My d300s Review

Earlier this month, i borrowed a Nikon d300s with the intention of playing with it and then eventually buying one.

Full review and thoughts below.



I had every intention of buying a d300s before i tried one out. Basically what i want is a d700 with a movie mode and i figured i could live with the crop factor, thinking that the cameras were very similar. Boy was i wrong.

First the good:

- Movie mode on the d300s was great. Shot everything in manual focus as i wanted complete control of where it was focusing.

- Built-in microphone wasn't bad but after hooking up a wireless mic to it, sounded fantastic.

- Shooting in daylight gave good results for football.

- Worked with my existing MB-10 battery grip.

- Colors were just as good as what i get out of my d700.





And the two movies i shot on it.





Overall, it was better than my D2x and it gave me movie mode.

And now the bad:

- The 5 minute clips i was limited to in movie mode made it a total pain to record an entire song.

- The noise at High ISO is awful when compared to that of a d3 or a d700. Yes its better than what the d300 was and light year ahead of the d2 series, it doesn't produce a decent image under the lights for baseball.

- The autofocus in low-light was miserable. While shooting with my 400/2.8 while using continuous autofocus, i found on many occasions where i would have every other frame be sharp. Pictures like this one below are unacceptable - at half-resolution, its not sharp. With my d700, everything is sharp unless it is "user-error"



- Had a quirky power issue with the camera. I'm not sure what was causing it, but it would randomly turn off and on with the MB-10 attached. Not sure whether it was the grip or that particular loaner.

Overall....

Now bear in mind, if i could buy a d3s, i would. I just don't have that sort of money sitting around. Ideally i want another d700 but with movie mode.

If you're a hobbist and you're looking to step up for a prosumer camera that you want to take on vacation and use your 18-200 lens at Disney World, this is what you want. It will be perfect for you needs and you can get movies of the kids while only holding one camera and one lens.

From my point of view, it doesn't fit my needs. I need a killer still camera with decent movie mode that doesn't cost a small mint. I am not going to spend $1500 on something that doesn't do exactly what i need it to do.

Bear in mind that this is just my opinion, i have used Nikon digital cameras for 10 years. The d300s is the best prosumer camera out that Nikon has made. Its just not for me.