Isn’t it cool how God provides the unexpected or even impossible?

My sister and I have both been interested in getting digital SLRs this fall, although we were unsure of how or when we would be able to. It was obvious to us that we would be unable to get the higher end models we were interested in, and frankly, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get the model I was looking at until January.

Then things started happening.

I kept an eye on Craigslist, hoping something would show up there, and I was stunned when the exact camera I really wanted  showed up for an extremely low price. God had provided some extra money this fall, and I was able to buy it! It was a body only, so I added a new lens from BH Photo Video and was set with an almost new Nikon D200 with the vertical grip and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D prime lens. It is an amazing camera. Truly amazing.

I’ve taken a lot of pictures with it, and absolutely love the lens and the camera. They perform exceptionally well in low-light, the lens is quite fast and the camera can function at ISO 3200 with surprisingly little noise. Before buying this camera, I had looked at the Nikon D80. Deep down, they share a lot of functionality. In terms of features, electronics and capabilities, the D200 has very few differences from the D80. There are several more superficial differences that make the D200 a noticeably better camera. One key one is the construction: unlike the D80, the D200 is built with a magnesium alloy body. It is heavy and solid. In addition, it has sealed seams and overall better environmental sealing (meaning it will behave better in messy situations like dust storms and rain). The other key improvement is the plethora of controls on the outside of the body. While the core functionality is the same from D80 to D200, many of these functions can only be controlled by menu in the D80 and they have switches and buttons in the D200. I personally really like having these all as tactile buttons and switches. I can change meter mode, focus mode, focus point, and bracketing mode all in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to open up the menu and change each setting that way.

Well, God provided for my sister too. Another listing came up on Craigslist, my dad spotted it, and we met the seller yesterday and purchased it at an amazing price.

Frankly, I’m a little jealous of that amazing lens she’s got!

I think it is just so amazing how God provided us both with great D200 cameras in a very short time frame here!

Isn’t He good?