I bought this camera a month ago having moved up from the Nikon D40x. The D300 is the new version of the excellent D200, boasting a new processor and a host of features from its big brother the D3.
** Picture quality **
The D300 produces outstanding pictures, as simple as that. But what I love about this camera is just how easy it is to get great results. Almost paradoxically, despite the camera looking awfully complicated with the many buttons, it is actually far easier to use than my D40x.
My D300 had a hard workout last weekend; cloud, rain, bright sun, indoors, outdoors, moving children, closeups, distance shots and it got all the pictures right first time, regardless of the conditions. All I changed was the ISO when shooting indoors, though this can be set to auto too. The Nikon D40 would have required continual altering of ISO and white balance, plus most likely switching to manual for indoor shots. Not so with the D300.
Colour, detail and noise levels are great, and the camera handles any difficult lighting situation excellently e.g. shooting against bright open window, even without the D-lighting.
** Other great attributes **
- It's quick. 6 fps and up to 8 fps with a bigger battery. That is a huge difference compared to 3fps with the D40. It is very responsive and ideal for fast moving subjectslike children.
- The 3" display is excellent, pin sharp and big.
- Doing stuff with pictures is quick. E.g. you want to view pics, zoom in and out, rotate and so forth. The D40 is sluggish, the D300 is really quick.
- Use more lenses. The D300 like the D200 can drive lenses, and you can store lens information in the camera e.g. focal length, aperture so that it can make best use of non cpu lenses. There are memory slots to store lens info.
- Advanced auto ISO, you can set the ISO to auto but set upper and lower thresholds.
- It is really solid and weather sealed.
- Buttons for everything. No more fiddling with menus, everything is there at your finger tips.
- A second black and white LCD display. The settings display is excellent and uses less power than the large LCD display which is all cheaper cameras have.
- Advanced white balance, there are presets but you can really fine-tune the warmth with kelvin settings.
- a luxurious view finder. You see far more through the view finder than with the D40.
- the camera just seems to know what kind of scene I am taking and just gets it right.
- and many more...
** Conclusion **
I am still learning more about the D300, but so far, it is truly awesome and I am 100% satisfied with my purchase. It takes amazing pictures and makes it childs-play to take great pictures every time. Don't be put off by its complexity, this camera is much easier to use and get results with than my D40x.
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