Nikon D300
Everyone says that a good photographer can use any camera and they can make a great photo. I agree. I think the talent is in the seeing of the vision, the possibilities, and how to capture the image. And they can do that with any camera.
Having said that, I think a better camera can help make you a better photographer. My D300 is that camera for me.
I used to use the Nikon D70. It took good pictures, but I kept thinking that it was limiting in the set-of the camera. The ISO performance was not what I needed with the glass I was using at the time.
I was about to purchase a D200, but the week I was about to pull the trigger Nikon came out with the D300. Compared to the D200 it was $300 more, had 2 more mega pixels, critically acclaimed high ISO performance, and live view on a 3″ LCD. Those are were the big selling points, in addition, 1-2 more fps, 40 more auto-focus sites, a 100% viewfinder, a self-cleaning sensor, and I was brand new. What more could I want?
It was ordered in November and received in January. Ok, to hold it in my hands was uber-cool. Then I realized that the learning curve was HUGE.
Features and Settings
The first feature that I really liked was the ability to set up custom menus. After some research and reading the manual, I finally got mine all set up.
Under the Shooting Bank Menu I set up a RAW settings, a JPEG setting, a LOW LIGHT/Noise Reduction, and an AUTO ISO setting. The RAW setting is meant as my basic everyday shooting menu, the JPEG is used for times when I want to shoot in JPEG, the LOW LIGHT/NR setting increases the noise reduction feature and the raises the ISO while shooting in darker situations, and the Auto-ISO lets the camera control the ISO in situations where the light varies from shot to shot.
In the Custom Menu Settings, I have the four menus set to BASIC, BRACKETING, EXPOSURE DELAY, AND FLASH. The BASIC is for everyday shooting. EXPOSURE DELAY is for when I don’t want the camera to stay still; it sets the exposure delay to 2 seconds allowing the camera to stop vibrating on the tripod., and the FLASH changes the built in TTL capable flash to command mode. I don’t use the BRACKETING much and am considering changing it. I’m not sure to what, but when I do, I’ll post it here.
Another feature that I like is the MY MENU feature. The ability to bring my most used/changed custom settings to one place makes changing the camera in the heat of shooting is simplicity itself. In my MY MENU setting I have put the following: the Dynamic AF Area where I can determine the number of auto-focus points that the camera uses during constant focus, Flash Control for the built in flash, Battery Info to determine how much battery life I have, AF Point Selection so I can quickly change the number of active AF points from 11-51, Clean Image Sensor, Image Review so I can turn of the image review in situations that I don’t want the bright LCD blinding me during shooting in dark situations, Mirror Lock-up for Cleaning, Interval Timer Shooting to quickly adjust the interval timer.
After listening to an Nikonians Image Doctor Podcast the camera I have set the shutter release to release only so that it will release whether the camera senses that it is in focus or not and the only focus button is the AF-ON button on the back of the camera. It took about a day to get used to using the “back button” focusing method, but now I can’t imagine not using it.
Performance
Nothing short of amazing. Yes, I can tell a difference between the D70 and the D300. There is almost NO noise. I can shoot at ISO 1600 and there is NO noise to speak of. It’s so good that if I accidentally leave it on ISO 1600 and shoot outside, the images are still usable and I can’t tell the difference between those and the ISO 200 images.
The 12+ megapixal images are big enough to create images for all of my uses. The resolution makes them crystal clear and tack sharp (when I focus correctly).
The button layout is intuitive and all of them are within easy reach. Plus, I have practiced
Final Thoughts
There seems to be a HUGE push toward full frame sensors. I don’t want a full frame sensor (FX). I like the crop sensor (DX). I like the extra “reach” that the DX has. Yes, the D700 might be a great camera, but I don’t want it. I really hope Nikon continues producing the DX sensor cameras.
Bottom Line
I LOVE my D300.
