Nikon Câmera Digital SLR D300 (Corpo de Câmera)

It's a Precision Instrument!

I've had my D300 (my second) for a few months now, and I'm still plumbing the depths of what it is truly capable of!
This baby is more than a camera bo...Read complete review

I've had my D300 (my second) for a few months now, and I'm still plumbing the depths of what it is truly capable of!
This baby is more than a camera body... it's a precision instrument!
Recording great images is really what this camera is all about!

As complex a machine as it is, it is generally simple and very intuitive to use.
Almost every important setting is directly accessible from a button on the body.
The tree structured menu system can be deep for some settings, but also remains simply structured and intuitively set up.
The built in "help" is also quite useful at times, but in no way replaces the manual, which is definitely a must read with camera in hand.

A novice can set this camera to Auto-Area Auto focus, Auto ISO, Programmed Auto exposure, & auto White Balance, and record technically good quality images, knowing nothing else.
A more advanced user can niggle every setting (as I like to do) and really make this camera sing!

If you're using this camera, you should be shooting RAW, unless you have an otherwise compelling reason.
You should also be using Nikon's CaptureNX to take full advantage of Nikon's .NEF (RAW) format.
I do 99.9% of my image processing entirely in NX, only sending to Photoshop for any work NX wasn't designed to do.

>>> PROS:
• I'm going to avoid those features frequently mentioned in other reviews, except to say that I love the speed of this camera.
The burst rate is awesome and the internal buffer will hold a serious number of RAW images before getting bogged down by the write-speed limitations of the memory card.
If you want to impress your friends, set this beast to JPG & hold the shutter release for 1 full minute in High-Speed Continuous shooting mode... The Camera will NOT stop and their jaws will drop!

• But, do yourself a favor.
If you aren't alread using it, invest in some good quality UDMA memory.
I was using an off-brand 150x card w/ no problems in my D200, but ended up with corrupted images in the D300. I now use only 300x UDMA.
I can recommend the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition (300x) & Delkin CF PRO UDMA (305x). Have had NO problems with these cards & the higher speed makes a significant difference in camera performance.

• 12.3 MP image is definitely nice to have, if only for more latitude in cropping. However, I honestly was happy with the 10 MP of the D200 for the print sizes I like to produce.

• Without access to engineering specs, the signal/Noise ratio of the sensor seems better than with the D200.
I'm definitely getting less noise at Higher ISOs (800 & plus) with the D300.

• Live View I was skeptical of at first...
... Didn't think I'd ever use it.
But, when I wanted it, I had it.
I've found it to be most useful when working on a tripod and for hand held Close-up or Macro work where you don't necessarily want to stick your face near what you're recording. I don't see it working very well for paparazzi style work where you're holding the camera way above your head or around corners to get a shot. Nothing beats instinct & experience for that... and Live View isn't really fast enough IMO for that anyway. There's a distinct lag time in the displayed image.

But, believe it or not, you really can use it to zoom into & around the image to pre-check your focus (auto or manual), which is very useful where tight depth of field is a factor.
I've also used it many times to photograph my dog when I'm feeling too lazy to bend down to his level.

• Picture Control is probably more important to master if not shooting RAW. When shooting RAW, all picture control tweaks are available to add or undo after the fact in CaptureNX.

However, it is still fun to play with. A variety of preset in-camera effects are available, ranging from control of saturation, brightness, contrast, to monochrome effects such as B&W, Sepia, Cyanotype emulation, & others.
With monochrome, you can additionally apply color contrast filter effects & adjust the strength of those effects, but I'm not 100% convinced these stack up against using the real thing. The resulting tonality doesn't seem quite right to my eye.
B&W can also be toned in a variety of colors with adjustable intensity. Again, if shooting RAW, these effects can be added or removed after the fact in CaptureNX, but knowing that I can change a B&W with a magenta cast back to straight color makes me more inclined to experiment and achieve results I might not try otherwise.

If you create a particular picture control setting that you like, you can save it in the camera or to the memory card or computer for future use. You can also create custom picture control settings with custom curves in ViewNX (which ships with the camera) and upload them to the camera.
If you have Active D-Lighting turned on, brightness & contrast adjustments become unavailable, as these are taken over by the Active D.

• Active D-Lighting is the best thing since sliced-white-bread!
It really seems to expand the dynamic range of the image sensor, which can be a problem with digital photography.
I think of it as having in-camera HDR capability.
It tends to produce a lower contrast image, but images come back to life easily during post-processing, with better highlight & shadow detail, and fewer blown out highlights or dead shadow areas.
I leave it set to normal 99% of the time because you can adjust the setting or turn it off in CaptureNX after the fact, but can't turn it on if the image wasn't recorded with it on.
It can reduce your high speed burst rate, so sometimes I turn it off if I really need that. However, I usually will opt for the better image with it on, over the higher frame rate.

• 3" LCD display is a vast improvement over the 2.5" of the D200.
It displays a good quality preview image, definitely adequate for checking focus & color balance.
It's also bright enough when you need it.
However, consider a third party shade if you're shooting in extreme glaring conditions like the ocean front on a very bright day... or the Sahara Desert ;).

• Auto WB is very accurate. I tend to leave the camera set there because I shoot RAW (.NEF) format and know I can reset that to anything I want later in CaptureNX. If you intend to record in .JPG or .TFF format, you'll want to be more mindful of your settings in general, which are all very flexible & fine tunable.

Custom WB is very good also. I've achieved perfect enough color balance, requiring no tweaking, in the mixed flourescent/incandescent/natural lighting of a major supermarket, simply by white balancing off a paper napkin spread out on the floor.

• Built-in flash is great to have in a pinch or a party. If you're a serious flasher (no pun intended) you might want a speedlight or more sophisticated set-up.
Built-in flash doesn't cut it, though, if you're using a lens like the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 or similar. The large diameter front (77mm filter size) together with it's length (5.2 in.) will cause a shadow to be cast into the foreground of your image at the wider end of the focal length range.

• Auto Focus is very good. Faster or slower I believe depends more on the lens you're using.
I usually leave it in single-servo mode, where the camera will focus once for subsequent continuous shooting.

Alternatively, continuous-servo focusing, where the camera continually re-focuses for each continuous shot, is OK for most moving subjects, including children if not running too fast. But for fast moving subjects like a running dog or wild animal, bird in flight or sports, etc, it's still not fast enough. In these cases, pre-focusing in single-servo mode in anticipation of the action works best, but you of course loose the advantage of the high burst rate in this instance.

Manual focus performance really depends more on the lens you're using. However, I do find it easier to manual focus accurately in Live View mode.

• The camera body is very rugged. I've used it on the ocean where it became covered in salty ocean spray, had buttons jam from fine sand & grit getting stuck in the edges. My dog even lifted-his-leg on it once. I just wipe it down with a moist cloth or blow out the grit with some compressed air (... used anti-bacterial wipes for the dog incident) and the camera is so far none the worse for it... it just keeps on ticking. I have yet to drop it, but believe it would survive a reasonable shock... it's built like a tank.

>>> A WORD OF ADVICE
• DON'T use cheap filters... use high quality glass only. I've experienced some serious image degradation with less than top notch Haze, UV, Polarizer, etc. In fact, I went through 4 circular polarizing filters before settling on Hoya Pro Digital Circular Polarizer, which is pricey but seems worth it so far.


>>> CONS
• DX format image sensor IMO is a let down if you want to use better lenses. DX lenses are OK. However, I prefer Nikon's generally faster & better quality FX (film format) lenses, but resent having to put up with the 1.5x focal length factor.

Shortly after purchasing my first D300, I almost sold it along with my D200 to help finance a D3 for the FX sensor, but my local Nikon dealer convinced me to hold out for the day Nikon gets their head out of their butt & offers a camera in this class with an FX sensor.
My personal feeling is that the DX format will in time go the way of the Studebaker, but don't quote me on that.

• Infra Red: I've attached an R-72 IR filter to the camera and successfully made some very good Infra Red images.
However, the exposures needs to be very long (20 to 30 seconds, depending...) to overcome the built in High-Pass filter which is intended to take out most of the infra red spectrum.

When I purchased my first D300, the plan was to convert my D200 to Infra Red. But, I learned through speaking with technician at a custom lab that does these conversions & through other research that, while older Nikon digital bodies handled this conversion very well, the newer models can be hit or miss (mostly miss...) on setting an important custom white balance.
I was able to get good IR images on the D300 w/ R-72 filter by manually adjusting the white balance in post-prod, and also confirmed that *my* camera indeed refuses thus far to accept the necessary custom white balance setting.
It's my understanding that comparable Canon bodies do not have this problem. (I didn't investigate any other manufacturers).

So, if you intend to do any serious amount of IR work, my advice is to consider a Canon (or an older Nikon)... as much as it pains me to steer you away from this otherwise gorgeous body!

• Built-in Anti Alias filter is a royal pain in the you-know-what!
When I really started to become familiar with my D200 & subsequently my D300, I became extremely disappointed with a general lack of sharpness pervading throughout all images.
At first I thought it was the lenses I was using, so I bought better glass... same result.
Then I decided it must be my techniqe & concentrated on improving that, to no avail.
I was really baffled by it, and eventually became so disgusted that I considered selling everything & buying a Canon body, but didn't really want to do that because I liked Nikon's line-up of lenses better.
After some serious research I learned of the Anti Alias filter which is installed to counter moire effects by deliberately introducing a certain amount of blur into the image.
After this, I figured out how to be more liberal with the unsharp mask, applying it 2 or 3 times in varying degrees both globally and locally.
Fine structures such as hair, eyes, diamond earrings or rings, woolly materials, anything that sparkles, etc, sometimes need massive unsharp treatments to bring out the detail.
So, after figuring this out, I'm back in love with the camera.


>>> MINOR COMPLAINTS
• Manual Focus Switch is poorly located.
I frequently bump it while handling the camera, pushing it into manual mode every time & leaving myself scratching my head for a bit the next time I use the camera.

• Memory Card Compartment: The manual warns always to turn the camera off when inserting or removing the memory card.
UDMA memory cards can get pretty expensive and the images stored on them can be priceless, so I wouldn't want to blow one or the camera circuitry through neglect. It seems sensible enough to me that the camera should auto-off when the memory door is opened, but Nikon did not do this.
Rest assured,however, I *have* accidentally pulled the memory card once or twice with the camera on, and nothing dire happened.

• 10-pin Remote Terminal location is awkwardly placed, too near the lens. I have to remove the lens to gain enough finger space for screwing down the locking ring, which is difficult enough to do even with lots of working space.

• Viewfinder: You have the option to display a grid in the viewfinder, but it divides the scene into quarters. Wouldn't something for the rule of thirds be better? Best yet, I would like to see a choice including 1/4 points, 1/3 points, & maybe even Golden Mean.

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>>> ALL IN ALL...
This is a gorgeous camera body and a joy to use.
If you can even come close to affording the price tag, GO FOR IT!
You won't regret it.

This concludes my review of the Nikon D300.
I trust this has been helpful to you.
Honestly, I feel like I've only scratched the surface... but buy one and see for yourself!