Nikon D300 Digital Camera

The Nikon D300 is the second dSLR I've owned and I purchased it about eight months after its initial release in the North American market. I bought it to replace my Nikon D200, while being a fine camera, did have some limitations that as time went on grew into annoyances and irritations.

After buying the D300, I sold my D200 on Craig's List and wished the new owner much luck with his wedding photography business. I was on my way to learning my new camera.

The D300 is a DX formatted dSLR which means that the sensor that takes the place of film is smaller than a 35 mm frame of film and as a result the camera has a "crop" factor of 1.54x the focal length of whatever lens is mounted on the camera. While this is a welcome addition at the long end of a lens, it will cost the photographer capability at the wide angle end of the spectrum. The lens cropping found in smaller than full frame equipped sensor cameras is perhaps the single biggest reason that the manufacturers needed to design, develop and manufacture digital lens that counter this effect.


The Nikon D300 An Amazing Photographic Tool

The Nikon D300 looks very much like the D200 camera that it replaced. Cosmetics aside, the tendency toward family layout in Nikon s camera bodies is also very evident in the D300. Users of the D200 and other Nikon digital bodies will find just about every control button in a familiar location. The body is robustly constructed of a light weight magnesium die casting and encased in rubber armor. While not as well sealed against the elements as the two flagship digital SLRs (the D3 and D3x), it is better sealed than the company s lower end consumer grade digital SLRs.

Below are some of the main features that make this camera more than just an evolutionary upgrade of the D200 and some of the improvements included in the D300 could legitimately be seen to make this an all new camera.

The Nikon D300 In A Nutshell

1) The D300 is a 12.3 MP digital SLR. Its sensor is APS sized (smaller than a 35 mm film frame) and Nikon calls this a DX format camera body. The sensor is CMOS format.

2) The D300 utilizes Nikon s new EXPEED digital imaging process concept.

3) The camera has a user selectable 12 bit or 14 bit A/D conversion full 16 bit processing.

4) The D300 incorporates Nikon s new Scene Recognition System.

5) The Auto Focus system has a 51 point system with several advanced AF modes as well as 3D focus tracking.

6) The viewfinder is large and bright and offers a field of view that virtually covers 100% of the image seen.

7) You ll be able to shoot at up to 6 frames per second (fps) to 100 frames in JPEG.write.html/#_ftn1

8) With the MB-D10 Battery Pack/Vertical Grip (optional purchase), you ll be able to shoot up to 8 fps for up to 100 JPEG images.write.html/#_ftn2

9) The camera incorporates a new Picture Control System, allowing you to fine-tune your images.

10) For the first time in this class of dSLR, Nikon has included a sensor cleaning system, something NOT found in the D3 or D3x.

11) The LCD is now 3 inches diagonally and offers 920,000 dot resolution and a 170 angle of view. The LCD is made of tempered glass and protected by an LCD screen.

12) Start-Up Time: 0.13 seconds with a Shutter Lag time of just 45 milliseconds.

13) Active D Lighting allows the user to automatically optimize tone reproduction in shadows and highlights at the time the exposure is made.

The Heart of the Matter: The 12.3 MP DX Format CMOS Sensor

The sensor is the image gathering media of the digital age and since the beginning of the digital era, sensor R&D and qualitative improvements have allowed photographers to fully capture images that equaled and now, in many cases, exceed film based photographs. As someone who grew up with film and had remained very loyal to it as a medium of choice, I was disheartened (but pleased as well due to digital s immediacy) to see this occur. Once onboard the digital train, however, I realized that speed had improved and so had my photography and in both the short and long term, I was saving money.

The 12.3 MP CMOS sensor found in the D300 is an exceptional piece of this tool as it is where the light for your imagery is gathered. Smaller than a 35 mm film frame, it still possesses significantly high density pixels that will provide the colors and sharpness any photographer should need and want (I say this knowing that there are higher MP count sensors already on the market).

This sensor allows the user to shoot from ISO 200 through to 3200 plus Lo 1 (equivalent to ISO 100) and Hi 1 (equivalent to 6400).

The D300 is also equipped with a self-cleaning sensor, the first of its kind in a Nikon dSLR.

The image processing done by the sensor is part of what Nikon calls EXPEED. All in-camera processing is handled in full 16-bit color and the user benefits from better tonal characteristics, finer details, higher image quality and at higher speeds. The higher speeds allow you to shoot faster and longer without having to allow the camera to catch up. This is especially useful for sports or other fast action shots.

The New Scene Recognition System

The scene recognition system helps the camera to maximize the auto-focus, auto exposure and auto white balance modes of the D300. This is tied to the 1005 segment RGB sensor so that the camera recognizes the conditions within the image frame before you click the shutter to capture the image. The scene recognition system also enhances auto-white balance and auto-exposure performance as well. For the AE performance, the 1005 segment sensor is capable of recognizing and detecting highlighted and contrasted areas. This allows the camera to determine and reproduce the amount of brightness to be reproduced in the image you capture. The amount of brightness recorded provides far more accurate exposure control by the camera of the image.

