the thumb switch. The D200 sets focus using that sensor and tracks your subject, even if it moves around the frame! It really works. It will track birds, runners, cars or anything. It's easy for the D200 to track a bird against a blank sky. It's tougher for it to stay locked you have a lot of other things immediately in front or behind your subject. Nikon calls this "Dynamic-area AF."

Diamond: This does the same as the previous position, except it limits the D200 to the AF areas next to the chosen sensor. Nikon calls this "Group-dynamic AF." You can tweak some of this function in the Custom Settings Menu a4. I never use this setting.

White Rectangle: The D200 chooses the best sensor automatically. It ignores your input. Use this when you hand your camera to a non-photographer or when the action is too fast for you to be able to choose sensors. It works great: I got lazy one day and photographed a bunch of kids this way, and everything looked perfect. Nikon's name for this, even less understandable than the others, is "Dynamic area AF with closest subject priority."

The D200 doesn't display the focus area that it has chosen while shooting in three modes. You can see which it chose in playback if you go to MENU > PLAYBACK MENU > Display Mode, check "Focus Area" and select OK.

Pac Man Switch: this cool switch does nothing but pop open the CF card door.

+ 33 hidden pages

Nikon D200 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual