Nikon Digital Slr Camera Best Review

OK, after reading all the online reviews and professional reviews and stewing over it for a few weeks I jumped on this one with the "kit" 18-200 VR lens. I am not a pro, although I have considered doing some pro work, but I take my photography seriously. My subject is mostly family/grandkids and local scenery. I am constantly experimenting with settings and never used the standard icon selections on the mode dial on my D50, so this camera seemed a natural upgrade to me.
First, I am absolutely enthralled. This is an absolutely fabulous equipment combination. There seem to be few settings, options, or configurations that I could have dreamed of that would have made me happier. Things I love:
The 18-200 VR lens; I have taken pics at 1/30 of a second at full 200mm zoom that I wouldn't have thought possible. It really does prevent most motion blur. Besides the actual camera this was the best part of my purchase. I rarely miss a shot for need of changing lenses, my former lenses being an 18-55 and a 55-200. With the flexibility of the camera itself and my second lens being a faster 30mm f1.4 this is pure photography fun for me. I know that some pros have dissed this lens as being less than pro, with distortion at certain extremes and some blur in the midrange 135mm. For the photography I do this is not important. When I do notice some distortion it's not important and I have not seen any blur, though I may not be looking close enough.
Auto-ISO: Still playing with this feature but the cool thing is that you can set it the minimum shutter speed you want and it will step up the ISO to keep that speed when needed. 1/30 seems a good speed with the VR lens, though there is sometimes subject motion blur (not camera motion blur), but this is also fun to play with. It can always be bumped up to 1/60 or more.
External controls: Most of the commonly-changed options are at your fingertips which means you don't need to visit the menus as often. I have a friend with a D40x and most of the options are in menus and my D50 has some on external buttons. The D300 seems to have a good balance. You very clearly could not have put all the menu items on external buttons on this camera!
Speaking of menus; I have a great fondness for the help feature available on this and on my D50. Not sure of other maker's cameras but if you don't know or don't remember a feature the help button will nudge you.
The customizable individual lens focus adjustment feature is the cat's meow. My aforementioned Sigma 30mm lens has never focused properly and I was able to quickly adjust this in-camera. Henceforth, all my pictures taken with the Sigma lens will at least be properly focused!
OK, one of my favorite features; the intervalometer. Ooooo, Ahhhh. It can be used by itself or with multi-exposure. By itself you can set it up to take pictures at whatever interval you like. This can be great fun. I set it up on a tripod at our reunion to take a picture every minute while we were playing cards, even catching my brother with Easter eggs over his eyes. This almost makes up for the lack of an infrared remote capability, though I guess they could not have included everything and to be fair, it is available with external added equipment. Multi-exposure is also pretty cool. More stuff to play with.

Some observations; if you have an event coming up get the camera early and play with it. I was still figuring out the settings when I went to a family reunion and took 1500 pictures. Many of those were multi-shots of the same subject so I dumped the extras and ended up with around 500 good pictures. I took some group pictures and some were blurry because I misunderstood a feature or two.
I take a lot of profile pictures and the only way to properly focus on these is to spot focus on the nose or eye. I would have liked a feature that recognizes a profile and focuses properly without changing settings. I guess that is asking a lot! Maybe in the next generation.
The weight of the device is off-putting for some, though not for me. I have big hands and the camera fills them nicely and the "balance," the way it feels in one's hands when it is turned different directions, feels just right to me, similar to the way a well-balanced 18v cordless drill feels. Though heavy, the weight is evenly distributed and it can be turned and manipulated without strain, at least not for me.
The battery life for me has been less than the 1000 pictures others have been getting. More like 500 or a little more. I'm not sure if this is because of the VR lens because I have not used my Sigma much yet. 500 is still a lot and I am not unhappy with this.
The only other "issue" if you can call it that is the front aperture dial; My finger sticks to the rubber around it which makes it more difficult to turn it. Just a nit-pic (pun intended) and something I will get used to.
Overall, I can truthfully say I love it. It doesn't get much better than this!
JCF

