Nikon D300 review

For the opportunity Nikon D300 body camera review many thanks to Vadim Jadan http://vk.com/id23823306.

Nikon D300 review

Nikon D300 is positioned by Nikon as a professional APS-C camera (a camera with a matrix in which crop factor 1.5X). The camera was introduced on 23.08.2007 along with Nikon D3. D300 and D3 have opened up a whole new level of camera engineering among all Nikon cameras. A whole bunch of innovations was laid in them.

Popularly, Nikon D300 is legendary 'shooter', 'armor piercing', 'small D3', 'cropped D3', 'workhorse', etc. Actually, such epithets are the best characteristic of the camera.

View of Nikon D300 from different sides

The main parameters of the Nikon D300, which should be paid attention to the photographer:

1. Professional ergonomics in a very high quality case. The camera body is waterproof and dustproof. The entire body is made of magnesium alloy, this affects the weight of the camera (about 1 kg). The heavy weight of the camera helps with handheld photography and keeps weight balance well with heavy lenses. Even the lugs for the strap are asymmetrically positioned for proper weight distribution. The camera grip is rubberized, and the front and rear control dials are also rubberized. The camera fits perfectly in the hand.

The camera is very convenient to control, all the necessary control buttons are moved to convenient places. The Nikon D300 has an excellent large monochrome display for quick setup. Such a large monochrome display is only in Nikon D200 и Nikon D300s, other cropped models have this display 'cut down'. In general, Nikon D300 can be controlled only by this display and not enter the camera menu itself. But for whom it is not enough, Nikon D300 has an excellent 3-inch color display with 920.000 dots. The same display is used in Nikon D3, D3s, D700, D300s, D90... The camera has an 'info' button which calls up all basic settings on the color display.

2. The D300 uses a cropped CMOS sensor. Most likely the same matrix is ​​taken as the basis for the camera Nikon D300s, D90 and D5000. The ISO range is available from 200 to 3200 units. Strange, but in the professional camera Nikon D300 ISO is used instead of ISO 100 lo1, which is a plug-in and is equivalent to ISO 100. The ISO value can be expanded up to 6400 units (indicated by 'Hi1'). I do not recommend shooting at ISO higher than 1600. At present, the matrix does not show very clear images at high ISO. 12 megapixels are enough for any kind of standard tasks.

3. The camera has a huge maximum continuous shooting speed - Nikon D300 is one of the fastest "crop". The camera can shoot 6 frames per second. And if you connect an additional power supply unit (booster), then the speed increases to 8 k / s.

4. Nikon D300 has a built-in focusing motor, which allows the use of non-motorized lenses marked with 'AF', sometimes this allows you to save on optics. Also the camera can work with old AI lenses and AI-S types. You can store information on 10 manual lenses.

5. A very important indicator of camera speed is the frame buffer capacity. The buffer is the fast internal memory of the camera, where the captured photos are stored before they are written to the memory card. The Nikon D300 can hold a maximum of 18 frames in RAW format.

• 17 frames with 12 bit RAW lossless compression
• 18 frames with 12 bit RAW standard compression
• 15 frames at 14 bit RAW
• 14 frames in TIFF format
• 21 frames in JPEG L format, quality priority

You can save RAW files in the camera in several ways: 12 or 14 bits per pixel and one of three compression levels. TIFF format is available.

Important: when shooting in RAW format with 14 bit color depth, the maximum shooting speed will be only 2.5 frames per second. This is a serious limitation, so if you count on a 14-bit color depth, you will need to sacrifice speed. One RAW file with 14 bit color depth occupies 25 MB on the card. The problem with a low shooting speed at 14 bit was solved in Nikon D7000but she surfaced again in Nikon D7100.

Important: when you turn on noise reduction at high ISO, noise reduction at slow shutter speeds, enable Active D-lighting frame buffer can be reduced to only 6 shots. I usually turn off all these features when shooting in RAW.

6. The camera can use Live View. True, the activation of the mode occurs through the mode selection ring near the "tower" of control. This location of the Live View switch is very inconvenient. Live View works in two modes: “tripod” and “manual”. In one of them, you can compose images through the display, but when you press the shutter button, the camera turns off Live View and focuses through the focus sensors, and only then takes a picture. In the other mode, Live View works like a conventional point-and-shoot camera, allowing you to focus using contrast focusing. When zoomed in on a portion of the image using Live View, the image begins slow down, such a defect is no longer in Nikon D90.

