+ Terrifyingly capable; extremely well built
- Big; heavy; complicated; expensive
Yeah, okay, youre not too likely to buy this camera if youre just starting out, but Nikons D300 is a good showcase of what you get when you move up in the DSLR world.
One of the first things is some serious mass. The D300 is built like a tank, and its magnesium-alloy body shell is environmentally sealed against dust and moisture. And with mass comes size: put it next to the diminutive Olympus E-420 and the D300 dwarfs the other model.
Scary speed
Second, you get speed. With the standard battery in place, the D300 can manage six shots every second: double what you can expect at the lower end of the market. Add the optional high-current battery pack and that increases to a slightly frightening eight shots per second.
Third, you get fast access to every setting. Theres almost no need to resort to prodding around menus on the 3in monitor screen. With two selector wheels one under the thumb and one under the index finger plus dedicated buttons strewn liberally around the body, everything is instantly to hand once youve invested some time in learning which button is where. The top-mounted monochrome LCD display shows all your shot settings too, again eliminating the need to resort to the main monitor.
The crux of the matter
Last, but not least, you have image quality. With 14-bit digital-to-analogue conversion from the sensor, the D300s ability to capture the subtleties of light is noticeably better than cheaper models. And even shots taken in low light at high ISO sensitivity have relatively low noise. You could easily use one of these to take shots for submission to a professional picture library.
The problem is, even if you buy it body-only its three times the price of the Olympus E-420. So is it three times better? Well, actually, it probably is, making it great value despite the total damage being well over a grand once youve added a decent lens.
If youve got plenty of spare cash and you want to outdo your Canon-450D-toting friends, the D300 will blow them out of the water. Its damn expensive but worth every penny.
They say: It has an environmentally sealed magnesium-alloy body.
We say: If cameras were military vehicles this would be an A-10 Tankbuster.
Author:iGizmo
Copyright 2009 Dennis Publishing All Rights Reserved.
Nikon D300