I won't make this a technical review as there are already many of those...
My photography experience stems from being a Photojournalist in the Navy for 6 years shooting film, and then more recently being a photo assistant for some commercial shooters just for extra cash. (most of them using cannon equipment)
I like the Nikon D300, and their products in general, because of their easy functionality, the menus are easy to navigate and settings can be quickly switched on-the-fly. Image quality is superb. You can go full-manual, or select aperture or shutter priority, or switch to program mode and let the camera do all the hard work with it's pre-programmed "scene recognition" system. Some of the lower-end Nikons have extra modes such as Sport, Portrait, Landscape, etc... right on the dial, the D300 does not, but it does allow you create those types of modes with your own custom setting for each and then save then on your custom shooting menu... no problem.
I got the 200mm zoom lens kit, which is a decent piece of glass, but would recommend the 50mm fixed lens for stills, portraits and landscapes.
In general, this camera does everything the big-buck cameras do, uses the DX format lenses that are far less expensive than the full frame FX ones, and has wonderful image quality and reliability as well as ease-of-use out of the box. The only limitation is the user... You!

I've owned my D300 since March of 2008. I love it. I transitioned from a D200 that I owned for approximately a year before that, which was my first DSLR. Prior to that I owned a Nikon F100, which was the 'analog' equivalent.

The D300 is a natural evolution from that F100. All the controls are easy to find at your fingertips, and the magnesium frame with sealed gaskets feels so much more solid than anything I tried from Canon.

What I like:
* 51 points of Autofocus (improvement over the few that are on the D200)
* Long battery life (another improvement over the D200)
* Large bright LCD panel (again, better than the D200)
* CMOS 12MP sensor. (I won't say it any more)
* The rock-solid feel

What I don't like:
* Sometimes the focus seems a little slow, or nonreactive in low light. I understand there is a new microcode update I have not installed yet.


Finally, the image quality is excellent. I'm a serious hobbyist and have been for years. Sure I could get a 20mp camera and/or a full-frame (FX) unit. But this is the perfect size for my recently upgraded computer systems, which is something you should consider during your purchase of a camera. Image processing is a big part of your photography experience in digital. There is nothing more frustrating than slow processing of your images, or full hard drives, which prevent you from making frequent backups, etc.... I currently use an intel-based iMac that works well with my image processing.

I recently upgraded from a Nikon D70s to the Nikon D300. I was rather unprepared for how material an upgrade it was. From its lightening fast and nearly flawless autofocus system, to the incredible fps rate, to its overall ease of use, this camera is incredible. The controls are layed out so intelligently that it allows you to very quickly change your shooting preferences. The only complaints, which are minor, are that the switch at the base of the camera's lens mount that controls the focus type (manual, single, continuous) is exposed and easy to inadvertantly change. I am also a little disappointed with the onboard flash system. However I just ordered the SB900 Speedlight which should remedy that. Overall this camera is pro quality in every way, and the good far outweighs the minor issues.

I am a rank amateur photographer. I have been able to shoot some photographs that people liken to professional work. I just follow a few rules from books like dragging the shutter, 1/3 composition, tack sharp, etc.
This is a true enabler!
Not to brag, but right now I can look at photos in fashion mags, books, Sports Illustrated, etc. and say to myself (modestly), hey, I could do better than that! It's amazing how slip-shod many high profile photos are. Victoria Secret: models faces are in shadow. Sports Illustrated: models look bored and plastic. Whether or not you agree with me, this camera guarantees that the tool will not be your limit.
The shortcomings: When the battery indicator shows 20% discharged, the camera shuts down. It will take pic, but exposure is way off. Another issue is that sometimes when there is not enough light, the shutter release will not work at all.
Everything is worth putting up with for this camera's color and range.
Added later: I can't emphasize enough how good this camera is with color! There is a danger you will read this and think, "oh yeah, its got great true color." It goes way beyond that! I just took a picture of a polishe copper kettle sitting on the edge of a deep red oriental carpet. I thought I'd like to see how the shiny copper would look with the fantastic spot exposure in this cam. So I snapped it, and what came back was a gorgeous wash of red reflection along one side of the kettle where it is reflecting the carpet! I said, "huh?" and looked at the kettle again. I can't see the red with my eye! (I have 20-20 vision.) SO what this camera can do is maybe 100-1000 times better than you can see! Once you get a basic facility with the controls (exposure, etc.), it is hard to take a bad picture with this camera. No it won't make you a great photographer by itself, but it will help you get great photos. It's like having a ferrari when many others are driving a ------. Buy it.
Note added 9/10/2009
I must reluctantly add that Nikon's support is bad. The camera had several defects: bad battery contact (fixed by putting match book cover on top of battery, and sloooow auto-focus. THe call center for Nikon repair has many problems, but the one I want to mention is that it doesn't use US workers. Nikon is selling us an expensive camera and then taking jobs away for a mediocre service. Better to buy camera from company more integrated into the US society, and concerned about jobs here, IMO. That's all.