For Auto White Balance (AWB): light source identification is obtained by the sensor; the sensor identifies scene information characteristics before the image is captured (i.e. before you click the shutter). The sensor identifies patterns and then applies this information to auto white balance to correct for the source of light in the environment in which the photograph is being composed and taken. When you have the D300 set for AWB, this system then correctly identifies the type of light and corrects accordingly. Of course, this camera also allows you to set the White Balance manually, as well.

A New & Improved Picture Control System

Users of the previous generation Nikon D200 may be a bit miffed that the designations for the picture controls have had their nomenclatures modified or deleted, but this should only be a temporary dislocation. The functions are almost identical, even though the selections have been reduced to just four. These include: STANDARD, NEUTRAL, VIVID and MONOCHROME (for Black & White). These settings could be called base settings, allowing you to further modify the way you and the D300 perform your image capture. You can then create up to 9 custom settings that can also be sub-divided by sharpness, contrast, brightness, color saturation, and tone. Monochrome also allows traditional B&W, Sepia and shades of Cyan.

Camera Controls & Screens

Users of other Nikon dSLRs, but especially folks upgrading from the D200 will be immediately at home with the camera controls and dials. The Main Command and Sub-Command dials are exactly where they were found on the D200. Likewise, users of the D2X, D2Xs, the D700, the D3 and D3X will have no problems finding where the main control buttons and dials are. Nikon is consistent in its control placement and most users will be shooting effectively in minutes after picking up this camera.

The Rear LCD Screen: is 3 inches across diagonally and has approximately 920,000 dot resolution to allow for accurate image display and review. The screen offers a 170 degree angle of view and is protected by an included snap-on LCD screen. The screen itself is tempered glass.

There are several play-back options for the LCD. These include single frame, 4 or 9 image thumbnail, and a RGB histogram that shows highlight point displays.

Two Live View Modes

The two live view modes offered in the D300 permit increased speed for shooting while allowing you to capture sharper images. The live view permits the use of the LCD for composing and framing (when it is physically impossible to see the subject through the viewfinder). This would/will be especially useful when firing the camera remotely as when used in tandem with a laptop computer where the image is viewed on the computer s screen after it has been captured and transmitted.

a) Hand-held Mode: The LCD s 170 angle of view is very helpful for shots where a very high or very low angle make use of the viewfinder difficult or impossible. A good example would be when shooting over the heads of people in a crowd.

b) Tripod Mode: This is an ideal and almost perfect way to shoot still life images. The
D300 s CMOS sensor can be zoomed up to 13 times to obtain pinpoint focus on your subject. The ability, through the use of any of the other 51 image sensors will also permit the photographer to further pinpoint focus in the areas of the frame surrounding the subject. Likewise, background blurring can be emphasized to draw you to the subject itself.

Active D Lighting

Active D Lighting capability allows the user and the camera to work together to create a more accurate and broader tone reproduction scale within the final image. This assists with contrast and facial complexions where accuracy really counts. D Lighting is applied across the entire frame and thus, the entire finished image. Many photographers will notice a significance in exposure in environments where contrast is very high such as shaded areas on a bright day or a bright scene outdoors through a window from indoors.

Built In Flash with i-TTL Control

The D300 has a small built-in pop-up flash with intelligent through the lens (i-TTL) capability that can also serve as a commander when firing several off-camera flashes in unison. It is quite useful for close-ups where some fill flash is needed. However, I tend to use larger, more powerful (and versatile) Nikon Speedlights (either on or off-camera) for my complicated lighting scenarios.

Support for the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)

The D300 is usable and supports all of the functions found on the following Nikon strobes: the SB-400, the SB-600, the SB-R200. I currently use both my SB-800 and SB-900 with this camera body and have had no complaints. The newer Nikon dSLRs and the SB-800 and SB-900 allow for almost limitless flash lighting options.


Size & Weight:

Although the D300 is not a large camera by itself, I always use mine with the optional MB-D10 battery pack and vertical grip attached. With two batteries, a lens, the battery pack and a strobe attached, the camera can get bulky and heavy when worn for hours on a neck strap.

Out of the box and without all of the above, the D300 weighs in at 1 lb., 13 ounces (825 grams). My tired neck and shoulders constantly remind me of how large and heavy this camera becomes after wearing it with all of the above attached for several hours at a time.

What Do I Like About The D300?

Virtually everything! It takes amazing photos, even when set to factory default settings on Program mode. It s complete flexibility and menu of virtually limitless options makes it a photographic tool that will be usable for many years in the future, even after Nikon supersedes it with the follow-on generation(s) of cameras. For users who have gotten rid of their older film lenses, this camera offers the benefit of full compatibility with DX Only (Digital ONLY) lenses while still capable of effectively utilizing full frame lenses.
Unlike other cameras, the D300 does not really penalize users of full frame capable lenses other than at the wide end, where the crop factor of 1.54x narrows the field of view for wide-angle lenses.


What do I Dislike About the D300?

Other than size and weight when fully tricked out almost nothing. This is a great photographic tool!


write.html/#_ftnref1 This figure is from Nikon literature and product brochures and is based on the use of rechargeable EN-EL3E Li-ION batteries.
write.html/#_ftnref2 Normal & Large Setting using a Nikon recommended SANDISK Extreme IV Compact Flash card.