[Jason Dunn]

Ok, so in the Custom Settings menu > Autofocus > Focus Area Frame there are options for 11 area normal frame and 7 area wide frame. The wide frame gives you a much bigger focus area per zone from what I can see, so the question is, why wouldn't you want to leave it in this mode all of the time? Is it because you might want to do manual selection of one of the 11 focus areas?

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, so in the Custom Settings menu > Autofocus > Focus Area Frame there are options for 11 area normal frame and 7 area wide frame. The wide frame gives you a much bigger focus area per zone from what I can see, so the question is, why wouldn't you want to leave it in this mode all of the time? Is it because you might want to do manual selection of one of the 11 focus areas?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

That's right. I'm not sure how accurate the D200 is, but when you bunch up sensors like that, it can cause situations where the camera decides to choose the sensor you don't want.

[DFurey]

From Nikon website, says it better than I could...

The new Multi-CAM 1000 AF Sensor Module offers an 11-area AF that ensures consistently fast and precise focus lock under varying shooting conditions. The 7-wide area AF system, offers broad coverage suited for moving subjects enabling greater compositional freedom.