Hi all... I'm an enthusiast photographer from Sri Lanka. I got my D300 about a month back from amazon through a friend in USA. It's my 1st DSLR and I'm completely blown away by it and the photos it takes. Almost everything about this camera is nothing short of amazing.

There's only one downside worth mentioning and it's the Live View. Once you turn the shooting mode dial to LV, nothing appears on the screen. You have to press the shutter release once to lift the mirror and have the view on the LCD. But after taking the picture it goes blank again and you have to press shutter release to get the view back. This is an inconvenient and time consuming process. And I think Nikon have been a bit ignorant in this aspect. But this doesn't put me off at all because live view is something that I use very rarely.

I won't talk about any of the plus points of this cam because I want to keep this review short. Let me just say that everything other than live view is nothing short of brilliant.

About the 18-200 mm VR lens: In my opinion, this is the best kit lens out there. The quality it delivers is exceptional for a super-zoom and also for a kit lens. Unless you do macro or extreme telephoto work this is just about the only lens you need.

I ordered my D300 after my D70 suddenly froze in the mirror-up position while I was accompanying a handicapped Italian participant in the 2008 NY City Marathon (I managed to fix it, and had to run like h*ll to catch up!)

I already owned the 18-200mm lens, purchased in a kit for my photojournalism-major son, who is down on zoom lenses.

I've been a photographer since 1958 when I "inherited" a school photographer position held by my father and uncle before me. I've owned dozens of cameras over the years, mostly Canons and Leicas, and won more than my share of awards from the start, including grand prize in the Kodak High School contest and the old NY Herald Trib contest. I shoot today to illustrate medical equipment case histories as a marketing communications consultant. I have a collection of more than 50 cameras of all brands.

And so, when I say the D300 + 18-200 zoom is a magnificent imaging-making combination, I know of what I speak.

1. First of all, images. Spectacular. At 18mm, it is sharper by far than my 20mm f2.8 Nikon AF, which I sold shortly after I bought the zoom lens (I still own a 17mm Tokina for use with a film N80). There is some mild pincushion distortion characteristic when you shoot planar surfaces close, and you need to keep people out of the frame edges or they will look fat - but for scenics and general photography, it is spectacular.

There are definitely focus points across the 18-200 range that are not as sharp as at the extremes. It's pretty neutral from a color cast perspective - that point was brought home to me this week when I shot the same scene with the 18-200 and my Tamron 28-75mm XR Di, which startled me with a warmth I never appreciated.

Also - you will discover that the small maximum aperture of the 18-200mm VR doesn't give you the focus separation of subject from background you might want. Shoot close and wide where you can - the lens is sharp enough wide open to handle that, although "wide open" on this lens isn't very wide at any focal length.

2. The VR spoils one. For shooting subjects that don't move, it works just as promised. If you have good technique, you can easily hand-hold this lens at 1/8th of a second over most of its range, and I've shot lower with careful bracing.

Unfortunately, the VR mechanism is pretty useless for shooting moving subjects unless in quite bright conditions.

3. The range of options of the menu system can be boggling, although right out of the box, you will shoot amazing images, particularly in the "P" (program) mode. However, once you get past the standard functions, you will not use a tenth of this camera's capabilities without reading the manual with the camera in front of you. I rate the quality of the manual as a B-. Its explanations are pretty good, but organization borders on absurd, and you may be forced to go through the manual just to understand the vernacular for the function you may be seeking.

4. The LCD screen is a blow-away. I am reluctant to increase its brightness from "0" because I am afraid of misjudging images, but you can boost brightness quite a bit.

5. The RAW setting produces roughly the same quality images as the fine jpeg setting - until you screw something up. Then the RAW images are vastly better, because you can compensate greatly, especially with the Nikon Capture NX program. Be warned, however, that the NEF format is NOT compatible with popular programs like Paintshop Pro, which handled the NEF files from my D70 and my son's former D50.

