Nikon D300 Hands-on Review
Reviewed on 22 November 2007

Never in our minds did we think a square box could cause so much hysteria here at DigitalRev but it did. The Nikon D300 has finally arrived at DigitalRev and we are excited to bring you our exclusive hands-on review of the Nikon D300. Following the “First Impression Video” of the D300, we took the D300 out to the studio and outdoor locations to see just how much better is this successor to the award winning Nikon D200. With our charming model Katrina in toll, we were quick to showcase the Nikon D300 as soon as we hit the studio.

Straight out of the box and into our hands, the camera felt very solid and robust. The shape of the D300 fits remarkably well into the mould of our hands and with its textured surfaces, the D300 allows for a secure and heart-assuring grip over its body. It delivers the kind of handling comfort that you can actually feel during prolonged usage. Looking from afar, the D300 remains a very recognizable sibling to the D200 but a closer look shows a marked difference.

Built from rock-solid magnesium alloy, the D300 was designed for a high level of dust and water resistance, truly embodying the idea of the ‘go-anywhere’ camera. Another clear difference was the allure of its vast 3-inch LCD. Packing an impressive 922k pixels and offering a 170 degree viewing angle, the brilliance of this high resolution becomes strikingly clear when reviewing images or using the menus. We try not to exaggerate a product’s features but we have to say that this LCD is about as good as it gets in this size, with probably just the LCD of the Apple iPhone being superior to it in anything that we’ve come across.

Navigation through the D300’s new menu system when using the multi-selector is very easy and straightforward, however if you decide to bypass the “ok” button and confirm by pressing the multi-selector, you may slide to another option before selection. Better hidden but certainly worth a mention is the HDMI interface that allows you to playback your images in a slideshow directly on a compatible HD displays.

Moving up into the echelons of higher resolutions may mean longer saving times between shots but not with the D300. Even at its maximum 12.3 megapixels, the Nikon D300 processes high quality very quickly. What’s more, its fast focusing speed really comes into its own in low light situations as we found out as night set in during the final stages of our shoot. The Auto-Focus with the 51-points focusing system is very competent while manual focus point selection allows you to pinpoint your focus with amazing precision. Using the D300, the joy of photographing Katrina was definitely improved.

As demonstrated in our First Impression Video, the six frames-per-second continuous shooting mode of the D300 operates very efficiently. The shutter is very responsive at all times and the sound of the continuous shooting is very smooth and causes no perceivable vibrations. In tracking moving subjects, the focusing is also on par with the shutter performance.

With the advancement of DSLRs, we have seen recent releases carrying the live view feature. The Nikon D300 is no different but unlike the live view features you may have seen in other brands, Nikon actually provides two live view modes for greater flexibility. The Hand-held mode adopts the common ‘mirror-raise, mirror-drop’ method, letting the AF sensors autofocus while the mirrors are dropped, thereby temporarily interrupting the Live View. This can be frustrating at times especially if your finger lingers on the “AF-ON” button or the semi-depressed shutter button as we experienced when we moved to our outdoor location.

While the Tripod mode is more remarkable as it introduces a unique method from Nikon that doesn’t interrupt the Live View display at all. Using contrast detect autofocus, the D300 uses the image directly from the CMOS image sensor and adjusts ideal brightness of the image to achieve sharper focus. Using this mode, you are able to move the AF point anywhere within the frame area to get just the focusing you need. However, it’s important to note that focusing time is significant increased.

The D300 is also equipped with a Dust Reduction system in its self-cleaning sensor that spares you the need of cleaning the sensor yourself. The actual cleaning is an extremely quick and quiet process and by vibrating the sensor at high frequency, it manages to shake off any dust clinging to its CMOS sensor. Set it to clean as required or set it to clean the sensor at every start-up and shutdown for greater peace of mind, especially in outdoor locations with higher risks of dust or dirt being kicked about.

The ISO sensitivity is also very well managed and this is clear from the test we did back at the office. Taking the D300 through its paces from its lowest ISO sensitivity setting at ISO Lo1 (ISO 100) all the way to the highest ISO sensitivity setting at ISO 6400, we got the following results.

From ISO Lo1 through to ISO 3200, noise is hardly noticeable to the naked eye and only became apparent as we reached the extremes of ISO 6400 where the image began to slightly fog. This is in particular an amazing achievement considering the D300’s high resolution sensor.

While Nikon has packed a lot of very useful functions in the D300, we have to confess that we were not overly impressed with the In-Camera Editing Tools. While it may be useful if you are stuck with only your camera to work with but we just can’t see ourselves in that situation. It’s the more powerful and easier to use photo editing softwares for us.

Looking back at the day, we’ve definitely done the rounds with the D300. While some features are yet to be covered in more detail in the second part of this review, we are already very confident in the performance of the Nikon D300. Not just a mere upgrade to the D300, in many aspects, it feels like a whole new camera and a damn good one at that. From improved processing and resolutions to its phenomenal focusing system, we really can’t wait to take it out again for another shoot. Yes… with Katrina of course!