12-30-07 - Nikon D-300 Review
(*Originally Published 12/30/07 in old blog, moved 5/23/08 to new blog site here)
Good Afternoon ! Well most of the major holidays are over for the exception of bringing in the New Year tomorrow night. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday enjoying your family & friends. Myself I had a great Christmas with my kids, there's nothing like watching the joy on their faces on Christmas morning, it brings back your own memories of childhood and a time where life was just, well SIMPLE. Nothing to worry about except which gift you were going to play with or wear first. Ah the good old days right ?
Personally I had the pleasure of adding another great piece of equipment to my arsenal, the newest high tech camera in Nikon's line the Mighty D-300 ! This monster of digital technology is perhaps one of the finest camera I have ever had the pleasure to shoot. While purchasing it my salesman informed me that photographers that shoot Nikon's Dx2 Pro camera were trading their bodies in for this marvelous hardware to get in on the fantastic technology provided by this Digital Single Reflex marvel.
Sporting 12.3 Million High Resolution Pixels and the ability to shoot 8 frames per second the first thing you notice when you grab onto to this camera is that it is WELL BUILT ! A Magnesium Alloy body wrapped in space age rubber lends the feel of a tank in your hands. It's heavy construction of approx. 1.82 lbs. is well balanced and a pleasure to shoot over long periods of time. With the ability to shoot in 12 & 14 bit RAW format at 3 levels *Loss-less Compressed, Compressed & Uncompressed enables the user to do just about any Post Production work effortlessly, especially using the bundled software, Nikon's Award Winning "Capture NX" which was a welcomed surprise that they FINALLY bundled their software with the camera instead of making you spend another $200 out of pocket to adjust your photos properly using their software made specifically for Nikon cameras. Your also able to shoot in .TIFF, Several levels of .JPG and NEF (RAW) + .JPG combinations as well. The New 3" - 920,000-dot (VGA) Color LCD display with 170' viewing angle & 100% (yes I said ONE HUNDRED PERCENT) frame coverage makes for reviewing a capture a pure joy. The LCD screen now also seconds as a LIVE VIEW mode allowing the user to frame and shoot while looking at a live picture on the LCD without ever having to squint into the view finder. I have found this feature very helpful already allowing me to frame shots from ground & floor level without having to put my belly in the dirt, a welcome feature for sure. The screen colors are vivid and accurate especially when reviewing a shot using the multiple level zoom which is quick and precise.
The D-300 borrows many features from it's higher priced cousin, the D-3 ($5000.00) sharing the same auto-focus system which has multiple levels to choose from such as 9, 21 or 51 contact points along with a 51 point 3D Color Matrix Metering II system, Center Weight or Spot metering, which has worked flawlessly during my testing. ISO settings range from several choices of ISO-100 (Nikon calls L-1,L-.7 & L-.3) all the way up to ISO-3200 which can be pushed to ISO-6400 also using 3 steps (H-0.3, H-0.7 & H-1.0). Background "Noise" which is always a concern at higher ISO settings is "VERY LOW" even when using the highest ISO-6400 setting in low light using NO Flash and ambient lighting. I was amazed at how little noise that was detectable in the darker areas & blacks of the photos. JUST AMAZING picture quality which will add to the value of this camera every wedding I shoot allowing my customers to enjoy the highest in quality low light shots and enabling me to use every low light & creative lighting trick in the book now.
I could go on for days about this camera but I'll spare you any further technical details you may not be able to understand anyway. If your interested in further details there are tons of reviews online you could read by doing a simple google search. But for me, The bottom line is that by owning this camera and using it for my customers, YOU benefit from all this wonderful gadgetry in the end. It gives me the necessary tools to provide my clients with the highest quality photos to capture their memories for generations to come. Which is by all intended purposes the reason I do this in the first place ! Having the ability to provide a crisp, clean & VIVID image every shot that can been printed from a small 4" x 6" standard print all the way up to 30" x 40" Canvas master pieces and beyond is something that is very important for the finished product.
This will be my final blog entry of 2007, but 2008 is just 24 hours away and I'll start doing what I do all over again, shooting pictures and enjoying every click of the shutter ! I've started creating all NEW Projects and packages for the new year & Bookings for 2008 and even deep into 2009 are being reserved now, so call soon to book your special day before it's taken !
So for now, From my family to yours - THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS - "HAPPY NEW YEAR" and may 2008 Bring you Good Health and Happiness !
Best Regards,Bill Pador
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