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Position:Home>Visual Arts> Question for the pro's?Question: Question for the pro's!? I am an amatuer photog and currently have the Nikon D80 with a few lenses!. I would eventually like to upgrade my camera and use the D80 as back-up!. Right now I am looking at the Nikon D300 (and the D3, but that will probably be out of my price range, even in a few years!)!. However, I wanted to get some other opinions!. I post on some photography message boards and most of us are "Nikonians," so I wanted to get some other point of views before the next big purchase!
TIA!Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I'm not a pro, but I think the D300 is one awesome piece of equipment!. I have had mine since December 2007!. I got the D200 in January 2006, so I used that for almost two years before getting the D300!. As great as the D200 is, the D300 is a phenomenal improvement!. The D300 is now $500 more than the D200 and I would say that it is worth every penny of that!. You can read reviews everywhere by now, but the major difference is obviously the switch to the CMOS sensor and the new Expeed processor!. Both are great moves for Nikon!. The camera has excellent image quality, exceptional low-light performance, and very fast auto-focus!. It has many features that make it easier to use faster than the D200!. Live view is not something that you will use the same way it is used in a point and shoot camera, but when it is appropriate, it is a major enhancement!. I appreciate the ability to show the top LCD info on the reaer LCD!. It's much larger and easier to see!. If the camera is on a tripod, this feature along with live view really make your life easier!. There is an in-camera dynamic range booster called "Active D-Lighting" that helps with unevenly lit subjects and scenes!. It's not the same as shooting HDR, but it is a step in that direction!. I could go on for an hour about all the features, but it has a 400 page user manual! That tells you something!. See the review in PopPhoto where the by-line says, "!.!.!.pushed the D300 to new performance records in the Pop Photo Lab!." http://www!.popphoto!.com/cameras/4911/cam!.!.!. See where PopPhoto chose the D300 as the 2007 Camera of the year: http://www!.popphoto!.com/cameras/4857/cam!.!.!. See the 4? minute video explaining why: http://www!.popphoto!.com/cameras/4925/cam!.!.!. See Michael McNamara's editorial on digital surpassing film in the March 2008 issue of Popular Photography and see how highly he praises the Nikon D3 and D300!. If people keep saying this kind of stuff about the camera, it's going to start selling at a $200-500 premium!.!.!. See the dpreview!.com review where the D300 where they conclude, "There's simply no better semi-professional digital SLR on the market!." http://www!.dpreview!.com/reviews/nikond30!.!.!. See Ken Rockwell's review where he says, "The Nikon D300 is the world's best amateur camera!." http://www!.kenrockwell!.com/nikon/d300!.ht!.!.!. I must say that I have not read a bad review on the D300 yet!. Practically the only complaint I've read is that it is so hard to find something to complain about! See a few of my samples and while you are here, click on the link to "All public photos tagged D300!." http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. Specific samples: http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/samfeinstei!.!.!. ~~~~~ ADD'L ~~~~~ People!.!.!. Lighten up!. She didn't ask if buying a D300 would make her a better photographer!. All she asked was for an opinion on the equipment!. She might be ten times better than you or me already, but I've never seen her work, so I'll just answer the actual question asked instead of insulting her!. (Sorry friends, but this is how I feel on this one!.) ~~~~~ MORE ~~~~~ I'll add a footnote to Antoni's answer!. I agree that full format is the wave of the future!. Again, I'm not a pro, but I doubt I will buy any more DX lenses!. I may never buy another camera, but I don't want to have a drawer full of lenses that cut my hypothetical 12-14 MP camera down to 5 or 6 MP!. Look at my D300 samples full size, as I do not restrict them on Flickr!. Find some D3 images by using their camera finder and do the same!. Many people feel that the image quality is very nearly the same - for most purposes!. In fact, I wrote an answer comparing the D3 and D300 a while ago, so I may as well add it here!. ~~~~~~~~~~ Nikon D3 vs!. D300 Here are some references!. You will see cross-references to each camera in the other camera's review in Popular Photography and by Ken Rockwell!. