On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 20:03:03 -0400, "Don White"
wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:52:17 -0500, HK wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
Just got off the phone with Olympus.

The bill to repair my E-300, flat rate, is $310 plus 6% tax which
brings it to $328.60!!

Damn.

So much for that camera.

You think camera repair people should work for wal-mart wages?

No - I don't expect that.

I do expect a reasonable rate to replace the viewfinder glass and
upload the latest software.

It seems to me that 2/3s of the cost of the camera new (as of 2 1/2
years ago) is a bit excessive.

You're doing the right think. With electronics there might be a few
improvements in the 2008 version.
Do you need Consumer Reports recommendation?

Thanks, but no.

I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.

I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.

You owe it to yourself to give the new D300 a hard look. If I was shopping
today, that's where I'd go and never look back. It's that good. Camera of
the Year and deservedly so.

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:33:57 GMT, "RG" wrote:


I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.

You owe it to yourself to give the new D300 a hard look. If I was shopping
today, that's where I'd go and never look back. It's that good. Camera of
the Year and deservedly so.


It's a shame Nikon isn't like your local Honda dealer, giving a trade in on
the old for the new.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:33:57 GMT, "RG" wrote:


I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.

You owe it to yourself to give the new D300 a hard look. If I was shopping
today, that's where I'd go and never look back. It's that good. Camera of
the Year and deservedly so.

Well, I'm firmly committed to Olympus 4/3s format so that's where I'll
stay.

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:33:57 GMT, "RG" wrote:


I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.

You owe it to yourself to give the new D300 a hard look. If I was shopping
today, that's where I'd go and never look back. It's that good. Camera of
the Year and deservedly so.

If you're on a budget, look on ebay for the ton of D200's that people
are offloading now because the D300 came out. You can pick up a D200
for 1/2 of what someone paid for it just a few months ago, and less
than 1/2 the price of a D300. And most of them are in pretty much
like new condition because the camera update cycle is so short.

Yes, the D300 is nice. But the little bit extra it gives you isn't
worth anywhere near over twice the going rate for a D200. Especially
if most of your photography isn't of indoor low light without a flash,
which is the only place the D300 really outpaces the D200.

Yes, I have a D200. And it's awesome. Mate it up with the 18-200 VR
zoom lens and you have the ultimate walk around camera.

Here's some shots I took last week with that combo on a little walk
around tour of New Hope, PA. I just bought it myself and these are
the first pictures I took. I'm looking forward to even better ones
once I really get to know the camera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheliko...08607375/show/

Steve

Steve wrote:
On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:33:57 GMT, "RG" wrote:

I've been looking at the new E-3 anyway - good excuse to get one.
You owe it to yourself to give the new D300 a hard look. If I was shopping
today, that's where I'd go and never look back. It's that good. Camera of
the Year and deservedly so.

If you're on a budget, look on ebay for the ton of D200's that people
are offloading now because the D300 came out. You can pick up a D200
for 1/2 of what someone paid for it just a few months ago, and less
than 1/2 the price of a D300. And most of them are in pretty much
like new condition because the camera update cycle is so short.

Yes, the D300 is nice. But the little bit extra it gives you isn't
worth anywhere near over twice the going rate for a D200. Especially
if most of your photography isn't of indoor low light without a flash,
which is the only place the D300 really outpaces the D200.

Yes, I have a D200. And it's awesome. Mate it up with the 18-200 VR
zoom lens and you have the ultimate walk around camera.

Here's some shots I took last week with that combo on a little walk
around tour of New Hope, PA. I just bought it myself and these are
the first pictures I took. I'm looking forward to even better ones
once I really get to know the camera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheliko...08607375/show/

Steve


I love the steam locomotive shots. Nice stuff!

On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:08:14 -0500, HK wrote:

Steve wrote:
[...]

Yes, I have a D200. And it's awesome. Mate it up with the 18-200 VR
zoom lens and you have the ultimate walk around camera.

Here's some shots I took last week with that combo on a little walk
around tour of New Hope, PA. I just bought it myself and these are
the first pictures I took. I'm looking forward to even better ones
once I really get to know the camera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheliko...08607375/show/

Steve


I love the steam locomotive shots. Nice stuff!

Thanks Harry.

Steve

Yes, I have a D200. And it's awesome. Mate it up with the 18-200 VR
zoom lens and you have the ultimate walk around camera.


I shoot with a D200 and the 18-200 VR as well. I'm extremely happy with the
outfit and am not ready to trade up at this time. However, if I was
starting from scratch and shopping for a new camera, I'd spend the extra
dinero for the D300.

I enjoyed you photos.

RG

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:15:53 GMT, "RG" wrote:


Yes, I have a D200. And it's awesome. Mate it up with the 18-200 VR
zoom lens and you have the ultimate walk around camera.


I shoot with a D200 and the 18-200 VR as well. I'm extremely happy with the
outfit and am not ready to trade up at this time. However, if I was
starting from scratch and shopping for a new camera, I'd spend the extra
dinero for the D300.

Well, if I was shopping for new and money wasn't much of an issue, I'd
spend the extra dinero and get a D3. There, you have a huge jump in
capability over practically anything else and if you really are a
discriminating professional photographer, it's worth the price.
Otherwise, no.

While the D300 is well worth the price when compared to the list price
of a new D200, it just didn't seem to me to be worth over twice what a
D200 costs used. And I don't mind buying used. The one I got looks
and works like new, with less than 4000 shutter actuations.

At my price point, I had the choice between a used D200 vs. a new D80.
The D200 is sooooo much better than the D80. I'm glad I went the way
I did. I got the used D200, a brand new 18-200 VR lens and a brand
new SB-600 speedlight for less than the cost of just a D300 body.

I enjoyed you photos.

RG

Thanks. That's all that counts anyway.

Steve

At my price point, I had the choice between a used D200 vs. a new D80.
The D200 is sooooo much better than the D80. I'm glad I went the way
I did. I got the used D200, a brand new 18-200 VR lens and a brand
new SB-600 speedlight for less than the cost of just a D300 body.


You have an awesome package that would serve just about anyone's needs for
years to come. My strategy is to use my D200 until there is a significant
price drop in the D300. Maybe that will happen by the end of the year,
maybe it won't. I don't much care. I just got an email a few weeks ago
from Nikon informing me that my 1-year warranty on the D200 was about to
expire. Nikon offered to extend the original factory warranty for an
additional two years for $169. I took them up on the offer. Even though
I've never had a hiccup from the D200 or the D70 before it, it seemed like a
reasonable deal. There is nothing that could be repaired on the D200 for
only $169, and it buys me plenty of time to eventually pull the D300
trigger. It's nice that I only need to buy the body. My lenses and
filters, the SB800, and other goodies still get to keep on working. In 2007
I dropped a little over $1k for a very nice tripod and ball head. It's made
a very noticeable improvement in my landscape work. I was never much of a
tripod guy, but I got tripod religion in 2007.

As another D200 shooter, I'll share with you another revelation that came to
me in 2007. Always shoot raw, and use Nikon Capture NX as your raw
converter and primary editor. It's a huge improvement over using Adobe
Camera Raw. Capture NX won't completely eliminate the need for PhotoShop or
similar, but it's the best place to start, and more often than not you'll
have no need to do any further editing in another application.