D300, D3 First Contact

[Max@Home]

Hi!

Was accompanying Messrs. JapanCamera.NL at the DigiBeurs in Houten, The Netherlands this evening.

Had my First Contact/Hands On experience with a D300 and a D3 , but was one of the many, so no time to stroll through menu's or try some settings.

First Impressions: why does everything turns the wrong way for a Canon man

Nice big screen, SUPERresolution, à la Epson200 or above... very responsive, very fast cameras... one downer: if you want the MB-10D ?? grip for the D300 AND the EN-EL4a battery (from the D3) to be able to boost FPS from 6 to 8: that will set you back approximately $/€250 for the grip, and another $/€200 for the battery...

AF is fast and 51 points are A LOT, especially on a 1.5x cropped body: practically covering the entire viewfinder... Viewfinder D300 is large, but not that much larger than 40D, another notch I would say.

On both demo-bodies the eyepiece adjustment of the viewfinder was way off, after I corrected this the experience became a lot more pleasant, and for as far as you can judge from LCD and viewfinder, the AF was spot-on...

...the feel in-hand is good, nice sticky rubber to your hands, let's hope it also sticks to the body...

Alas not the new lenses, we had hoped to see the new 12-24 and 24-70 F2.8's, but according to one of the employees, it could become December, January 2008 easily, before they show up in The Netherlands (through the official channels... greymarket might be earlier...)

Advised starting price D300 body-only (in the Netherlands): €1.950, so it will probably drop to ~€1.700/€1.800 after the first 3 to 4 months, €500/€600 more than 40D, and from what I have seen, the difference is justified.

Hope this is any use to someone, if not, only *my* €0.02 worth...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

PS: both bodies were still PreProduction, so no entering cards/taking real images allowed either ... ...but I was allowed to take a few snaps OF them

[Tom Swaman]

Thanks Max. It sounds like you were impressed and there won't be much of a water shortage in the near future while the rest of us drool.

Tom

[cyclohexane]

f you want the MB-10D ?? grip for the D300 AND the EN-EL4a battery (from the D3) to be able to boost FPS from 6 to 8: that will set you back approximately $/€250 for the grip, and another $/€200 for the battery...

I think the idea is for those of who already have the EN-EL4/a batteries to be able to use them, though I'm sure they'll sell plenty of the battery to those who don't own (or did own) a D2-series camera.

[D.Rodgers]

Oh you nasty nasty person you ,I just got over the have to wait till december jitters .
Now it has returned

It does look great i've seen some high iso images from the japan show very empressive..

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by cyclohexane

I think the idea is for those of who already have the EN-EL4/a batteries to be able to use them, though I'm sure they'll sell plenty of the battery to those who don't own (or did own) a D2-series camera.

...the Rep was talking about 2.000+ shots per charged EN-EL4a...

...and having read GBee's and Leahman's reports of the 1DIII battery performance, I am inclined to believe him...

...funny observation: no dust-anti-shake on D3... ??...

...he couldn't tell why... ...just that it hasn't...

...& they sounded good too, BTW

...€0.02 more...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[rootrider]

Originally Posted by Max@Home

...the Rep was talking about 2.000+ shots per charged EN-EL4a...

'bout time we have a camera that can match my D70 again

Originally Posted by Max@Home

...funny observation: no dust-anti-shake on D3... ??...

...he couldn't tell why... ...just that it hasn't...

As far as people know the anti-dust system on the d300 is borrowed from Sony, which is obviously designed for an APC-C sensor. The system's components would not work on the D3's larger sensor at all so Nikon would have to create new components. I'm just glad they seem to have gotten the sensor right

[cyclohexane]

...and having read GBee's and Leahman's reports of the 1DIII battery performance, I am inclined to believe him...

Yeah, without chimping you can probably easily put 3,000 on it (using D2H/D2HS, shooting JPEG). The old EN-EL4 was no slouch either, in the 2,000-range (again, JPEG). Unless I'm shooting a big event I charge my batteries once every week and a half... if I shoot some every day.

'bout time we have a camera that can match my D70 again

Yeah, the D70 lasts forever using a measly EN-EL3.