Nikon D300

[FUDGEY]

Hello every one, I currently use a Nikon D80 with a Sigma 170-500 and although I am satisfied with my wildlife photographs there are one or two things that i would like my camera and lense to do better. Firstly I very rarely get decent flight shots with this camera and i havent found it that good at focusing and locking on with moving subjects. I have also found that the focusing can struggle to lock on even if the subjects still. I have been looking at the D300 and was wondering if anyone has any experience with it that can advise me? Another thing I would like in my camera is to increase ISO a bit higher with out it affecting the photo too much. I live in Scotland and we dont get that many days where the light is good. I would be grateful for any advice on this and I would even consider another make if it gave me what I am looking for. In a nut shell I want a camera that takes good flight/motion shots, that locks on fast when focusing and one that you can crank the ISO up with out it having too much affect on the quality. My budget is around £2000. Hope some one can help, thanks.

[shagbat]

Hi Fudgy,
I've been using the D300 for 2 years, after upgrading from D70S.
It is a far superior camera and will meter with older manual AI lenses,
(which can be had relatively cheaply now and I cannot see why anyone would want autofocus on a macro lens)
ie, my old Nikkor micro. I can go to 1600 if really pushed and get very acceptable results.
I also use the Sigma 50-500 OS and am very pleased with that.
The OS is good for about 2 extra stops, not really the 4 stops Sigma claim.
Hope this helps.
S

[momji1971]

Hi Fudgey,

There are two different angles to your problem.

1. Jumping to the d300 I personally wouldn't go above iso800 and then exposure has to be bang on. Exposing to the right of the histogram helps here. Though if you print no larger than A4 or web images you would get away with a higher iso. AF is brilliant for BIF.
The D7000 is also getting great reviews, might be worth a look.

2. Your current lens is very slow for BIF. The faster a lens the better AF will work. Think from memory your sigma at 500mm its F6.3 wide open and better at F8. If you had a lens one or two stops brighter you'd be able to drop the iso two stops and get the same speed. A lens at F4 wide open would have better AF aquisition than a lens of 6.3

Lots to think about.

regards.
Stu.

[Naturenutz]

Fudgey ive found iso 1250 fine for website images on the d300s which allows wildlife photography on those dull cloudy days . I use it with the nikon 300mm f4 AF-S plus nikon 1.4 converter. I was recommended this set up on here and i am very impressed with it when used handheld at f5.6 with converter attached.

[FUDGEY]

Thanks guys some food for thought there. I knew it wouldnt be straight forward, it never is

[marvin]

hi

if you can wait a bit there may be a d300 replacement on the way.

Nikon Rumors

cheers
tim

[The_Moaner]

Welsh Lensman 'Wayne' in Bird Gallery uses a 150-500 on his Nikon D300 and his birds in flight are EXCELLENT bar none. All his images put mine to shame.
Go and look at his images. Have a chat with him. Good Luck.

[FUDGEY]

Thanks once again I am no further forward though and for once I am not rushing into anything as I want to chose the right one.

[shagbat]

Hi again Fudgey,
In my first post to you, I enthused over the Nikon D300.
Shortly after, I noticed a blue cast on all my pics.
I checked Or thought I'd checked the white balance setting before taking it to my local camera repairer who I have used for about 10 years, having told him that I'd checked the white balance setting. We suspected the sensor,
even though it would be most unlikely for any top make camera to fail after only 2 years. After spending 45 mins in consultation, he did not want to undertake the repair as the sensor alone would have been £300+ but offered to drop it into Nikon for me, as he visits them once a week.
He has just phoned, I had mistakenly (idiot!) set the wrong white balance.
NO CHARGE FROM NIKON (I'd expected a £500 bill) and NO CHARGE FROM HIM.
He has refused to accept the handling charge I offered
So, full marks to Nikon and to BILL WRIGHTCAMERA REPAIRS of Welwyn Garden City, I recommend him to anyone. This is my way of thanking him, though I'll drop some flowers round for Mrs. Bill.
Back to the D300, I wouldn't swap mine for any other camera, even full frame
as the 1.5 crop factor is so useful for anyone using long or macro lenses.
Just buy one! Or, as others have advised, wait for it's successor.
It's gonna be a hard act to beat!
Regards in MY embarrassment,
Shagbat

[Richard G.]

There's little doubt that the D300s replacement will come this year, though it might be nearer to 2012 when it does finally arrive. It's also likely to be expensive, minimum £1500 is my guess, initially at any rate, it might be discounted a little after the initial rush.

D300s is already discounted to around £1000 new and I expect you could find a used one for significantly less. Not an easy decision this one, but I think I'd probably go with new lens first and wait for the D300s replacement later in the year.