My D300 - First Impressions

[gstark]

Trent,

It's truly a very impressive camera. Mechanically, it feels and sounds smoother and quieter than the D200. Focusing is very quick, and I'm still using matrix metering. Normally I switch to spot very quickly.

It somehow feels more solid too.

I've just put the NEF file here in case anyone wants to look at it (CaptureNX or ViewNX needed) but be warned - this is a 16MB download!

[losfp]

Ohhhhh Gary, my wife is NOT going to like you

I did some thoroughly unscientific testing tonight, and can safely say that the sample you posted exhibits noise that is somewhere between ISO 400 and ISO 800 on my D200.

It's still not a patch on the D3 performance, and THAT is scary!!!

[chrisk]

i have relatively little interest in the high iso but you touched on 2 things i've been really wanting to know more about. how does the metering work and how does the AF system work.

they were by far my 2 priorities so thanks for testing/ commenting on something other than the hi iso stuff.

[marcotrov]

Oh Gary you are breaking my heart with these images from the D300. I bloody want one!! As you say it looks really impressive.
cheers
marco

[gstark]

how does the metering work and how does the AF system work.

The AF is very nice. Bear in mind that I'm still very much in the mode of just playing with settings to see what does what ...

So far I've used the following lenses ...

Nikkor 85 f/1.4, Nikkor 80-400VR, Sigma 10-20, Tamron 11-18, Tamron 18-250.

The Tammies seemed to be a bit slow, no issues at all with the other three lenses, and the 80-400 - for which I normally invoke the limiter in order to improve performance - just snapped into focus. It's been a while since I've had a play with a D2X, but the speed of the AF feels as if it may be in that league.

Metering ... even more in eval mode for me here, but as I've noted, while I normally use spot metering, I've not yet switched the camera to that mode for any real length of time. If I said I'd shot 5 images in spot, and another 5 in CW, I'd probably be overstating the case.

Having said that, let's look at the image I shot in the studio today. It's all over the shop in terms of the scope of EVs it encompasses: do you shoot for the shadows in Studio B? Maybe you don't want the exterior window area blown?

Ok, neither of those would be valid in this instance, and perhaps turning on the lights in Studio B may have helped reduce the dynamic range a bit, but the point here is that the matrix system has handled this very difficult image with a degree of grace that I've not seen before.

I know that Matt speaks very highly of matrix metering, but I've always preferred to spot meter ... because I do.

Will I change? It's too early to say. Tomorrow night at the Stag will let me give this body a good workout, and I'll (hopefully) try to shoot images in at least spot vs matrix, so that I can better assess where I am.

Des,

What I'm seeing seems to me to be reminiscent of ISO400 film. Yes, that is good, but yes, it is frightening.

[olrac]

today about 1230 I get a call from camera exchange saying "your d300 is in sir", but in between the time I put my name down and getting the call (2 months) I decided to save for the d3 as (i thought) the d300 was not enough of a step up from the d200.

I now am thinking I was wrong!!!!

unfortunately there is no way to get back on that list.

oh well I will stick with the D3 plan for the middle of next year...

[DavidR]

ive been reasurred mine will be arriving late this week or monday next, but after seeing/reading these intials reviews im chomping at the bit to get my hands on it! hopefully the battery grip turns up with the body down in lil old Adelaide ill be a super excited lil monkey

[chrisk]

gary, i saw you mention the 80-400mm b4. i had previously used it on the d80 and found it incredibley slow to AF. how much would you say it has improved since mounting it on the d300 ?

[gstark]

gary, i saw you mention the 80-400mm b4. i had previously used it on the d80 and found it incredibley slow to AF. how much would you say it has improved since mounting it on the d300 ?

First of all, while this is certainly not the fastest lens to acquire focus, much of the problem is simply down to technique. Turn the limiter on to reduce the range, for instance.

I've never used it on a D80, but in moving from the D70 to the D200 it was certainly faster by at least an order of magnitude. On the D300, it feels about that much faster again.

[-=Monty=-]

Is it safe to shoot at the ISO 100 equivalent level for everyday use? If it had just said ISO 100 i would've but it has the "1 step under ISO 200" thin. It seems that there is a little bit less noise on 100 than ISO 200.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit, but i didn't really want to make a new thread for this simple question.

[gstark]

Is it safe to shoot at the ISO 100 equivalent level for everyday use? If it had just said ISO 100 i would've but it has the "1 step under ISO 200" thin. It seems that there is a little bit less noise on 100 than ISO 200.

I'm not too sure I understand the question?

I presume it's safe - I don't expect the camera to blow up or anything.

What problems are you expecting to see at Lo -1?

Why would you not use ISO 200 for most of your standard shooting?

[-=Monty=-]

Well i just really wanted to know if it was a bad idea at all to shoot at that ISO. Just the fact that it wasn't just called ISO 100 made me think it was sort of a "dirty" way to get to ISO 100. I dunno if i'm making sense here lol. Just really wanted to know if i SHOULDN'T be shooting at that iso.

I can just see that there is less noise at ISO 100 than at ISO 200, so would like to always shoot at that.