6. The dynamic range - highlight to deep shade/shadow - is spectacular. I don't push the camera to 3200 ISO, where I know it is measurably poorer; I don't shoot faster than 1600. I carry a 50mm f1.8 lens with me at all times to avoid having to go faster than 800 ISO, because I can see the difference.

Don't overexpose with the D300 - not necessary, and just complicates your tasks later. I used to set my D70 at +0.3 compensation to avoid shadow losses, but be VERY careful in doing that with the D300. I do it only in backlit situations where I cannot flash fill. The D-lighting in Capture NX is safer than the D-lighting setting in the camera, and seems to work fine.

7. Battery life is good, assuming you don't use built-in flash. I always use an SB-400 for fill, so my experience may be different. TTL flash with the SB-400 on the D300 is not to be believed.

8. Consider carefully if you really need the vertical grip. I find the ergonomics quite good without it, and I don't like the hair trigger on the vertical grip. However, the grip changes the public's perceived nature of the photographer using it, in an era when everyone is walking around with dinky D40s and digital Rebels. At weddings, it's a must. I attach it when I want to crash a scene as a pro - with the 80-200mm f2.8 zoom and lens shade, and the vertical grip on a D300, you can get past a lot of guards (e.g. sidelines of most non-pro football fields). On the other hand, take it off when entering museums or other places where the guards are looking to keep pros out. The weight with the AA battery pack is unacceptable - with the lithium ion, no big deal.

Conclusion: While not a D3 or D700, the D300 is more than enough camera for those who shoot images rarely printed larger than 24x36, and certainly more than enough for those whose work shows up mainly on the web.

This is a fantastic camera. I upgraded from a D80, which I was happy with, but this camera is in a completely different class. Handling is excellent, build quality superb and colours are fantastic. The Active D-Lighting is a great feature, and the high ISO performance is unbelievable.

This is one heck of a camera. I have had Nikons (F5, F, 8008, F4), Canons (Rebel), Leica (M3, IIIc), and Hasselblad (500 CM) and I think this is the best I've had in terms of feel, features, and picture quality. I'm slowly putting it through its paces and find the camera to be responsive and easy to use. I thought that I would be intimidated by the controls, but am picking things up pretty quickly. It's getting me back into photography and makes it all fun again!

I am a technology geek. An early adopter. I also work in the outdoors, shooting wildlife photographs. I used to use film cameras, and unfortunately was spending far more money in developing costs than groceries! So I made the early move to digital with a little point n' shoot Olympus. Many times I was so frustrated that the camera was almost thrown overboard. Then came the Nikon D70, a digital SLR. I was hooked. I loved being able to shoot 6 MP shots, 3 frames a second. Being able to preview pics and throw away what I didn't want. But soon my D70 was looking long in the tooth so to speak, so I began researching and prowling around for a new camera. My boss also used to shoot a D70, and had just made the jump over to a Canon D40 as the lenses were cheaper. Me, I'm a pretty loyal guy, so I gave the D300 a hard look.

I looked at many websites and forums that compared the top DSLRs. And I kept coming back to the D300. Even Macworld gave it their recommendation, so I went online and bought a package that included a D300, a 70-300 VR lens, a 2GB card and shipping for 1999.99. The camera arrived, and here are a few observations after only a few days use:
1. This is a heavy camera. Very solid. Heavier than my D70, but the weight is balanced feeling.
2. SPEED!!! Wow! I am using a Lexar 2GB 300x card, and when I hit burst rate the other day, I shot nearly 13 frames in about 2-3 seconds.
3. LCD display is incredible! At 3" in size, it really enables you to get a good feel for how the camera is operating. Live View is a new feature for when you are using a tripod or having to hold the camera at strange angles---it seems to really work well.
4. In camera processing---some features that I used to wait to process in Photoshop I can do in the camera now (red-eye reduction, etc.) Very helpful.

Now for the things I don't like (which is a very short list at this point):
1. Getting CF cards that really take advantage of the camera's lightning speed are expensive!
2. Lenses for this camera are expensive!
3. Owner's manual leaves something to be desired in explaining how to use the camera.

I am an intermediate user, and so I feel a bit lost trying to figure out all the options of this camera and how to best utilize them. But fortunately for you and me, there are lots of books, websites, etc, to help you take this Ferrari and use it to its' fullest extent! If I had to choose a camera again, I would DEFINITELY buy the Nikon D300 again.