Nikon® D200 Digital Field Guide

Appendix A. Troubleshooting

Don't panic. If your D200 is not performing exactly as you expect it should, is doing something weird, or, worst of all, seems to have given up the ghost entirely, a quick fix might be at hand. If one isn't, and you do have to send your camera in for servicing, Nikon is ordinarily very speedy when it comes to fixing a camera and returning it to its rightful owner. However, the tips and suggestions I cover in this appendix might help you avoid this step or calling tech support, altogether.

Poor Battery Life

When the D200 first came out, many of the early adopters complained about poor battery life, with some reporting that they could take only a few hundred pictures before their power pooped out. So, the first thing I did when my D200 arrived was to test out the battery. I found I could easily get more than 1,000 shots per charge (even if I took as many as 300 flash photos), and once, when I carefully turned off all the power-hungry features (such as LCD picture review and vibration reduction) I got more than 2,000 full-resolution pictures in a single session. So, what's the complaint about then? There are several factors at work.

• RAW drainage. The D200 seems to use a lot more power when saving files in RAW mode. For my 2,000-picture burst, I used JPEG Fine for every exposure. When using RAW during other tests, I often got fewer exposures per charge. If you want to shoot RAW exclusively (and who doesn't?), plan on having an extra battery or two for times ...