D300 first impressions and samples

[mars790]

After spending a little time with the D300, i can safely say that it's living up to my hopes.

 

It feels even better than the D200 in my hands. I was surprised that it's 5g lighter than the D200 (with the

battery, the D300 feels about the same as the D200 without a battery).

 

The screen hype was not exaggerated. The one touch (finally) zoom helps the enjoyment of the crisp and

colorful display that definitely helps you know what you have in the field.

 

The menu and the extended options are more advanced than i expected. The level of control of the

customized settings has been greatly enhanced compared to the D200. You now have 10 sharpening

levels compared to 5, 7 levels of contrast to 3, 3 levels of Brightness - a new option, and 7 levels of

saturation to 3. You can also customize all of the other picture settings for Neutral, Vivid and Monochrome

which has 10 colors to select from. I'm looking forward to messing with this. The D200 has no

customization for those settings and does not offer Monochrome.

 

I never was too excited about live view until i actually tried it for some macro studio work. I was able to

control the focus very easily. I tend to get my camera in strange angles and the live view will prove useful

to my neck.

 

I took some shots from the inside of a unique and amazing tree. It's leaves extend all the way to the

ground and it's dark inside. The D300's ability to handle the harsh highlight of the sun and the shadows

from inside the tree's interior is a noticable improvement. Those were taken with the 17-35 and the 10.5

fisheye.

 

Here's some macro images and a link to those and the tree pics. View them larger there at 1200 pixels

wide...

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=785518<div></div>

[mars790]

Another macro...<div></div>

[mmene]

Very impressive samples with nice lighting and colors. I wish you the best with your new cam Ric. Regards Michael.

[morganlashley]

The shots I've seen on flickr so far look pretty incredible.

[juanjo_viagran]

fun how you can use a DSLR like a point and shot with the lifeview.. :/

I refuse.. ;)

 

5 grams and some controls I never even use on my D200 2X and 2H it won't make my bite.. :D

[mars790]

Thank you Michael.

[vivek iyer]

"I never was too excited about live view until i actually tried it for some macro studio work. I was able to control the focus very easily."

 

Thanks, Ric. That is one question I had regarding that liveview.

 

I don't know why they did not make the TFT screen movable (Swivel TFT screen). A socket for an external (larger) TFT display screen would have been even more useful.

 

Perhaps on a D300x or a D3x?

[albertdarmali]

Ric, I got a question for you, hope this can be answered once and for all (so far no one have answered me this):

 

Is the optical viewfinder of D300 the same as D200?

[elliot1]

Ric, impressive shots! Enjoy your new camera!

[afuecker]

Thanx Ric, it's nice to read some general impressions on the new camera..

[mars790]

Vivek: That would be even better. Many of my abstracts are macros, and the added control of

selective focus will really come in handy. I shoot wide open a lot and the ability to place the

focus exactly where you want it is improved tenfold. Anyone who is not excited by this is

probably not a macro shooter.

 

Albert: The viewfinder seems a bit brighter and larger and is not the same. I haven't

compared it directly with the same lens as of yet, but i will.

 

Elliot: Thank you very much, I already am...

[mars790]

Your welcome Andreas, more to come as i get deeper into the camera.

 

I have another interior shoot coming up this week. I'm curious to see how well the D300

handles it. I expect to need less post processing to achieve the desired results.

[ryan_hamilton]

from what I saw in a demonstration, you can hook the D300 up to a computer and in live view with camera control... you can use any screen you want, computer, projector, Tv. The Screen doesn't get any larger than that!

[vivek iyer]

That is swell! Fantastic option!

[mars790]

Yeah, i must try that with my 55" Sony LCD that is 5 feet away from the table that most of my

macros were shot at. I need to get that HDMI cable!

[frank_skomial]

"The D200 has no customization for those settings and does not offer Monochrome. " - really ? - in the D200 Manual they use term "black and white" - isn't it monochrome ?

 

D200 has those customizations, read page 45.

[mars790]

Frank, black and white is not Monochrome. Monochrome can have one color represented

in a black and white image. Having this achieved in camera will be fun to try.

 

And maybe you misunderstood me. If you choose Vivid, Portrait or any of the optimize

image choices in the D200 (besides Custom), you cannot customize the settings involved.

You're locked into the predetermined values of the camera for that setting. In the D300, if

you choose Neutral or Vivid for example, you can further tweak the settings and choose

the exact level of saturation, contrast, and sharpening desired, etc...

[mars790]

For further explanation of Monochrome, Black and White is one of the choices out of ten. The

others are: Sepia, Cyan, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue Green, Blue, Purple Blue, Red Purple.

 

Each color has 7 different hues to choose from.

[mars790]

Let me rephrase that Frank; of course B&W is Monochrome. You now have 64 choices for

Monochrome compared to one.

[frank_skomial]

Thanks Ric for explanations.

 

As long as those extra features do not add much to cost, the D300 could finally allow Pro-sumers to tune in camera processing as they please, and possibly allow to give up use of Photoshop.

 

After all Nikon now has D3 professinal camera.

[morganlashley]

I'll be curious to see if any pros/advanced photogs use the in camera adjustment features...I

don't really see the utility of this as I shoot in RAW and usually spot meter expose for

highlights and re adjust the entire photo in LR/PS....for serious photogs I just can't see

making in camera adjustments on a 3 inch screen as useful...The remote PC control however

is very very useful...

[vivek iyer]

<i>After all Nikon now has D3 professinal camera.</i>

<p>

The D3 has more in camera processing features!

<p>

Oddly, the new Ricoh GR-D II has even more features, including virtual horizon, virtual DOF, etc! :)

<p>

[lee_ricks]

"I'll be curious to see if any pros/advanced photogs use the in camera adjustment features"

 

Sometimes I have an assignment where I am shooting pretty casual pictures. For example. The other day a customer wanted grip and grin pics of thier attendees with a celebrity guest. I Wanted these essentially done when they left the camera. They were to be printed 4X6 so the idea was just shoot them right and send them to the lab. I was very careful with my in-camera adjustments and shot JPEG Fine with a D2H. Bob's your uncle. It took about an hour to do all of the post which amounted to 'just making sure'.

 

If I am doing this kind of gig (and they are common for me) I want the shots as close to done as I can get them right from the camera. The only thing worse than shooting 4 hours of drunk rich folks throwing money around is having to spend time staring at them a second time in the AM.

[vivek iyer]

<i>The only thing worse than shooting 4 hours of drunk rich folks throwing money around is having to spend time staring at them a second time in the AM.</i>

<p>

Well said! :)

[michael_hahn]

Ric, great work. Very, very impressive. Looks like the wide angles were taken with a fish eye? Did you use software to give it the rectangle and straigten out some ... I always thought that fish eyes were circular?

 

Great work.

 

Thanks,

 

Michael.