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours if you really want to read all of this information!. D3: http://www!.popphoto!.com/cameras/5047/cam!.!.!. D300: http://www!.popphoto!.com/cameras/4911/cam!.!.!. D3: http://www!.kenrockwell!.com/nikon/d3!.htm D300: http://www!.kenrockwell!.com/nikon/d300!.ht!.!.!. See also: http://www!.dpreview!.com/reviews/compare_!.!.!. Obvious differences: D3 costs three times as much as D300 D3 is full-format sensor and D300 is DX sensor (864 sq mm vs!. 366 sq mm) D3 goes two stops higher with ISO boost D3 has faster continuous capture rate of 9/11 fps vs!. 6 fps D300 has built-in pop-up flash and D3 does not D3 weighs about 50% more and is about 1?" taller Not-so-obvious differences: D300 has wider relative tracking area for 51-zone autofocus For the OCD!. I've been meaning to do this anyway!.!.!. From the PopPhoto summary charts: Image Quality at ISO 200-3200 - both are "excellent" and virtually equal on the graph Image Quality at ISO 6400 - both are "extremely high" and virtually equal on the graph Resolution ISO 200 - D3 "excellent" at 2320 lines - D300 "excellent" at 2350 lines Color Accuracy (Lower Delta E is better) - D3 "extremely high" at Delta E 7!.28 - D300 "extremely high" at Delta E 7!.19 Noise levels are generally lower on the D3 - both rate "extremely low" or "very low" through ISO 1600 - D3 generally outscores D300 by around 20-30% on noise levels except at ISO 800 where the D300 is about 20% better Highlight/Shadow Detail - both rated "extremely high" Contrast - both rated "slightly high" Autofocus Speed - D3 is generally about 2-3/1000th faster at all EV levels - D3 is notably faster at EV 1 and EV 0 (2/10th and 12/100th sec), but - D3 and D300 are virtually the same at EV -1 and EV-2 The D3 is obviously Nikon's best-ever pro digital camera!. It beats the D300 in all areas of measurable performance, but just barely!. If continuous release shutter speed, availability of ultra-high ISO, and full-sized sensor are important to you, the D3 is the winner!. If you can live with the "lower" performance of the D300 in these areas - where it still beats pretty much anything ever made prior to now - you can save over $3,000 by buying the D300!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The D80 is a great camera to begin with, but if you want to keep your lenses, but upgrade the camera, you will probably need another Nikon!. The best thing, though, is to go to a good camera store and try handling different models!. It's definitely a hands on choice!. It's not as though every size fits all, and everyone who loves his/her camera loves it for at least some personal reason!. Camera websites are notorious for 'camera wars' with everyone trying to outsmart each other!.Www@QuestionHome@Com "most of us are "Nikonians," so I wanted to get some other point of views before the next big purchase!" well nikon users tend to know the gear, as a 5d user my other opinion is get a D3, - you have said its out of your price range so if you wish to stay nikon then why not a used d200!? i use a cropped digi most of the time however FF is the future -imho aWww@QuestionHome@Com You should concentrate more on the 10" behind the viewfinder!. THAT is what makes the image!.Www@QuestionHome@Com You need to read these opinions and make up your own mind so I will share mine, and it is just that, an opinion!. I have a D200 and I do not use it anymore!. It is only a backup, however whilst I was using it I found it to be a good camera!. Two things that I didn't like on the D200 after coming from an F3, F4 and F5 was the weight!. I use some long lenses and the balance just wasn't as good as the pro cameras!. also the fact that my lenses didn't give me the correct focal length was a real pain!. OK at the long end it good, but wide shots were lacking!. If you don't require reasonably high ISO shots, then my advice is to wait for a D300 style camera with full frame!. Image quality improvement from the D80 to D300 will be miniscule!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |