After using one in the store last week, I have some serious D200 envy! I actually went to check out the Pentax K10D, which was a very nice package. Just to see what else you could get in that price range, I gave the D80 a shot. All-in-all it felt better physically and I felt I had better control of the important parameters (e.g. no needing to use the menu to adjust ISO in manual mode
). Of course the D200 was sitting right next to it, so what the heck, eh?
I was amazed by how good the D200 felt to hold and operate, so much more solidly constructed than either of the previous two. And it goes without saying that the degree of control possible is nothing short of astounding. I know it would take me quite some time to appreciate all that it can do, but even in my current state I was quite impressed.
Of course going straight from a manual-enabled P&S to a D200 seems a bit crazy, as would dumping an extra $400 on a camera body that will likely be worth next to nothing in a few years (at least at the pace digital cameras are currently advancing). But I'll be damned if I didn't love operating that camera! The craftsmanship and thoughtfulness of the whole package was ever so enticing! And then comes the lens buying fury, aaaarrrrgh!