D300s for Family vacation and casual events

<p>I currently own a D300 and an old bulky Sony miniDV. Whenever there are family occassions, I am the appointed photographer and videographer. But over time, bringing these two bodies kills me. D300s seems perfect solution for me as i can do two things just in one body. Save me some hustles. I would also like to capture my 3 years daughter doing funny stuff.<br>

I plan to upgrade my D300 to D300s plus a 16-85 VR. I own several primes (35,50,85) as well as comsumer zoom 18-105. But i think i should get a better lens for that purpose. So it should be a good set up, right?<br>

Is there any other considerations that I might miss? Thanks for advice!</p>

<p>IMHO, Its hard to switch back and fore between Photo and Video on the D300s. Focus is a drag. Its too slow in contrast detect mode and in phase detect focus mode, it drop you out of video taking every time you focus. The way that the shutter release and video record buttons are assigned, mistakes happen. Did that once in a quick pace event. Will never do it again. Plus 720p is a bit short.</p>

<p>so when taking video, the camera is in live view mode, so we have to focus everytime? If the subject moves to left/right, further away, or closer in, the focus will not catch up?</p>

<p>I am fairly new to this video thing. I used my father's Canon G11 and was amazed how easy it is to switch between photo and video. I just rotate the command dial.</p>

<p>This is not going to be the same experience on d300s?</p>

<p>$ 500 will buy you a small but good quality full HD video camera. I wouldn't consider a D300s for video. Personally I'm too interested in video, but I do film sometimes. I believe DSLR video is too much a hassle for me. If I want my kids to appear on video sharp, good AF is a must, and for travel it has to be light. Just my two cents.</p>

<p>Shooting DSLR video is a lot of work, when you've got kids running around and you've got to manual focus with only the live view screen to work with. Though the results can be excellent. Consider a smaller, newer camcorder.</p>

<p>Don't bother with the 16-85. It's not better than the 18-105, and from my experience with one a couple of weeks ago it might be worse. </p>

<p>You can shoot OK video on the D300S, but there are still a lot of restrictions such as very poor AF, no easy way to adjust exposure once video capture starts, etc. etc. Personally, I simply don't like holding a camera a few inches in front of me to capture still image or video. That is an unstable way to hold a camera and will introduce a lot of camera shake in the video.</p>

<p>Since you already have a D300, to me, upgrading from a D300 to a D300S is somewhat a questionable move. Based on my experience, there is absolutely no improvement in the D300S ability to capture still images. I am sticking with my D300 and wait for a bigger upgrade perhaps in 2011, assuming that some "D400" will appear.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the feedback! I couldn't believe with the answer I got that most of you not recommending the upgrade just merely for the video feature. I googled more on this stuff and I read many reports that the D-movie on d300s is not friendly to use (unlike the canon G11). I can imagine if I want to record spontenous n funny children's act, then I stumble on adjusting the settings and all. So i guess i have to pass the d300s for now and wait until "D400" coming out. See if nikon can make the D-movie more friendly to use.</p>

<p>Agreed, a $500 HD video camcorder will do a much better job than the D300s. If you're just looking for casual video footage, why not use a small digital camera? I have a small Canon digital camcorder, it's a MiniDV type, and it does a great job, but is not true HD. However, I find that the video footage, which is taken in 16:9, does indeed look good on a final DVD on my HDTV, so I don't feel the need to shoot 1080p or even 780p. 480p does just fine for me, and I like the idea of the tapes acting as the archival backup media. I only paid $225 for this camcorder back in 2006 and it is still the one for me for all my video needs.</p>

<p>To me - the slr makers adding video is kind of like a car maker adding a snowplow to a mini-van and saying you can clear driveways off with it.... Could you? sure.... Should you? No...</p>

<p>If I want a video camera - I'll buy a video camera - I have a nice little Panasonic that I got 2 years ago on Black Friday....works great - as a video camera but I don't want to touch any of the stills it takes.... That's what I have Nikon DSLR's for...</p>

<p>Dave</p>