So I was at a wedding today, and I noticed the lead photographer had a D200 and a D300, both around his neck.
Strangely, though, the photographer used the D200 as his main camera! I'm a Canon guy (yea yea) but I thought the D300 was levels above the D200.
Why would a photographer choose to shoot with a D200 over a D300 when both are at his disposal? He switched lenses too, so it's not like he was relying on each for particular types of shots.
"Why would a photographer choose to shoot with a D200 over a D300..."
1. Battery low in the D300
2. D200 is his favorite camera
3. Larger CF card in the D200
4. The D200 looks like the D300
5. Batteries in the flash on the D200 were fresher
6. D300 owes him money
7. D300 was making him a sandwich
8. At the ISO he was shooting it didn't matter which camera he chose, random
9. Each camera had custom settings and the ones on the D200 favored the situation
10. There was crud on the D300 eyepiece
11. Obsessive compulsive disorder
12. He knew the Canon guy was looking and figured he'd throw him for a loop
13. The D300 belonged to someone else, he was just holding onto it but felt the need to snap a couple shots
14. He decided the D200 wasn't levels behind the D300
15. The Great Pee Wee Herman and Large Marge use a D200
Maybe he had one lens on the D300 that he uses at f1.4 and ISO 3200.
I was asked the same question when I went to a concert with a Canon 5D and a D200. The D200 was the one getting lens changes and used all the time. The 5D was being used for one particular type of shot. Pretty simple really. But I probably prefer Jacks answer.
Sounds like he was not yet comfortable enough to shoot with the D300 yet. I've heard too many times of people picking up a new camera and shoot a once in a life time event, like a wedding, with it less then a week later.
I'm sure he's shot plenty of weddings with the D200 that turned out just fine. It's not like its a crappy camera.
Esquire08 wrote:
So I was at a wedding today, and I noticed the lead photographer had a D200 and a D300, both around his neck.
Strangely, though, the photographer used the D200 as his main camera! I'm a Canon guy (yea yea) but I thought the D300 was levels above the D200.
Why would a photographer choose to shoot with a D200 over a D300 when both are at his disposal? He switched lenses too, so it's not like he was relying on each for particular types of shots.
It is certainly nice of a Canon shooter to bring this important information to our attention. Maybe you should post this on the wedding forum.
But, I suspect Esquire is flaming the D300, just a little.
James R wrote:
It is certainly nice of a Canon shooter to bring this important information to our attention. Maybe you should post this on the wedding forum.
But, I suspect Esquire is flaming the D300, just a little.
While the D300 is better than the D200 in my opinion, the D200 still makes great images. It's not unusual for me to use both, but I do it primarily to avoid switching lenses. I much prefer the D300 to the D200, and I'm planning on replacing it and my D100 with either another D300 or a D3 next year.
But everyone is different. Many here prefer a D1X to a non-pro body like the D300 (if you can call the D300 a "non-pro body" - something some will debate.) I wouldn't choose the D200 over the D300 on a regular basis, but that photographer isn't me. I will say that every camera has a learning curve, so maybe this one was just more familiar with how to get the best results from the D200 than he was with the D300. Or maybe there was something wrong with the D300 (it does happen every now and then.)
Other than that, it's anyone's guess.
I didn't really take your post as a flame, and I'm not one that thinks Nikon has all the answers. They just make the gear that mates best to my current gear, saving me the (considerable) expense of replacing some superb gear. Both Canon and Nikon make great gear and I don't hesitate to recommend either to someone else.
I'm guessing he had the D300 rigged to use for low-light stuff and working the D200 for most everything else? I could see using the D200 for the main camera and setting up the D300 for when he needs to bump up the ISO's.
If that doesn't work, I like the "b package" idea too!
