Optimum settings for any camera is to use the lowest ISO and capture using the least amount of compression and the most pixels the camera is capable of using. Additionally, the closer you can get to perfect exposure and white balance in camera, the less you would need to do in an editing program gives you the highest quality image possible. And always use a tripod if possible.

Followiing those instructions will go a long way to improving the quality of the images you can produce.

As for sharpness, most digital camera files need to be sharpened after you finish editing and resizing. I have the D200 also and wouldn't even consider the sharpness of the image until I'm finished editing it.

Thanks Larry! I will try some more and add the sharpening stage to the end. Your always so quick to help.

Remember that it's Unsharp Mask, not sharpening. Unsharp Mask increases contrast at the edges of the tonal differences. Make sure to preview the image at either 50% or 100% when making Unsharp Mask choices.

Though I'm finding it slow loading, there is a good tutorial on sharpening by Bruce Fraser.

Kyle,

To get the maximum mileage out of your D200 you should seriously consider shooting in the RAW format. With my 6MP D70 I make high-quality 13x19" prints without interpolation (in my opinion, interpolation is not the miracle many people claim it is anyway). With the D200 you should easily be able to make high-quality 16x24" prints.

Frans Waterlander
pixographer/printer

Thanks Larry and Frans,

I will begin shooting in Raw to see how that works. Although, I am a little unclear as to what options become unavailable when using raw. For example, I was thinking I read in my manual that, when in raw mode, the on-camera white balance adjustments were irrelevant. (Gosh, I have so much to learn and so many photons to collect)

Larry, Thanks a bunch for the "un-sharp" tid-bit. I have been doing just the opposite. I will try this when I get home.

Thanks, Kyle D.

Kyle,

When shooting RAW you still can choose your white balance or set it to auto. The beauty of RAW, amongst many other things, is that the white balance information gets imbedded in the file but it doesn't modify the color information (yet). When you convert your RAW file on your computer you can either go with the stored white balance information or change it before the file gets converted, giving you maximum control, a common theme for RAW.

Frans Waterlander
pixographer/printer

Larry... thank you for this link!

Awesome camera!

Enjoy it , nothing wrong with a noobie wanting a good camera.

Kyle, coming from using medium format and 35mm I choose the D200. I am now scanning film and printing also my 200 images for sale. I have made comparisons between the film scanned prints and the D200 prints. I can tell the difference but the D200 is a close runner up to my 6x6 images. The D200 produces smoother images. The D200 is designed for ease of use. Enjoy your camera.