6. Shooting Modes: Great Speed

Like professional models, the D200 has three main shooting modes: shot by shot, continuous low speed, and continuous high speed. The continuous low mode is adjustable between 1 and 4 frames per second, and the nominal speed of continuous high is 5 fps. Naturally the D200 has a large Nikon buffer memory that claims it can hold 22 images in RAW mode or 37 in JPEG with a fast memory card. This last point obviously merits careful consideration if you have a real need for shooting in long bursts. The D200 is capable of taking advantage of the recording speed of fast cards, which is far from always being true with entry-level models.

This becomes a question of the ratio of price to performance: 80X or 100X memory cards can be had at much more attractive prices than the real speed demons, and even their speeds are really quite fast. Of course, actual performance isn't necessarily the same as theoretical performance, and the write speed of a card can be significantly different from the read speed.

Our tests were run with a Transcend 45X 1 GB card, and we ran another series of tests with an Integral 100X 1 GB card. Despite what you might expect, the Transcend card scored the best results! The difference was slight, but it was there, though in practice it might be imperceptible. Either way, you can see that the "X" numbers don't tell the whole performance story.

In JPEG format with minimum compression, we shot 30 frames in approximately 5.8 s - a little over 5 fps. After that point the buffer memory was full and the pace dropped to about 1 fps. In compressed RAW format the maximum was 22 frames in approximately 4.25 s, after which things slowed down a lot: four images in 5.6 s. In practice, the size of the buffer memory should provide you with a constant reserve, so you shouldn't ever be bothered by slowdowns.

The D200 can shoot at a fast pace and keep it up for a long time.

Shooting in RAW won't be a chore with the D200. It's just as fast and the buffer memory is sufficient for most uses.

Of course there's a self-timer with four durations: 2, 5, 10, and 20 seconds. The D200 has a ten-pin connector for either a plain or fancy external shutter release, but to avoid motion blur when shooting with a tripod, you can just use the self-timer. Like the D100, the D200 has an exposure delay mode in which there's a lag between the mirror going up and the shutter firing to avoid any vibration due to mirror movement.