Should I upgrade?
Ok so after reading my user report on the D300, D200 owners are still asking whether to upgrade or not. To cut down on my incoming mail my answer is this: The decision just like anything else in life is yours to make. I offer my opinions in the form presented so as to help my fellow photographers in forming a better picture based on their needs and nothing else. Here are some more thoughts on some more key areas where the D300 seems to have an advantage over the D200.
100% viewfinder
This might not seem like much of an improvement to some newcomers to photography, but I assure you this is a feature you can’t do without once you have it. The fact that you can see nearly the whole taking frame is a reassuring thing since you can now compose with confidence that no nasty bits will end up in your composition. Another big plus about the D300 viewfinder is that it is free of most clutter and is now one of the cleanest viewfinders in the Nikon range with no spot or center-weighted markings or other lines clogging up the view. The above in combination with the fact that this is also a very bright finder, makes the whole photographic experience so much better and is a great welcome especially to those who prefer manual focusing such as myself.
Greater battery life
According to the Nikon specs the D300 will produce 3000 shots on the one EN-EL3e battery compared to the 1800 shots by the D200. This of course is under testing conditions and in a short period of time consisting of a few hours. My experience though, under true working conditions and over a much longer period of time and using a conditioned and fully charged battery has shown that my average 400-600 shots from one battery in the D200 over a few days has jumped to just over 1100 shots with the D300. Those numbers don’t represent true figures since I change my batteries way before they are depleted, but show that with my style of shooting, the same battery has given me nearly double the performance with the new camera. So if you are a D200 user don’t concern yourself with the actual numbers, but with the fact that your old battery from the D200 can nearly double your shooting time with the D300. That’s the important part since the number of frames taken can fluctuate but in contrast the doubling figure is more of a constant. The explanation for this is easy since the D300 is of a more modern and efficient design and the CMOS based sensor draws less power (has a lower voltage requirement compared to the D200).
Better build
The magnesium body is supposed to be more rigid with better reinforcements more seals and a longer lasting shutter mechanism compared to the D200. Although there are some concerns about some units coming off the production line with cold and dry joints causing AF problems (look here for more info).
Onboard editing
The D300 offers onboard editing with such tools as cropping, D-Lighting, contrast, sharpening etc without affecting the original file, since it copies all adjustments to a new JPEG. This may be gimmicky to some and I may even agree to some point, but I played with it and it was quite impressive to edit images on the camera.
Levers
I have already mentioned one lever and that’s in my disappointment list. There I complained about the rounding off that has been applied to the new unlocking lever that opens the compact flash door. Thankfully in this post I’m pointing out the pluses so here’s an improvement: On the front of the camera, the AF mode selector on the D200 was a sloppy affair and on my copy seemed to have intermediate positions. Now the D300 sports a stiffer action and more precise placement.
Menu and buttons
The overall feel of the buttons in combination with the much improved menu system are more practical to use and much more productive. Even small changes like how the flashing highlights can now be seen together with the histograms and how the response in enlarging or flicking through images is faster are great pluses.
Clean image sensor
In the setup menu there’s an option to clean the sensor by vibrating the moiré filter. Although I was a bit skeptical at first, I now have decided to leave this option selected for cleaning at both startup and shutdown to prevent, rather than wait for the specs to show up. Obviously such a system is a plus characteristic for any camera.
update: This is proving to be quite a nice feature, since my camera has already been put through some heavy sandstorms and windy conditions. I have changed lenses in some pretty unclean environments and so far am amazed that the sensor is still clean.
Shooting info on LCD
This is a great feature and I have already used it heaps. One push of the info button and all the shooting information plus more can be seen clearly on the back LCD. Even the disabled AF point indicator from the top LCD, now works properly on the back LCD showing the selected AF point.
Some of the first images with D300
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