Nikon D200

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Performance
The Nikon D200 doesn't deliver quite the speed-demon performance of the D2X, especially during continuous shooting, but it's still an impressive machine. You won't wait to shoot under most normal conditions; if it's powered on, this camera is ready for duty. It was difficult to measure the D200's scant 0.6-second wake-up-to-first-shot time, and thereafter we were able to snap off pictures nearly as fast as we could press the shutter release, about 0.75 second between shots. Capturing RAW files was nearly as fast at 0.89 second between snaps. The flip-up flash slowed things down a smidge to 1.13 seconds per shot. The flash tended to overheat after about a dozen quick shots when using the modeling-light feature, forcing us to pause a few seconds before continuing.

We regularly shot more than 1,000 images on a single battery charge.

Both high-speed and low-speed continuous-shooting modes are available. The camera snapped off 30 full-resolution JPEG Fine shots in 7.32 seconds, or roughly 4fps. It was nearly as fast with RAW files, capturing 20 shots in 5.2 seconds before the buffer filled. To get the D200's rated 5fps capture rate, we had to switch to high-speed continuous mode. Using the highest JPEG compression setting and 2.5-megapixel resolution, we squeezed off 81 pictures in a little more than 16 seconds.

The complicated but efficient autofocus system helped reduce shutter lag enough that it was almost undetectable at 0.1 second under high-contrast lighting conditions. The D200 didn't even need its autofocus-assist lamp to lock in focus in about 0.3 second under challenging low-contrast lighting.

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