Nikon D300 12.3 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Body only)

If you have an investment in DX lenses, then this is the camera for you. Currently (June 2009) the top cropped sensor offering from Nikon.
I bought this camera as the next step up the ladder from my D80. The D90 didn't offer enough advantages and new features for me to justify stopping there.
The D300 is just stunning. The 6fps rapid shoot (8fps with external battery grip) is wonderful. The 9 shot bracketing allows for beautifully smooth HDR processing covering from -4EV to +4EV.
The huge screen on the back really does show what your pictures look like. I never realised how limited the view was on the D80 until I saw the D300's image review.

High ISO performance is very impressive for a DX sensor camera.
Battery life is on par with the D80 (it sips the battery), not like the D200 which gulps them down like a thirsty man in a bar at closing time!
4 custom shooting and 4 custom setting memories (which you can name) let you change the whole behaviour of the camera. You can go from shooting Adobe colour space small size jpegs in sepia tint with 11 point autofocus to full size raw 14 bit raw files in RGB and full 51 point AF with a couple of clicks (the custom MyMenu lets you put the the custom setting switching right under your thumb).

The D300 is bigger and heavier than the D80, but it feels good in the hand. Its solid metal chassis just oozes quality and I have the utmost confidence that following a nuclear strike, this is the camera the cockroaches will be dragging about to cover the demise of humanity.

Slot drive AF supports the old AF-D lenses, electrical contacts support the AF-G silent wave lenses. The custom lens menu allow you to even tell the camera about older pre-AF lenses you put on the front.

Do you have an AF lens that continually produces bad shots? Chances are it's either back or front focusing and basically overshooting the correct focal point. The D300 lets you fine tune each lens to correct this problem, and when you swap lenses it will remember what correction to apply to each thanks to the ID details it can read from the chip in the lens.

On camera image processing is good, the D-lighting lets you pull details from highly shadowed areas, but to be honest I don't use these features much as I nearly always shoot in raw and post process on a PC afterwards.

Only slight complaint is the lack of IR remote receiver. It would have been nice if the ML-L3 I already had for the D80 worked with it. I ended up buying a £3.99 cable release for the D300. I will get round to making my own wireless release soon enough.

I can't give a fair rating because I have only had it three days. The resolution was awful and I have since learned that this could be a front/back focus problem. Just before sending the camera back to the suppliers I looked this up in the instruction book; there is a fine setting for the lens but Nikon don't tell you how to set the lens, all very vague. Apparentely each individual lens may need calibrating.(adjust within the camera) If this is what's wrong with my camera then Nikon need to be much more specific; it's cost me a fortune to send it back. I've been an Olympus OM system user for 25 years and only went Digital three years ago; I was using an Olmpus E620 as my digital camera it is indeed a truly excellent camera. Why in that case did I take the plunge and buy the D300s? Good photo magazine write-ups? E.G: 'What Digital Camera' winner in the S.L.R. group " 2008. +lots of good photo mag articles e.t.c. First let me admit I'm not an authority on digital so any opinions here are only coming from personnal opinions. O.K. here goes: First of all I would say it's very easy to use indeed. Don't be put off by assuming that because it's a semi-pro it's going to be a puzzle box. No such thing. it's a heavy camera to lug around your neck, but there are heavier one's out there. Straight away you can be impressed by the whisper-quiet lens focus motor (i.e. using a Nikon 18-70) Extremely quick auto-focus and the focus zone patterns within the viewfinder are clear and precise. Changing the meter modes over can be done with one external switch,and this applies to many other functions, no need to go into the menu, top marks. Not to forget: I did'nt have the camera long enough to try out the Video, so no comments there!The viewfinder itself is quite large and bright with a natural perspective, information within (at the bottom) is easily readable and informative. Most obvious is the sensible button layout I would say that if you have had a digital S.L.R. previously you will be aquainted with the control layout within two days. No sweat. What can I complain about? Nikon haven't got internal anti-shake, (once you've tried this and left your tripod back at home you'll know what I mean) although independent lens manufacturers have built-in systems to fit Nikon that have anti-shake (or whatever they class it as)amend: Nikon VR lenses do have anti-shake. A camera of this class has vast capabilities that lower-cost S.L.R's can't match understanding this and actually benefitting such is something that would come from long-term usage. As I had such a short time with the camera and am in the dark as to what the supplier will do about the situation I will have to wait and see.
Coming back to the problem with my camera: All of the shots were soft, no area within had any sharpness, bit like using a 300m lens in a gale no tripod. As for the front/back lens test I could not get enough clear info' to feel confident to do this myself and the instruction book says it may upset other aspects of the focusing operation, perhaps that's why they prefer you not to bother. Is it worth the money? I would say that the quality that you feel in usage probably justifies the price. At an assumed 150,000 shutter clicks (that's what nikon claim) it may well outlast it's owners. This is the best report I can give. I don't have the camera with me to muse over, i'm just going off memory.

