Nikon D300s Review

When I bought my D200, I felt that the DX-format APS C-sized cameras would merely be a stopgap to FX-format cameras like the D700. It took me a while to adjust to the crop camera since it would effectively increase my working distance. After having used DX for four years, I find that it works very well for me for nature photography: The 17-35mm lens is sharp into the corners of the image, but still wide enough for nature photography on DX and extends into the normal range. For animals, I appreciate the working distance of my 200mm macro and my 500mm super-tele on DX. For bigger animals and birds, I can sometimes work without teleconverters on the 500mm. Thus, my next DSLR is again a DX camera.

The magnesium alloy body is as solid as the D200. Unlike the D200, however, the D300s sports a 100% viewfinder. Also unlike the D200 with its pedestrian Multi-CAM1000 autofocus, Nikon built its top-of-the-line Multi-CAM3500DX AF module with no less than 15 cross-type sensors into the D300s. This may be the best AF on the market and covers the viewfinder very well. Seeing how an object gets passed on from one AF sensor to the next is simply stunning. I manually focus most of the time, but manual focus and panning for birds in flight are difficult to accomplish simultaneously.

I also bought the MB-D10 multi-power battery grip that works with both the D300-series as well as the D700. Even though I am a weight-conscious hiker, I find that the 290 grams of the sturdy MB-D10 grip are worthwhile: It adds a multi-selector, command dials, and a vertical release as a lot of my images are in portrait orientation. RRS manufactures a dedicated L plate for the MB-D10 (BMBD10-LB) that will not fit the D300s without the grip. In the end, I also bought a BD300-L plate for when I wanted to leave the grip at home for backcountry camping. Nikon's EN-EL3e batteries are also used for the D200 and D700. Nikon still has an edge over the competition with its CLS flash system. It works as well as always, but my nature photography is based on available light, so I would have preferred not to have a pop-up flash.

Unlike the D700, the D300-series has a rectangular eyepiece. It also lacks the eyepiece shutter lever of the D700 that prevents stray light from entering the viewfinder and messing with the camera's metering. When working on a tripod, such an eyepiece shutter would have been really welcome. Nikon delivers the cheap DK-5 viewfinder eyepiece cup that shuts the eyepiece as well, but is easily lost and cumbersome to attach, so I just use my hand to eliminate stray light. Since I prefer a circular eyepiece, I bought a DK-22 eyepiece adapter ($4.50), added the finder eyepiece for the FM, FE & FA series ($19.95), and a DK-3 rubber eyecup ($11.95). The increased comfort of these three accessories is substantial, especially wearing eyeglasses. The plastic DK-22 eyepiece adapter breaks easily and is definitely not strong enough to support a right-angle viewing attachment. Also, rubber eyepiece and eyecup often detach in my bag and may potentially be lost in the field. Since condensation on my glasses is an issue on strenuous hikes, I have replaced the glass finder eyepiece with a -3 diopter to adjust for my nearsightedness.

The menu system of the D300s offers so many customization options, it is almost intimidating. The well-thought out menu structure is a great help, though. If you know your shooting style, you can take an hour or two to work through all options and create a custom menu with those options that you anticipate changing in the future. Done! The D300s offers user-editable picture controls, essentially custom profiles for parameters like sharpening and saturation. While they do greatly influence the monitor preview, they do not affect the RAW image. Active D-Lighting (ADL) gets more detail out of the shadows in contrasty situations at RAW level. The CMOS sensor in the D300s reads images out at 12-bit; 14-bit images are possible, but result in a decreased burst rate without a meaningful image improvement. High ISO noise is surprisingly well-controlled for DX, but automatic white balance under artificial light remains challenging. The new features of the D300s such as quiet mode, slightly higher burst speed, an SD card slot in addition to the CF one, virtual horizon, and up to 1280x720/24fps video mode are all welcome without being totally essential for me.

Live View now has its own button on the right of the gorgeous LCD monitor, but is not very useful: Live View does not work in dark forests or with depth-of-field preview, providing an image at fully open aperture instead. Compared to the D200, zoom-in and zoom-out are two separate buttons, and the play button has replaced the former BKT button (since I bracket frequently for static subjects, I moved BKT to a custom button). The menu button has moved one up, the protect/help button two up. Thus, it might be difficult to use a D200 and a D300s side-by-side. However, the D700 has an almost identical form factor, control layout, and accessories as the D300s, so the D300s may pair well with a D700 for general photography. Can I solve all of my photographic problems with DX? Not quite. I still prefer my 85/1.4D lens on a full-format camera for portrait photography; its angle of view is too narrow on DX for my taste. For nature photography though, the D300s certainly rules.

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Nikon D300s Review