Nikon D300… and the D3 of course!
November 15, 2007Yesterday I had the opportunity to pop along to one of Nikon’s Solutions Expo events held at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. There they had a couple of their new cameras on show that people could get their mitts on and have a play… in theory anyway. The problem was that they really didn’t have enough cameras to go round, so a lengthy wait and only a couple of minutes with the camera were unfortunately, inevitable.
Despite my misgivings at the lack of cameras to look at, I was able to put my own memory cards in the cameras and mount my favourite lens, a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 on the front of them.
Nikon D300
Out of the two, this is the camera I’m really interested in. After a lengthy wait I managed to get my hands on one without the new battery grip, which was a shame as I really wanted to see how much better than the plasticcy one for the D200 it is. Never mind eh? Beggars can’t be choosers and all that. Anyway back to the camera…
On close inspection, it appears several subtle improvements have been made to the exterior of the D300 when compared to its predecessor. The first thing I noticed was how firmly stuck down the soft rubber coating is on the grips. My D200 have long suffered with loose grips (which I’ve had to sure up with insulation tape!) so hopefully the D300 is designed to take a bit more abuse.
The new terminal covers are a welcome change. My covers went missing off my D200 within a couple of weeks and as a result the PC synch socket has got pushed in and no longer works. This should not be a problem with the D300.
I was a little worried about how the new-fangled 51-point AF system would perform, especially as the group-dynamic option has been removed since the D200. In my few minutes with the camera, it seemed to perform really quite well, with off-centre focusing points seeming to respond much more positively than they do on the D200. Spot metering also works in exactly the same way as previous models, following the AF point, except you now have more options of where to meter from, which is great for what I do.
The expanse of LCD screen on the rear really dominates the camera, and so it should. It’s noticeably sharper and clearer than that on the D200. I’d love to be able to view one outside to see if it’s any more visible than the screen on the D200, which is rubbish in daylight.
Controls-wise, things have been kept pretty similar to the D200, and upgraders should be able to adjust to the new camera fairly swiftly. It took me a few attempts to hit the correct button at first when I wanted to view my pictures on the screen, but I’m sure that would be something I’d get used to fairly swiftly, although it may cause problems if I were to use a D300 and a D200 as a second body. Another improvement seems to have been made to the multi-selector switch on the rear, it seem much less ’spongey’ than it does on my D200, which made navigating AF points much easier.
Right, now down to the nitty-gritty of images. The thing that images me most about this camera is its improved performance at high ISO sensitivities. I wanted to see just how much better it would be at ISO800, 1600 and 3200 and whether the improvement is down to clever noise reduction, or improvements in the design of the sensor, which would have a greater bearing on the noise present in RAW images.
After being handed the camera, I proceeded to take a few shots using default settings as you can see below. Each image will link to a cropped section displayed at 100%.
Nikon D300, ISO800, Noise Reduction – Normal
Nikon D300, ISO1600, Noise Reduction – Normal
Nikon D300, ISO3200, Noise Reduction – Normal
So far so good! To my eyes, the D300 looks to be at least a stop better than the D200 for noise. The images are quite soft, but for now I’ll put that down to unfamiliarity with the camera and default settings. A camera like this isn’t really designed to give nice snapshots straight from the box, plus it’d been a while since I’d had a smoke/coffee/food and my hands weren’t the steadiest! Now to turn the Noise Reduction off and see how much the camera is smoothing out the noise in the images produced.
Nikon D300, ISO800, Noise Reduction Off
Nikon D300, ISO1600, Noise Reduction Off
I didn’t take any shots without noise reduction at ISO3200. Images the screen looked pretty snowy by this point, and my time was running out with the camera. The problem is, the new large screen is so sharp it appears to show up every flaw in the images. They looked far noisier on the screen than they do on a computer screen and I imagine the noise that is present would pose few problems for printing. Still so far so good then! I have to say I’m reasonably impressed. Not blown away by any means, but impressed enough to be thinking this camera will be a worthy upgrade to my current D200.
Nikon D3
I could never afford this camera, so looking at it was really just for japes. It was there, I had queued, so why not?!
Straight away the size compared to the weight of the D3 was the first thing that struck me. It really does feel like you could hammer nails with this thing, but at the same time, it isn’t overly heavy.
The AF system appears to differ from the D300 slightly. the display in the viewfinder is made up of translucent squares that light up with red LED light when selected, much more like Canon cameras than what I’m used to from Nikon. The AF was also noticeably faster with the same Sigma 24mm f/1.8 lens than it was on the D300. I imagine that could possibly be put down to a more powerful focusing motor in the D3 body though?
Controls have been kept as they were on the D2 series cameras, so anyone who has used one will be in familiar territory from the off. A few changes including the various viewfinder crop modes (the camera was set to a 5:4 crop when it was handed to me) exist, but these shouldn’t get in the way at all. Everything is incredibly well laid-out.
Now down to the images. After seeing how good the D300 was, even without noise reduction, I thought I’d better cut straight to it and turn the noise reduction off from the start.
Nikon D3, ISO1600, Noise Reduction Off
Nikon D3, ISO3200, Noise Reduction Off
Nikon D3, ISO6400, Noise Reduction Off
At ISO1600, this camera isn’t even breaking a sweat, even with noise reduction turned off the image is pretty clean. As you raise the sensitivity, there is a gradual decay in image detail, and the amount of noise, but when you consider just how high the sensitivity is set, it just doesn’t make sense!
My problem now is simple. I shouldn’t have looked at the D3 at all. Now I need to find a way of extorting £3500 out of somewhere! Maybe if I write that letter to my bank about getting my bank charges back, I’ll be someway there! 
