Nikon D300 Hands-on Review Part II
Reviewed on 29 November 2007

Two years on and we see the Nikon D300 rushing out to replace the aging D200. On the surface, the D300 is very similar in looks and design as its predecessor. Part I of our review reflected how impressed we were with Nikon’s new prosumer D-SLR, now let’s dig a little deeper and see whether this first impression lasted.

The Nikon D300 uses Nikon’s latest CMOS sensor with 12.3 million effective pixels. The sensor is still APS (Nikon DX) size so there is a 1.5x field-of-view crop phenomenon. The new EXPEED image processor gives the D300 the impressive 8 frames per second (using the optional MB-D10 battery/vertical grip) continuous shooting for up to 43 large/fine (100 medium/normal) jpeg images or up to 17 RAW (12-bit) images. However, the frame rate falls dramatically to a snail pace of 2.5 frames per second when shooting in 14-bit RAW.

For those who are not particularly clear on the meaning of 12-bit and 14-bit RAW let’s take a bit of time to explain in layman terms what these are. 12-bit / 14-bit refers to the colour depth of each channel per pixel. To put things in perspective, a JPEG image is 8-bit per pixel, that means each pixel can only recognise 256 tonal values in each of the 3 colour channels (red, green and blue) thus each pixel can have a possible (256 x 256 x 256) 16.7 million colours. With 12-bit, each pixel can recognise 4,096 tonal values in each of the 3 colour channels giving a possible 68.7 billion colours per pixels. So with 14-bit RAW, 16,384 tonal values are possible in each of the 3 colour channels giving an impressive 4,398 billion possible colours. Obviously the higher the colour bit depth the better the quality of the image, but the penalty is more memory to store the extra information.

Nikon has designed the D300 with professionals in mind, in that Nikon expects the camera to be used under slightly tougher than normal conditions. It has rubberised seals around the battery compartment door, the CF card door and the connectors’ covers. The latter is completely made of rubber. This should be adequate to keep dust and splashes away from the essential inners.

Traditionally Nikon had always been less impressive with the handling of noise in high ISO settings, but with the D300 that tradition should now be a thing of the past. The following set of photographs were taken using the D300 on a tripod, using 12-bit RAW converted to TIF afterwards, white balance set at 4550K, aperture fixed at f/11 (using Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens), variable shutter speed according to the ISO setting, High ISO Noise Reduction set at Normal (default).

Each photograph is viewed at 100% with the area marked in red cut out in the subsequent photographs below to show the noise levels at 100% magnification. Note that the original TIF files should be downloaded to fully appreciate the resolution and difference in noise levels.

ISO 200 - The noise level is minimal. ISO 400 - Some noise is beginning to creep in but still a marked improvement over its predecessor. ISO 800 - More noticeable noise is detected but definitely a very usable photograph. ISO 1600 - The amount of noise is beginning to distress the quality of the photograph, but it still looks as good as its predecessor the D200 at ISO 800. ISO 3200 - Evidently the photograph is suffering from a lot of noise and colour artefacts, but surprisingly much detail is retained. At this rated ISO settings the noise level is very acceptable, especially so if you are member of the paparazzi! H0.3 (equivalent to ISO 4000) - The unrated H0.3 is still giving enough details to make this a usable picture. The paparazzi are going to love this camera. H0.7 (equivalent to ISO 5000) - Much detail is beginning to be lost behind the noise and colour artefacts. If this is a portrait, it’s high time to convert to grey scale (black and white). H1.0 (equivalent to ISO 6400) - In the old days (film), such a “quality” picture would not have been expected from ISO 6400. It is unthinkable that such details can still be maintained at this high ISO setting. Simply put this ISO setting can be insanely useful at times.

Nikon has really done it this time. The relatively lack of noise at high ISO settings is very impressive to say the least. With a good fast lens (say f/2.8) in place, flash photography will not be necessary under most reasonably lit conditions. If flash is required and the built-in flash gives too much of a harsh lighting, just add an optional small SB-400 Speedlight for ceiling bounce, the effect is quite extraordinary.

Although the same ISO tests were done on L0.3 (ISO 160), L0.7 (ISO 125) and L0.1 (ISO 100) settings, the difference is less noticeable, but the files are included for reference.

There has been a lot of excitement about the D300’s new 51 focus points (D200 only has 11 focus points). It uses Nikon’s new Multi-CAM3500DX Auto Focus sensor. This is a godsend for the photographer who takes pictures using a tripod (where pre-focus then re-compose is not practical). Basically the 51 focus points cover a wide area of the frame which makes focusing convenient.

While on the subject of focusing the handy Live View function comes in two modes: Hand-held and Tripod. The two differentiate in the method they deploy in focusing. The Hand-held mode uses the normal phase-detection auto focus thus the Live View is temporary interrupted while the camera focuses prior to shutter release. The Tripod mode uses contrast-detect auto focus therefore Live View is available at all times, but the focusing can be somewhat slower. With the latter method it is worth noting that any part of the screen can be used as the focusing point, so in essence there are more than 51 focus points under this mode; also focusing can only be activated by pressing the AF-ON button.

Although initially in our Part I review we were not overly impressed with the In-Camera Editing Tools (available under the Retouch Menu), further investigations and tests show that there is more than meets the eye. The Color Balance function is extremely useful, easy and fun to play with. Other photo-retouch software vendors can really learn a thing or two from Nikon here. This single function alone solves many of the white balance colours problems which have plagued digital photographers for a very long time. The fact that both RAW and JPG files can now be easily colour corrected in-camera is quite amazing. It is worth noting here though the colour corrections are only as good as what the monitor shows and that is dependent on whether the monitor shows the colours correctly (colour calibrated that is). Past experience tells us that the colour rendition of the in-camera monitor leaves a lot to be desired (especially on the D2X). On the D300, Nikon seems to have got it right this time.

Other Retouch functions included Nikon’s renown D-Lighting (Dynamic Lighting) ported over from its digital compacts which corrects difficult exposures, and on the D300 can be active (real time) or passive. Then we have the Red-eye correction function, Trim (crop) function, Monochrome effects, Filter effects, and Image overlay. The latter makes double exposure effortless. All in all, the Retouch Menu can be extremely useful and convenient for the photographer who doesn’t have a PC at hand.

The improvements or should we say advancements made by Nikon on the latest prosumer D-SLR are very significant and should get its competitors very worried. Nikon obviously heard what the consumers want and delivers the D300 as the answer. This camera is definitely in the realm of a low cost professional camera suitable for press photographers (especially the paparazzi) and also as a good backup camera to the high ends professional D-SLRs. It will be interesting to see what extra features (other than performance) are available on the coming D3 professional D-SLR. Already the D300 has been dub as the baby D3.

Is the D300 a worthwhile upgrade from the D200? Yes, and thank you that will make a lovely Xmas present.