Customer Reviews:
 D300 Nimble & Quick December 23, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been a Nikon digital photographer for over 10 years. I began with the Coolpix 775 and worked my way through affordable iterations of this product line until I purchased the D40x and plunged into the world of dSLR, as Nikon makes it, opening great vistas for me. A year later, I purchased the D80 from a fellow shooter (one I've teamed up with during all these years) who bought the D300 last year.
The D80 was more than adequate to my needs, but from our first wildlife shoot together, I heard the shutter click on my friend's D300 at near the speed of light (6fps, not even the 8fps the D300 can produce with a battery pack) and I reasoned that my 3.5fps was still not too shabby, even though my friend was breaking down water bird take offs into micro-slices, from my perspective with the D80. What sealed the deal was the resolution quality at ISO 1600 that made dusk shooting possible with noise under reasonable control with some Imagenomic Noiseware and CS3 magic in the digital darkroom. I now shoot as high as ISO 1250 and can do post-processing in Noiseware and CS4 with very pleasing results.
The D300 offers more camera control than I've needed thus far, but the ability to set up 4 banks of shooting personal menus is very, very powerful and makes getting for your favorite types of shooting (wildlife, landscape, people, low-light, etc.) a simple selection in the "Shooting Menu Bank," in the camera's main menu. Remember, I've only opened the box on this piece of elegant machinery, having owned it since the middle of November this year.
I recommend the D300 to any enthusiast/semi-pro shooter that is interested in taking their game to a whole new level of photography not available in less of a camera. I won't kid you, this is what I had to sell my D80 and pull some savings to get, but I'm very pleased with this camera and it's multitude of possibilities. You won't be disappointed.
I bought through Amazon and free-shipped to save a bit of money. As has been my experience with them, this one was on par with their keeping their promises.
Caveats: Not for the "auto-shoot" player. Not for someone starting out in the world of dSLR (the D40 is the camera to cut your teeth with, or even a used D40x, both make great photography possible). Research your needs on line. A man who shoots both Canon and Nikon has some very clear reviews on any camera from these manufacturer's-Ken Rockwell, Google it and you'll get to his site. Finally, if $ is no problem and you've got some dSLR under your belt, you're already shooting with the advanced models or looking for a less expensive path to excellence in photography, this camera will perform above your expectations.
I hope you enjoy yours as much as I am mine.
D300 December 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Love the camera and taking pictures with it is a lot of fun. Ordering from amazon was relatively painless. US serial numbers so I was able to register my camera and accompanying 18-200 lens through Nikon USA for those of you worried about gray market gear. Beware that Amazon has dropped their post-order price guarantee policy though and the price dropped $200 less than three weeks after I ordered.
My first DLSR and it's D300! December 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is my very first DSLR and I'm so pleased I got the Nikon D300. I've waited more than 6 months after it was released so that I can read the product reviews and reviews from other buyers about this camera. And I was sold.
I've been into photography since I was in the university. My first cameras were the film cameras from Minolta and Canon. Then, I have my Canon SD Powershot P&S. After a few years of shooting with the point-and-shoot, I've been wanting to do more than just what the P&S can do. Last November, I bought my first DSLR and it's Nikon D300 from amazon. Day one was overwhelming but after browsing its manual and reading the book on D300 (I bought one of these -- Mastering the Nikon D300 by Darrell Young, David Busch's Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography), it was not that hard at all. I'm a computer programmer by profession and for me, it's just like getting acquainted with a new software application that has a learning curve but a lot easier and more exciting. It also helped to read references from Ken Rockwell website, Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, and others to fully enjoy photography using a DSLR.
I also bought a Nikkor 16-85mm as my first lens, B & W 67mm UV Haze Multi Coated Glass Filter, Hoya Moose 67mm Warm Circular Polarizer Glass Filter, SLIK PRO 340 DX - Tripod, OP/TECH 37012 Pro Loop Strap, MA-B Remote Shutter, a spare Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery, and a Sandisk 8G Extreme III CF card to start my DSLR setup especially for landscape photography.
You may check out my list at listmania: Miss D300 DSLR setup.
I just came back from my first trip with my D300 and I'm more than happy with the shots I took. I couldn't wait to post the pictures in my website!
The richness of the features of D300 is just amazing. Will come back for that soon...
Happy shooting!
Awesome for an advanced amateur December 16, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I don't normally review products but I often refer to the reviews before purchasing and do extensive research. I couldn't really find any drawbacks to this camera and I'm thoroughly impressed by the quality, intuitive and abilities. I upgraded from a Nikon D70s looking for more options and more program flexibility. I bought Brouche's book to go with the camera and have spent about a day reading and learning about all the functions and customizing just about everything you can imagine. It takes time to customize the camera in order to truly take advantage of the price and features. After taking a few sample pictures, I'm very happy with my purchase. Once you read about the functions, you are good to go and it actually does help you become a better photographer as you have more control and input on your picture taking. If you are looking for a simple to use point and shoot and let the camera do all the thinking - it's great but overkill. You could get away with a D80 or D90 and save some money. But if you want full customization, endless programming options and a "heavy thinking camera" you won't be let down. Amazon had a great price on it and I bought it with a Nikon 17-55 mm lens which I'm sure impacts my picture quality. I highly recommend this for anyone that truly appreciates learning and using advanced photography options but not for someone that thinks they need to "step up" from a D90 to get a better camera...just because.
EXELLENT CAMERA... THE BEST FOR ME... December 14, 2008
Wow, I recently bought the sony a350 14.2 megapixel and I can tell u that the sony a350 its great camera, very good pictures, BUT, BUT, after reading a lot of reviews about the NIKON D300 and like three weeks of shooting with the sony a350 I needed more from that camera, I noticed that at 300mm the sony losses a lot of picture quality. well short story, I GOT THE D300, and let me tell u guys that when I came back from the park with around 400 shoots, all I said was, wow wow wow, the colors of this pictures are awesome.
Now, I will tell u this, Im not pro but if u buy this camera you will feel like a pro, you will love this thing believe it, but this is the point, if u are not a pro or if this is your first SLR camera i would recomend buying the 18-200 vr lens for it, why?, why, because from 200mm to 300mm there is not a big difference, that happened with me when I had the sony a350, I had the 18-70 and the 75-300, yes of course 70mm doensnt do anything, so u need more, and like I said 300mm is not enough, so I would recomend to get the 18-200 vr wich is an exellent lens and, and if u thing you need more zoom, look for something gives u al least 500mm, I have the D300 WITH 18-200 AND THE SIGMA 150-500 and believe me I cant ask for more, Im so happy with this kit, if u want to read about the sigma 150-500 go to sigmas 150-500 I will write a review.
Anyway, if u have the money and ur thinking of buying this d300, THEN GET IT, dont look for more reviews, ITS exellent.
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