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Trying to decide which way to go with a purchase of d200:
- to buy a full kit with cheaper lenses (18-135, 70-300 for around $1550)
- to force my budget to get a kit with VR lense (18-200 for above $1800)
- to go for kits with other brands (quantaray, tamron, sigma etc)
- to buy the body separately and a good lens on the side

Any additional suggestions would really help (purchase int'l warranty?, which kind of memory card?, go over my budget to get a kit with SB800 flash?, etc.)

My level: Ameteur, with a few years' practice without training, wanting to improve my level perhaps into professionalism, in time.

My budget: about $1600 but can go a bit higher if it is a worthy investment (no idea how a kit can cost $1500 on internet while the camera body itself can be $1800 in the store!)

My plan: To buy a new camera from internet to replace my old Nikon FG-20, using the opportunity that I will be traveling to the USA in July.

Most likely I will buy D200 (D300 seemed a too much of an investment for my level)

Nikon kitlenses are generally decent value for money but certainly no top lenses.
The kitlens that ships with the D200 is good but not in the same league (relatively speaking) as the camera it ships with.
Never fall for 3rd party kitlenses. They're crap. Cheap rubbish packaged with cameras to make them look "interesting" in advertisements.

CF cards: Get 2 Sandisk CF III Extreme 4GB cards (the CF4 is faster but not enough to warrant the extra cost, the CF II is cheaper but enough slower downloading that you'll wish you'd spent that extra few Euros). That should give you enough capacity for a decent day of shooting.
Flash: the SB800 is a dream machine. Well worth the money, but if you're on a budget get a better lens now and save up for it (unless you shoot indoors or macro a lot, in which case you should just blow the bank).

Lenses: Look long and hard at the Tokina 28-70 f/2.8 ATX-Pro as a starting lens. It should serve you very well for many years to come.
Cheaper than its Sigma and Nikon counterparts, it's very good indeed. It should come in at about €270 (price I could find from an online dealership, the Sigme 24-70 f/2.8 EX in comparison they list for a bit over €400).
Maybe add that 70-300 G Nikkor for now as a cheap tele if you really need it, or wait until you can afford something better.

That should close your budget for now. At a later stage get a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX and 10-20 EX.
Those two together however will be more than the money you indicate you want to spend at this time

Do mind that those online "cheap" prices usually carry hidden costs that will bring the total price up to the highstreet price if not over.
Most such extremely low prices are in fact scams.
The D200 does about €1200 at this time on the street, and maybe €1000 from reputable online dealerships.
That's for the body only, including salestax (so the prices in Cyprus may be a bit different depending on tax percentages).

The D200 is a magnificent piece of kit, you will enjoy it.
But it does require good lenses to get the most out of it. Fit it with inferior quality glass and you'll end up deeply frustrated as the D200 (and indeed any DSLR with a high density sensor) will magnify every flaw in that lens causing poor results to a far greater degree than film ever does).

Final word on lenses: I'm a bit of a prime junkie, especially for smaller focal lengths.
My favourites are the 20mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/2 Nikkors.

You have already been given some good advise. The D200 is a very good camera but if you can afford it go for the D300, it is very much improved and well worth the extra.
I would also recommend the Tamron lenses, they are of good quality, I use a 90mm macro made by them and it's great.
Whatever you do, only purchase your gear from a reputable dealer, there are a lot of scam dealers around and you will get caught having to purchase items that should be included with the camera. Items like charger for the battery and cables to connect to the computer.
If you intend to import from overseas, I thoroughly recommend B&H and Adorama in New York,USA. I live in Australia and have received gear from them with excellent service.

The 90mm is one of very few good Tamrons. You got lucky

Importing from the US into Europe is not a good idea. You will get no warranty whatsoever (US warranty is not recognised outside the US, Nikon Europe won't in fact recognise any warranty not issued by them when the device is owned by a European person).
And the import duties and taxes (which are leveraged over both shipping and the items being shipped) eat up the cost difference and then some.
The camera may be 25% cheaper in the US, but with shipping costing about half that difference, and import duties and taxes taking up all that difference you could well end up paying more.

Thanks for the input Jeroen and Clive.
some feedback for you:
the in-store prices i mentioned are from Ritz that i went in Denver, Co. Prices in europe and in cyprus are indeed more expensive, too.
That is why I spend most my time looking at online stores (on ebay mostly). so my questions are mainly for US market (except for the international warranty of course)

To avoid paying shipping costs and customs, I will order the camera to an address in the USA, and pick it up myself from that address when I go there in July.

I heard about B&H from a friend but their prices are considerably higher. the kits i mentioned are from online stores with over 20,000 points on ebay and with 98% customer satisfaction.

though when i tried the same thing last year from one of these stores, they delayed the shipment saying Nikon collected D200s back to replace, due to an error on the startup menu. of course i was already out of the US, so couldn't get the camera and asked for moneyback. the company forced me to leave positive feedback on ebay before they reimbursed me!
indeed there are extra unseen charges, just like you said. i had to pay 7% ($107) for using an international credit card, even though I specifically asked on the phone before ordering whether they had these charges! this year i am going to use paypal.

from what you suggest i realize, lens should deserve some investment. this means it's best i postpone my plans for SB800 and D300 (though i am also afraid in a couple years down the road d200 will loose its efficiency when Nikon comes with new technology and developing my overall set would be difficult).

it will be rather more expensive to order separately the body and lenses you suggested. So unless i find a good deal, i am inclined to go for pro kits.
i don't know if we can post any links to ebay on this forum. otherwise, i would send you the links. For a bit over $1800, the pro-kit with VR lens has the Nikkor 18-200 VR , which i heard is a good one(just body and 18-200 is $2000 at B&H). Could this be a good alternative to the Sigma, Tamron or Tokina you mentioned?

Kits have several other parts in them: tripod,soft bag, aluminum bag, wide angle additions, filters, memory cards etc. I know they must be crappy ones. I am willing to buy separately the Sandisk CF III Extreme 4GB.

Don't bother with tripods, filters, etc. that come with kits.
They're rubbish, usually stuff that the store couldn't sell normally and now uses as stuffing in a kit to get rid of it and get some money in return.

And don't think you can get rid of the taxes when buying in the US. Customs officials can smell people trying to smuggle (which it would be) cameras and stuff into the country, and they know full well that the US is a prime source of such equipment.
When you are caught you'll end up either (if you're lucky) with a hefty fine on top of the taxes you should have declared or (if you're unlucky) with a prison sentence and having the equipment confiscated and destroyed (or more likely ending up in the posession of that customs official).

The 18-200 Nikkor is supposed to be quite good. Not as good by far as the lenses I mentioned, but certainly good value for money for an amateur.
That said, I've never used (or even seen) it so I can't tell you how good it really is. But Thom Hogan seems to like it and he can generally be trusted as a good source of information: http://www.bythom.com/18200lens.htm

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