10. Connections And Software: Until Something New Comes Along

The D200 has what has become standard equipment on most current digital SLRs: a USB link, a composite video output, and of course an A/C power supply connector. Note that the USB interface is the "High Speed" version (2.0), and it's worthy of its name: the transfer speed is genuinely high. This will rarely be essential for emptying the memory cards - since the owners of a camera like this will probably use a card reader - but it's important if you use the camera in the studio with Nikon Capture, which lets you transfer images directly to the computer.

The software that ships with the D200 is the minimum - just Picture Project. The days when cameras came with a full complement of software are over! Naturally, you can always download Nikon View from the manufacturer's site, but if you want Nikon Capture, you'll have to pay for it (the D200 requires Version 4.4). Capture is a very powerful tool for processing RAW files and controlling the camera via the computer, with the ability to transfer images directly to the hard disk, but remains a resource-intensive application, especially if you use the noise reduction functions. Fortunately, the new generation of Nikon software should be available soon, with Capture NX and Nikon View Pro for image management. Let's hope they'll be faster and that the memory gobbling will be a thing of the past.

The accompanying CD includes Picture Project 1.6 and a trial version of Nikon Capture. Nikon View can be downloaded from the Nikon site once you've registered your camera.

Picture Project can do just about everything, in a simplified way.

You can correct your photos with Picture Project, but without precise adjustments.

Picture Project can automatically resize your shots so you can send them via e-mail.

Nikon Capture is an extremely powerful tool, but it's large and resource-intensive.

Nikon Capture's Camera Control module lets you control the D200's settings and record your images directly to the computer's hard disk.