Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

Two weeks after I bought this camera Nikon announced the D800,Normally I could be excused for feeling a little miffed, but no a love affair has budded with my D300s this is a very good camera and has given me
much pleasure as I return to taking photographs using my knowledge.
With my D90 it was always tempting to switch it to auto and hope one of the many images taken would
be a keeper. Now I have a partner.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I pick up when I need and it delivers...Great feel and ergonomic.... if not a bit heavy....I have dropped it too many times but its built like a tank.[...]Highly featured and flexible and a very logical menue.This was my first SLR before joining WEX, which has given me confidence to consider a full frame...and they are getting lighter

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I use this as my everyday camera body. Getting it has revealed some problems with my lenses, so right now I am not using it its full potential, but it still produces outstanding images.
The range of manual control is brilliant - wide ISO range, full WB control, excellent RAW options, colour space management.
Plus I'm just getting into the video capabilities.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

Beautiful camera BUT be warned you need to buy nx2 to convert images from raw!

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I use this camera every day and love it. My work is mainly B&W Fine Art but I do the occasional landscape and portrait work too. The camera has everything I need as a second camera and is actually becoming my main camera. The controls fall easily to hand as with most Nikon gear and everything about it feel quality. 100% love it.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I use this as a back-up to the D700 but I wouldn't want to use it as a main body because the moment you leave ISO 400 the noise starts setting in and by 1600 ISO it's downright choppy. It can't stand up to the low noise of the D700. However, it has its good points such as fast use, and good image quality in bright light. The video is a mixed bag but can be useful on occasions.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I upgraded from a Nikon D80 and had already bought a number of lenses and other accessories. I therefore was not tempted by, for example, Canon's higher megapixel count cameras.

Why buy this rather than a D90? The AF sensors fill more of the frame, you can get 1/8000th of a second shutter speed (you try shooting at f1.8 in bright sunshine without it!). The auto-white balance (if you use it) seems more accurate, the matrix-metering seems better. Basically, I don't have to adust things (exposure compensation for example) half as much with this as I had to do with the D80.

There are a couple of bad things, firstly it is bigger and much heavier than a D80/D90. So, get yourself a decent strap, not the one that is supplied with it. Then with a bulky strap and a bigger camera, that little shoulder bag you used to get away with no longer really fits... ...the weight and size are the only reasons I give it 4 instead of 5 stars. If I could it would get 4.9 stars.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

I upgraded from a D40x to this for several reasons. The D40x was a good camera to learn the DSLR ways but was lacking a few things such as more than 3 focal points, top LCD, buttons for quick mode changes and FPS speed.

Now, even after reading through all the reviews, options and talking to WEX employees in the store i still wasn't quite prepared for the learning curve. I just assumed i would pick it up and it would be like i had always had it, but... now i had all the extras i wanted i had to adjust to using them. It wasnt so much starting from scratch it was just a case of learning where each setting and option was on the new body. This soon past as it was very intuitive (and obvious when you look at it) so now i can wizz through settings in a third of the time i used to be able to.

The 51 or so focus points is absolutely fantastic and adds so much more versatility to taking the perfect shots. The LCD shows very clearly what you have just taken and the top LCD which shows current settings is perfect for ease of use and keeping battery usage down.

Another plus is all my lenses are compatible with this model too and have since upgraded a few lenses which make such a difference.
In fact, this camera body and got me so much more interested in taking photos almost every day i have spent a fortune getting lots of kit to go with it.

Downsides, hmmmm.. i guess if im being very picky the weight take a little getting used to but its quite reassuring to hold and you soon forget about it. The battery can sometimes seem to go very quickly when your in RAW mode and all the best settings which is to expected. Thats it!

I didn't write this review for quite some time as i really wanted to get a feel for it and do a honest review. Would certainly recommend it to anyone i meet.

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

Up grading from a Nikon D60 could have been a step too far. At first this camera has so many options and menus that it could seem daunting. However, everything is so well laid out and for a purpose. As soon as you pick the camera up you know it is quality, the weight, size and texture all make this a solid camera.

All of the features that I use regulary are at hand using one of the many buttons on the camera. And the features are there to play with as I need depending on the type of photography I am doing.

Customisable buttons, dual card slots are really useful. Image quality is very good. It's refreshing to see images this good whilst not being caught up in the ever increasing pixel race! Images are much better than the D60 and the auto focus is super swift and accurate.

The only issue that I have encountered at the moment is the video mode. Why bother? I might undrstand a little bit more if it was 1080p. I have tried a couple of times but results have been disapointing.

