D 300

[Yellowhead]

Is anyone using a Nikon D300. I'm think about getting one and useing my D80 for backup. I would like to know what you think if you use one.

[mmeyer]

A friend of mine, JR777, has one and really loves it. If you have the budget, you can't go wrong.

[Steve Foss]

I have two photo excursion clients who shoot the D300, and they love the body. Excellent noise performance and great Nikon flash options (the pop-up flash serves as a master to an off-camera remote cordless flash) with all the IQ (and bells and whistles) you'd expect from a body at that level.

A truly excellent piece of gear.

[Dbl]

buzzsaw a regular contributer here also owns one, hopefully he chimes in.

[buzzsaw]

buzzsaw a regular contributer here also owns one, hopefully he chimes in.

Here's Johnny!

I went from the D200 to the D300 and before I purchased it was able to take one for a test drive so to speak. I did an ISO test in low light (drizzly rain) and also one in good light (probably not neccessary) and checked noise levels all the way up to 6400. Now I wouldn't recomment shooting at that high of a level, but I will say that ISO 800 for everyday use is no problem whatsoever and even would go as far as to say it performs great at that level! ISO 1600 was the level I was really hoping to see what it could do and it also performed great here! I had some noise, but Noiseaware cleaned up my images. ISO 3200 is about the max I would use for bad indoor lighting as your starting to get some noticeable noise. Enough about the noise! (That was a huge reason I bought it by the way)

The D300 has a great CMOS sensor, better than past CCD sensors, the AF system is a 51 pt which is as about as good as any of the highest rated cameras (that cost about 5K) I've found the AF is excellent in the short time I've used it... but I still need to try it in different situations to get my difinitive answer on the different AF options.

I could go on and on... I'd say if your looking to get a camera in the $1,800 range that performs alot like a $5,000 camera then get the D300! You won't be disappointed, rather pleased I'm certain!

On a side note, Canon's alternative in this category is the 40D for about $500.00 less... albeit it is not quite at the level of the D300, it is a great choice especially for the price!

[Steve Foss]

Great review, Buzz! The clients of mine who use it habitually shoot at iso1600 in low light, and their images are great.

In the Canon line you're looking at the $2,000 5D for comparable noise performance, though the D300 is better than the 5D for burst rate, autofocus and flash features. The 5D upgrade is due pretty soon. The 40D is going for about $1,100 now, FYI.

I think Nikon hit the exact sweet spot between price point and performance with the D300.