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.