Nikon D300 Body Only

Product Information

The totally intuitive 8-directional multi-area selector makes selecting any of the 51-Point autofocus settings simplicity itself.

I'm really reaching for this one, but the AF sensor indicator on the top LCD always shows the center sensor or group, regardless of which are actually selected. Press the "info" button and it displays correctly on the rear LCD. The effects are often subtle, but the system does retain some highlight and shadow detail that might have been lost if the subject was shot 'straight'. It's not as much extended dynamic range as, say, the Fuji S5 Pro, but it's an interesting tool in the photographer's armoury for those difficult photographic conditions. However, in the past few days Canon has released the as yet untested EOS 7D and Sony has discontinued the Alpha 700. Another extended ISO range shot, this time at 6400 ISO. There is quite a lot of noise, and colour saturation is also affected.So is a revamped AF system and new, even more user-friendly interface enough to make first-time DSLR buyers part with their cash? Or does the D3000 pale before live-view equipped competitors like the Canon EOS 1000D and Olympus E-450? Full-Resolution Example Image Made under Full-Moonlight, shot with 24-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm and f/2.8. To those of you who know lenses, this wide-open tele shot should say it all about the lens. Focus is on the nearer row of houses, not infinity, and of course the trees are blowing in this 15 second exposure at ISO 200. The D300 has an amazing automatic ability to fix lateral color fringes. The D300 actually makes lenses look better than they are! This gives better, sharper results. There's no need to activate this, it just works, with AF and even old manual focus and fisheye lenses.

The Imatest chart shows good colour accuracy with the blues a little cool and the reds slightly saturated. Even using a tripod and self-timer haven’t eliminated camera shale from this 100 ISO shot. There is no image noise at all though. If you compare this with various 10MP DSLRs you’ll see there isn’t a a huge advantage to 12 megapixels. However a more telling comparison is to the Sony Alpha A700. An extra 2.1Mp have been crammed into the sensor, making the D300 a 12.3Mp camera with a new EXSPEED processor doing the work of sorting all the signals out. This has considerably improved the amount of noise visible in images and makes the camera usable at far higher ISO settings than its predecessors. Conversely, the camera has lost the ISO100 setting as standard although it can still be achieved as a ‘Low 1.0' setting. It is also faster at the job, giving the camera a frame rate of 6fps in its standard form. Battery continuity is another plus point from the design, with the same EN-EL3e batteries from the D200/D80 being the standard in the body.The Nikon D300 comes out on top with a score of 49/100, while the Nikon D90 trails behind with 44/100. Both cameras are DSLRs, released in 2007 and 2008 respectively. They share common features, but the D300 has a few advantages.