Nikon D300 - Product Review

As a Professional photographer I have been usingthe one real complaint I have with the D300, as
the Nikon D300 for a little over two years now.was the same with the D200 and the D100
My very first digital camera was the Nikon D100before that is this: The maximum synch speed
with 6.2 mega pixel capture, and I was veryfor flash is 1/250th of a second.
impressed with it. Now with the D300 and it's 12.2I know Nikon is capable of making a shutter that
Mega Pixel capture I am happier.synchs at 1/500th because I also have a D70s
I specialize in portraiture so skin tones are theand it does synch at 1/500th. Fortunately the
most important thing to me get right. And withD300 will go down to 100 ISO, but still, at the
the D300, the color is so good, so accurate that Ibeach here in Hawaii the sky can be so bright
rarely need to make adjustments to correct thethat at 100 ISO and 1/125th the exposure is F11
color.or even F16.
The majority of my assignments are for outdoorThe problem with that is simply that the Nikon
locations at the beach, so I use Nikon speedlightsspeedlights only give me F9 at best, so the sky
to balance the light. One of the first things Ican still get a little blown out.
noticed using Nikon digital cameras is that the ISOOther than that, I have found the D300 is an
ratings are not spot on. In the case of the D300excellent camera. It has a heft and feel of a solid,
as with the D200 I found that what the cameraprofessional camera. The controls are comfortable
says is ISO 200 is actually ISO 160.and intuitive. I love the menu options for image
I called Nikon to ask about this and was told thatcustomization, and of course the Nikon optics are
the ISO was intentionally calibrated that way totop drawer.
prevent over-exposures. It's true that with digitalThe auto focus is fast and accurate, and works
sensors over exposed areas, similar to slide film,well under low light conditions. I love that I can still
are near to impossible to retrieve informationuse all my older Nikon lenses, especially my
from. However, in my opinion, a camera designed70~200mm F2.8, which is 15 years old!
for professional use as is the D300, theThe color and image clarity is exceptional, and
information should be as accurate as possible.with the 12.2 Mega Pixel files, I can make
The ISO issue is very easy to compensate forenlargements as big as I want with very little
and work around to get spot on exposures. Somanipulation.