After a year of using the D200, I felt I needed a little more after borrowing a D300. Why? There are certain aspects and improvements like autofocus and various other options within the D300 that make it that much more quality than the D200. I still keep hold of my D200 but simply as a good backup body.

Being a landscape photographer, the D300 offers plenty of resolution and the CMOS sensor really does make a difference. The camera also handles extremely well for low light photography and again with the autofocus manages very well again with very little light. I love the fact that you can choose between 12 and 14 bit colour depth for RAW files, this does however slow the frame rate when shooting in 14 bit. This not really being a problem when doing landscape work but obviously not really usable with the need for high FPS.

I also do quite a bit of wildlife work and again the camera hasn't let me down, particularly with the aid of it's 7/8 frames per second (depending on what batteries you use).

The screen size and resolution really gives me the confidence to print camera straight off and choose images to keep when I'm out in the field.

The only real negative i have come up against so far is when using the MB-D10 battery grip, i have to take the grip of in order to charge the battery housed in the camera, this to be fair was better in the D200's grip. This is, however, really a very small design fault and so far nothing else really jumps out as a problem. The manual is very good and too be honest you should really sit down and give it a good read before starting off with the camera even if you have been using the Nikon system for a while like me.

Thanks for reading and hope the review has helped.

After 3 satisfying years with the Nikon D70 I decided to upgrade for a higher resolution sensor, improved dynamic range and less noise at high ISO settings. After researching the reviews I purchased the D300 and paired it with my 18-200m Nikkor VR zoom. The camera is just slightly larger than the D70 and definitely heavier (though still easy to carry round with you), yet inside it is a professional camera pretending to be an enthusiast's camera.

The pictures are awesome - more dynamic range which makes them more lifelike; lovely colour balance; flash adjustment is quick and easy; great detail in images and you can shoot at up to 8 frames a second with the extra battery; 6 frames a second with the supplied battery! There is visibly less chromatic aberration or purple fringing - which means the electronics are taming the lens in ways not achieved before.

The camera is totally addictive - you never want to put it down! The images produced with the D300 have a magnificent natural and life-like feel to them, and this is quickly appreciated on the new VGA quality 3 inch screen.

Two slight criticisms - £1299 is a lot for a camera body - though the good news is that the price is already down to £1150 or less if you hunt, and second - the brilliant ML-L3 infra red remote which works on the D70 (and D80) does not work with the D300. Such a simple and useful tool - why was it left out? This camera is so good - with so many more facilities - it is may be the last camera I buy. Congratulations Nikon

Well ive been doing photography most of my life as an amateur.I decided i wanted to have a go professionally ,so i looked at many reviews and chose this model of nikon (being a nikon fan) due to its capabilities and quality for a very reasonable price.
There are some real advantages with this camera model,its as good as the D3 but 2grande plus cheaper,secondly it can use any nikon lens going back to 1977,which i have a few of these, also built in it can correct lens aberations,to be honest the list of good features is endless.In such a short space of time ive become attached to this camera,it is so user friendly!!