I wont let this feature spoil what is an outstanding camera and one I will grow into. I'm sure that I will be keeping this one for a long time, sorry Warehouse Express!

Comments about Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Body:

This is written about a month after upgrading:

Having used a D100 since it arrived on the scene, I have recently been looking to modernise my Nikon digital camera. The 300s is an excellent upper-mid range camera for those of us that aren't in the pro-camera market.

Where to start?
Build quality is impressive, nice & weighty and does not feel plasticy (unlike many other DSLRs Nikon and other manufacturers). Having used the F3HP and F4 for years I like to know I am holding a camera and not a chunk of plastic.

Without the battery grip it is a nice size, neither too large or too small, admittedly I do have biggish hands so your mileage might vary on this point.

Features:
Lovely large and sharp LCD on the back to give you a nice feel for the picture you have just taken without having to do too much zooming in and the like. Also, allows plenty of info to be shown in the menus when tweaking the settings. The physical controls are all fairly well placed, although, the Fn button and DoF preview could be moved a bit further south to help when using the grip.

A good to excellent range of customisation available through the menu system, pretty much everything you would think to change in some way can be, with the ability to save several versions of your change into workspaces to allow for different shooting environments e.g. studio vs outdoors and so on.
Excellent bright viewfinder with plenty of information displayed in a sensible and easy to view manner which is not distracting.

Image format & size options (and dual card slots), an excellent range of image capture file options, RAW, TIFF, jpg etc in a wide range of quality & compression. The dual card option is an excellent addition giving the flexibility if you have migrated from other cameras using either SD or CF cards (being a D100 user i could use my CFs without any problems). Staying on files & cards, the 300s has a sizeable buffer to allow a large number of images to be shot at 6-7 fps to make sure you get the moment captured, and it writes at a fairly rapid rate too (depends on your cards data rate though)

Images straight from the camera are a joy to behold, with minimal Photoshoppery required (you can even do basic manipulation in-camera although personally I find it a little fiddly, I'd much rather do it off camera, but it's there if you need to do it).

Live view: a bit gimmicky if you ask me, not really sure of its value (certainly to me at any rate) but the option is there should you need it. The same can be said of the movie facility, I can't honestly say that it adds much to the 300s - although, like mobile phones, if you have the facility available, you might use it more, but I must say it isn't a reason enough alone to buy the 300s.

Works a dream with the SB-900, the metering appears to be spot on and the flash balance is excellent too - the same goes for the internal flash unit. However, 300s + Grip + SB-900 begins to make me wish my arms are a bit more like Arnie's!

Any downsides?
Well, only a couple, but nothing major as yet. Lowest native ISO setting is 200 (with several below 200 options that I think reduce the sensors sensitivity rather than anything more spectacular). But, with the right tweaking of settings this is a minimal problem really.

It is (for me) a little heavy on battery usage, however, whether this is due to the way I use it or if the 300s really is draining the battery more than anticipated I can't be sure. It is somewhat negated using the battery grip but carrying a spare battery or two to avoid disappointment is always a good thing I say.

The other thing of note (and probably the most serious of all, all things being relative of course) is the auto focus. It can take time to make up its mind in either single or continuous mode, even on seemingly well balanced, well lit, scenes. I can't say it is any worse than any other autofocus camera in the last couple of years that I have used, but it does surprise me that even with a fairly comprehensive metering & focus system there are still issues (some people report that it suffers more than other cameras in lower light conditions, I can't say that I have noticed this personally).

Compared to it's beast of a sibling D700, there are fairly few real differences other than the obvious sensor difference DX compared to the 700 full frame. If y you need the extra pixels or are planning on printing out at billboard size then the difference is not worth the money in my opinion. The 300s more than holds it own for the dedicated amateur / semi-pro snapper. A couple of my friends are pro photographers who use Nikon and carry a 300s as a "small" back up.

I use a range of DX lenses and non DX lenses (Nikon & Sigma) and the 300s handles them all with no problems. I even use a couple of my (now ancient) NAIS lenses too with satisfactory results.

Given what it is, the 300s is a sound upgrade from either an older mid range DSLR or from one of the smaller entry range ones D40 / D60 etc. The learning curve for Nikon owners is fairly minimal but not much worse for those new to Nikon or more high spec kit, given it works well out of the box in auto mode but has huge scope for tweaking & custom setting.

I give it 5/5, because given its range of features at a fairly decent price point make it an excellent upgrade for existing users and also an ideal entry point into the upper mid range of Nikon cameras.