Nikon D200

Overall, I've been incredibly pleased with this camera body.  For my own use, the purchase of the MD-200 power grip was necessary, because of the weight of lenses I use.  It also gave me a second battery, which is useful (although that does mean instead of only needing 2 batteries, you really do need 3, because I need to have 2 batteries that are in the camera, plus a third that is fully charged and ready to go), but it's main benefit is giving additional stability and comfort, as well as that critical vertical focus and fire button.

The D200 has a lovely, large bright LCD which makes a quick check of your images really pleasing, and to date I've been very pleased with the results.  I shoot RAW all the time, and it's buffer, for a camera of its price range, is very good.  It gives me 19 consecutive RAW + JPG files, which is pretty good.  I get 29 (or is it 27, actually I can't remember) with the D2Xs, which is an improvement, when used in its high speed crop mode (giving me 8 frames a second), which is preferable when I'm shooting action, but at the price, the D200's performance is still very good.  It gives me 5 frames a second, which is ok, I prefer the 8, but I can live with 5 when I can't access a D2Xs.

Below is a gallery of race images I've taken with the camera, and I have to say that, apart from the speed and buffer issues where the D2X does outperform it, the image quality is possibly better than its much more expensive cousin, the D2Xs, and I strongly recommend this camera. 

I've also included a gallery of images I've taken of my kids, which have all been with the D200, and they have just been superb.  I am certainly seeing the benefits in shooting RAW, because there is so much more scope for adjustments, particularly if the exposure wasn't quite right, and it also means I can adjust the white balance after I've taken the shot, which can remove the blue hue that can appear when using flash under certain light conditions.  My humble thanx to my digital 'guru', Martin King, who's been such a wealth of information and advice.  I'm a better photographer as a result of his teachings.