The main reason I went with the D200 rather than the D80 was my arsenal of manual glass bought for the Nikon F3. It is fully functional on the D200. Incredible quality manual focus lenses are available used at minimal cost.

The 18-135mm lens is very nice, but I now wish I had spent the difference and bought the 18-200mm. The added reach may or may not be a factor, but it does have VR which I am told is very effective in getting sharp hand-held images at far slower shutter speeds than with lenses lacking this feature. At some point, I will probably trade for it.

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The main reason I went with the D200 rather than the D80 was my arsenal of manual glass

So I can't use manual lenses on a D80, or just fully manual lenses? I'm confused on why you can with a D200 but not a D80.

I know you can't use manual lenses on a D40 but I thought you couldn't for that camera only because it has a built in auto focus motor or something like that.

It was my understanding that you could only use them in full manual mode without any metering. If you are swift with a hand-held meter, they work fine. The D200 has a menu selection where you tell the camera what lens you have mounted and what its maximum aperture is. After that, it remembers the aperture, so you only have to tell it the focal length. However, some specialized lenses either do not work, or do not work well - my early 28mm PC-Nikkor for example. Later versions do work.

I suggest you download the PDF manual from the Nikon web-site. It will answer any questions with depth and detail.

Alright thanks a lot.

That's a pretty coold feature on the D200.