7. The Nikon D300 has one of the best Multi-CAM 3500DX Focusing Systems, which includes 51 focus points (15 of which are cross-shaped). The same number of focus points have Nikon D3, D3s, D3x, D4,D4s, D800,D800e, D7100 и D700. Focusing is very tenacious and has a huge amount of settings. Focus speed is very dependent on the lens.

8. The camera’s battery can withstand over 1000 shots on a single charge. In fact, if you use a lens without autofocus and without a stabilizer, you can squeeze over 2000 frames on a single charge. Batteries are fully compatible with Nikon D90, D200, D80, D700.

9. Camera supports fast FP sync with external flashes. This means that with external flash it will be possible to shoot at any shutter speed, even for 1 \ 8000 s (the shortest excerpt in the camera). Also, the flash may work in command mode and control two groups of flashes using Nikon CLS. You can set the sync speed to 1 \ 320 s.

10. The camera has another million useful little things: fine-tuning the focus for different lenses, the processing functions of captured images, bracketing for different values, etc.

Nikon D300 is the continuation of the line, which previously included Nikon D100 и D200. The camera body is very, very similar to D200after I exchanged my camera Nikon D200 on Nikon D300, for writing a review, when manipulating the camera during shooting, I did not feel any difference. The controls are in their convenient places, all the buttons are the same.

Separately, it is worth considering the difference between Nikon D200 and D300

1. The main difference in the number of focus points. 11 points D200 and 51 points on the D300. The difference is almost 5 times.
2. The D300 optical viewfinder covers 100% of the frame, the D200 only 95%, which allows you not to be afraid of the edges of the frame when shooting.
3. D300 has Live View
4. The D300 has a matrix cleaning system. The types of matrices are also different: CCD vs CMOS.
5. The D300 has a much quieter sensor than the D200. The D200's biggest problem is its very “noisy” matrix.
6. Burst speed increased to 6 (up to 8 with a booster) frames per second, versus 5 fps for D200
7. The display has increased. The difference in the display when viewing pictures is very much felt.
8. D300 works much better with voluminous memory cards
9. D300 consumes an order of magnitude better battery life. One battery charge in the D300 is enough for 1000-1500 frames, and in the D200 only for 400-500.
10. The D300 can save 14-bit RAW files, which improves the original image during processing.

The rest of the cameras are very similar. The old D200 has even one advantage over the D300: frame buffer holds 21 frames, while the D300 has only 18, given the camera speeds, the D200 can shoot continuous high-speed shooting for a couple of seconds longer than the D300. (21/5 = 4,2 seconds versus 18/6 = 3 seconds, or 18/8 = 2,25 seconds). But since the D300 works better with memory cards, the difference is not particularly noticeable. I do not recommend upgrading D200 to D300, D300s without much need.

To date, the Nikon D300 is morally obsolete, it has successor Nikon D300s. Details the difference between Nikon D300 and D300s described in Nikon D300s review.

For whom will such a camera be useful?

First of all, Nikon D300 will be useful for professional photographers who can apply all the useful functions hidden behind the huge camera menu. Especially the D300 is good at reporting. For beginners, I do not recommend buying the Nikon D300. If there is a desire to join the ranks of the owners of the CZK, then to begin Nikon D90, D7000 much better, but you can even start with Nikon D40.

Sample photos on Nikon D300

All photos in this review were shot on Nikon D300, RAW + JPEG, JPEG L quality priority, ADL normal, Noise reduction on. The size is reduced to 2048 * 1536 and the data about the shooting parameters from EXIF. All photos were taken with Nikon 50mm F1.8D.

UPDATE 2

Examples of photos on HELIOS-44M 2/58 and camera Nikon D300 with readers of Radozhiva shared by photographer Alexander Gvozd.

Personal experience:

I really like the Nikon D300 because it has a full Live View, but there is no video mode that I do not need. Working with the Nikon D300 is very pleasant, since all the controls are at hand. The camera works with any optics that can be planted on it. In hand Nikon D7000 и Nikon D7100 inferior to the convenience of the D300, and for me, convenience is a very important indicator, since I have to run around with the camera all day. On the other hand, Nikon D300 is much inferior in some respects to brand new cameras.

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Hack and predictor Aviator

Nikon D300 performs very well in use, it is one of the best Nikon 'crop'. In an unequal struggle with time, it began to yield in some parameters to newer amateur cameras. But still, when working at low ISO - Nikon D300 is a camera, after 'talking' with which you don't want to use something else.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram