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| Brand: Nikon
Category: Photography
List Price: $2,745.00
Buy New: $2,199.99
You Save: $545.01 (20%)
New (17) Used (2)
Avg. Customer Rating:  162 reviews
Sales Rank: 626
Media: Electronics
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 11
Display Size: 3
Maximum Focal Length: 200
Minimum Focal Length: 18
Maximum Resolution: 12300000
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 7
Dimensions (in): 12 x 14 x 10
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: 9481
Model: 9481
UPC: 018208094813
EAN: 0018208094813
ASIN: B000VR5YA8
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand new , shipping same business day.
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| Customer Reviews:
Nikon D300 the best you can get! August 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I ordered my D300 on July 24th of this year after reading hundreds of reviews on Amazon, Adorama, Ritz, Newegg, Ken Rockwell and others. Every once in a while, Nikon will produce something that it's users absolutely fall in love with. In the entry level market, it's the D40. At the advanced level it was the D70. In the high end market, the one between the advanced and professional market which only Nikon has established, it's is the D300! Many try to compare the D300 with Cannon's 40D. No, the 40D is not in the D300 class, it's better compared with the Nikon D80. There's a reason the D80 and 40D are around the same price and are 600 dollars cheaper than the D300.
I moved up from a D40 which I only shot with for about 7 or 8 months. Often there is a learning curve spoken of, this depends on your current shooting style and can be either steep and challenging or shallow and easy. Because of the way I shoot with my D40, this learning curve was easy for me. I never use any preset modes or dummy (auto) mode. I always shoot in manual or shutter priority. If this is your style then you will love the D300. It has no preset modes and no auto mode so it is not for anyone looking to get their first DSLR.
Much has been made in these reviews about all the technical things this camera can do. While one cannot speak of this camera without mentioning them, I will do my best to explain briefly at least two of them and when to use them for those who may not be familiar with them.
1.Active D-Lighting (Adaptive Dynamic Range) is great for contrasting subjects or environments. It subtly brings up dark shadows to enhance detail while controlling the bright areas to preserve highlights. It should be turned off however if there is little contrast in the composition as it can sometimes cause focusing errors. For example, a brown bird on a brown background which is almost camouflaged. Active D Lighting in this situation may cause the camera to focus on the ground instead of the bird. There are four settings for it; low, normal, high and off. You will need to experiment to see which settings suit your taste.
2. You can get up to 51 points of focus including 51 point 3D tracking focus. The latter of these is useful when tracking a soccer player across a field with other players running in front and behind him/her constantly or tracking a bird moving through the branches of trees. Normal 51 point focus is good for wider shots and you will only see the focus points when they light up after pushing the shutter release half way. Lets say you're trying to get a flock of birds or something; then you might want to switch to the 11 points of focus as these are spaced wider in the frame allowing you to capture more widely scattered subjects. 9 focus points are good for close ups and portraits that you want centered in the frame. For wildlife photographers like myself, the 21 focus points are good as that allows you to fill most of the frame with the subject in focus. The final mode of focus is continuous which is selected by a switch on the left front of the camera and one which, if you're like me with a large hand and long fingers, may accidentally change your focus mode because it can get in the way when you have long fingers. This mode focuses continually, allowing you to track birds in flight. On the back is another focus related switch that selects the focus points used. At the top is a rectangle thats pretty much an automatic selection of the 51 focal points. Most of the time it selects the right ones but not if you're doing wildlife shoots. As any wildlife shooter knows, cameras can have the tendency to focus on the wrong thing. This mode is best not used for wildlife. In the middle is another selection that shows a small square with with small dots on all four sides of it encompassed by brackets. This will use either the focus points you preselect in the menus (9, 11,21 or 51).If this is used with the S on the front switch it will actually move the center point anywhere around the frame as the subject moves. This it will do only if you've selected the S (for single) on that switch in the front..The selection on the bottom looks like the previous one without the small dots. That selects a single focus point. That S tells the camera to only use one focus point. That switch can also be set to M for full manual focus. This Explanation of focus is somewhat oversimplified but it will give you a good starting point when dealing with the focusing of this great camera.
I could go on about the technical aspects of this camera but that would indeed take a few days to write! I will tell you that once you have this camera in your hands, you will never want to put it down, seriously. I love my D40, I haven't used it though since I got my D300. If you have the money to get one, don't wait for a better deal, just go out and buy one and start shooting with it today. I got mine in advance of the fall and winter migrant birds I like to shoot arriving in Southern California. I wanted to get a good feel for this camera. Everything on this camera works beautifully.
I never even went into the color and white balance selections as other reviewers have done a great job of that already.
I will be updating this review as time passes. Any questions feel free to contact me. I hope this helped at least some of you.
here are a few photos taken with my D300:
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/102090599
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/101522663
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/101319666
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/102090431
 Won't autofocus, a dud August 24, 2008
1 out of 16 found this review helpful
All I've read here are rave reviews but my experience is that the D300 is vastly overrated as a shooter. I bought mine brand new at Best Buy with a Tamron zoom lens and right out of the box it wouldn't autofocus properly. The motor would whirr and the lens tried feebly to focus in on a the subject without success.
Took it back to Best Buy and we tried a Nikon 55-200VR lens and that didn't work any better. I was going to try another D300 but they were out of stock and I was already soured on this product. I've owned Nikons before -- I still have the remarkable D40 -- and was looking to step up. For the hefty $2,400 price (with lens), I expected a lot more. Deeply disappointed.
I wound up buying a Sony A700, a vastly superior camera in most respects, even with the kit 18-70 lens, and never looked back. Plus I saved $1,000 to boot.
Nikon has a good rep, but the great d40 notwithstanding Sony Alpha-Series cams outperform in many ways, including easy of use, photo quality and build. Nikon has the edge in customer service, however. And, value-wise, hard to beat the D40.
Magnifcent upgrade from D70s August 24, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I upgraded from three years with the Nikon D70s. There are not enough words to describe the completeness, quality, or flexibility the D300 proffers advanced amateur photographers. What prompted me most to make the leap is the video tutorial on Nikon's web site. And it only scratches the surface of the feature-richness of this marvel of cameras. My favorite (though there are many) is the ability to customize all the settings to fit four different scenarios. For instance, if I go from shooting a landscape to shooting flash, I can instantly switch to all the settings I want for flash photography by making just one menu selection. A corollary to that is all the custom settings can be saved to a .bin file on your computer. So you go out in the field, fiddle with everything, come back and reload ALL your default customizations in a matter of minutes. If you take the plunge, you may want do what I did: I got Thom Hogan's "Complete Guide to the D300" and religiously went through it step by step--all 790 pages. It took me about six weeks, because with each step, I'd take the camera up and try/experiment. This has done two things for me: It has greatly shortened my learning curve and increased my overall satisfaction and comfort level with it.
only reason to buy this camera August 23, 2008
this camera produces the most realistic and artistic file grain I have every seen. Noise is very beautifully rendered. Images are usable even at ISO as high as 3200.
Look at some full size images of the Canon 40d and even the more expensive 5D for comparison, you'll be surprised at how much more capable this camera is in low light.
Solid build, customizable menus and controls, 51 AF points......they just sweeten the deal even more.
nikon d300 August 22, 2008
i am very happy with the camera. i previously owned the d200 so this was an upgrade. the d300 is very similar in physical appearence although the features are much improved. the only problem i had was that the vendor sent me a unit that was not brand new as the box had been opened and some things were missing. Amazon was very responsive with an exchange or a refund or keeping the item but with a discounted price.
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