It’s been over 3 weeks since I put the Nikon D3 on order. Friday, I canceled the order and picked up a Nikon D300 instead. Why? Some of the reasons are personal, some are practical. On the personal side, my spiritual growth has gone very far away from rampant consumerism. Certainly, there is a bit of consumerism left, which partially explains the purchase. I could have lived just fine without the camera.
In reading about the improvements, the D300 has a bit more functionality than my D2X; however, after holding and using the D300, I still prefer the heft and feel of the D2X. My main reason for purchasing the D300 was for the improved auto focus. Mind you, with the D2x, it was a rare occasion that I missed a shot. I have lots of great basketball photos with that one. The D300 now has 51 focus points instead of the 9 offered by the D2x. These 51 points offer finer focus detail. Also, with the shape recognition firmware, the tracking should be better.
There is also a lot less noise at the higher ISO settings. For example, I shot a couple of shots at ISO 3200, like this picture of Tony going to the hole in his Friday night basketball game. With the D2x, this type of shot would have so much noise as to barely be usable. Even worse would be a night shot at ISO 3200. The black areas would be full of noise.
Also on a practical level, there was the price difference of $3,200 as well as the way that I use the camera. The D3 is full-frame sensor. This really only comes into effect when shooting super wide angle shots. My widest angle lens is an 11-18mm DX lens. This gives an effective focal length of about 17-27mm. So, the widest shot that I can take is at about 17mm equivalent. No big deal. Even when shooting film, I never had a lens wider than 20mm, so I’m still ahead. Further to the point of practicality, in order to make good use of the D3, I would need to sell 4 of 5 of my lenses and get their equivalent non-DX versions, or else I’m basically taking a full frame camera and shooting DX all of the time. This makes no sense. Since I didn’t want to replace all of the lenses, etc, it made perfect sense to get the D300.
Lastly, there was a bit of ego involved. I wanted to have the latest, greatest, and most-up-to-datest Nikon flagship camera, but it wouldn’t make any better pictures than any camera that I currently have in my possession, it would only displace an additional $3,200 that could be used to pay of some bill, take a trip, or do something else.
The final nail in the coffin was when I spoke to Richard and he asked me some of these very same questions and I couldn’t provide good enough answers for myself. After talking to him, I immediately canceled my order, called Wolfe Camera, and went to pick up my D300. It was a good purchase and I’m looking forward to using more for sporting events than anything.
As I discover new things about the camera, I’ll post it.
About the bottom picture: This picture was taken at ISO 3200 with the D300. Notice the black area. Hardly any noise visible. Even on the full sized picture. Amazing!
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10 Responses to “About Face!”
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I admit the low noise performance is tempting, but I think I am holding out to see what a D3x has… and if it will require a mortgage to get one. Seems like you made a good choice, the D300 is a great camera.
It’s hard to believe that “Walgreens” picture was made at ISO 3200 with almost no discernible noise…I’m impressed!
Seems the D300 is a great choice for a low light/high speed goto. Congratulation!
Congrats on the D300!! I plan to purchase one too in the near future. Great choice!
Amazing once again….I may not know anything about photography, but I see that your pictures have life… you must start making money of it
Good for you, Paul, on making a wise decision. And besides, there will always be another Nikon Flagship Camera to buy in another 18 months or so, no?
Tena koe ehoa
Damn I wish I had 3 D300 in my gear bag! I envy you Paul and yes you have made a wise decision to go D300 rather than D3 given your image output and lens applications.
massively impressive lack of noise for such a high ISO setting. I have had a DSlr for a year or so now and it is my first, a canon 10d, I suppose its quite old by todays standards but i love it none the less, however, I had no idea that such a level of noise was available at this level, your pics here have less noise at 3200 than my poor ol’ canon at 400!
Those are both very impressive examples from the D300. It is a great camera indeed!
I am still holding out for the D3, but I only have the D200 right now. I also only have one DX lens which I don’t use much anyway. I won’t get it for quite a while, maybe even a year or more. But since I only have the one Nikon body I will wait patiently and save my pennies, unless Russell gets a full scholarship or I win the lottery!
Sounds like you’ve made the right choice for your needs Paul. Possibly look into getting the extended battery grip, and I expect it will feel closer in heft to the D2X.
I’ll be staying on the list for the D3 at this point (now one fewer between me and a D3;)) as wideangle landscapes/nature are the focus I’m looking for. I can wait on the indoor photography aspect (barely, just barely).
In my photo class on Sunday, there was a guy with a D3 and I got
to hold it and play a bit with it in class – sweet. Was playing with
another classmate’s D300 – felt just like my D200 – in fact I mistook
his D300 for my D200 at one point – weird. All those sensor spots are
going to be wonderful to play with.
Looking forward to seeing more of your D300 shots.
Kate
Sounds like you made the right choice. I’m a Canon guy and when I made my newest camera purchase last year, I so wanted the Mark II. But I couldn’t justify it. Went with the 30D, ordered the battery pack and have been happy as heck with everything I do with it.
One day, I’d like Canon’s best (like the Mark III), but for now, I’m totally happy with my 30D.