Nikon D300

Viewfinder (9.0)
The Nikon D300 has a fixed eye-level pentaprism optical viewfinder that delivers a 100 percent view of the recorded image, up from the 95 percent view on the D200. The D300’s viewfinder is large and bright and is complemented by a clear view.

There is a Type-B BriteView Clear Matte focusing screen with superimposed focus points on it. You can add brackets and grid lines as well.

The viewfinder is surrounded on three sides by a removable rubber eyepiece. It is cushioned and feels nice, but is probably the first thing you’ll lose, as it slides off pretty easily. Peeking out from the upper right corner of the viewfinder is a diopter adjustment dial that is about the diameter of a pen. It has tiny grooves on its edge and moves within its -2 to +1 range. Several optional adapters are available for the viewfinder, including a magnifying and right-angle adapter.

Like the D200, the D300’s viewfinder has an eyepoint of 19.5mm and displays the scene at 0.94x magnification (with a 50mm lens at infinity). This means it's good for glasses wearers as well as those who use contacts or have good eyes. There is a row of information along the bottom of the viewfinder that includes the following: focus indicator, metering, auto exposure lock, shutter speed, aperture, exposure modes, flash compensation indicator, exposure compensation indicator, ISO sensitivity, number of exposures remaining, shots remaining before memory buffer fills, white balance recording indicator, exposure compensation value, flash compensation value, PC mode indicator, flash-ready indicator, FV lock indicator, flash sync indicator, aperture stop indicator, electronic analog exposure display, exposure compensation, auto ISO sensitivity indicator, and "K" appears when there are more than 1,000 exposures remaining on the memory card.

A new alternative to the viewfinder is introduced on the Nikon D300: live view technology on the LCD screen. Live view was popularized on compact digital cameras and is making its way onto DSLRs as seasoned point-and-shooters grow out of their compacts and buy into the DSLR market. Read more about this feature in the next section.

LCD Screen (9.5)
Much of the Nikon D300’s back is occupied by a glorious 3-inch LCD screen. The size isn’t the best characteristic of this screen; it’s the 921,000-dot resolution that makes the image look smoother than anything you’ve ever seen on the back of a camera. The new screen makes the D200’s 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD look cheap.

The D300’s LCD sounds much like the Sony A700’s. Both DSLRs have the same size screen with the same resolution. Several recently Sony models (including the A700 and A200)  have an interesting feature that dims the LCD when users look into the viewfinder; that isn’t included on this Nikon. The screen is blanked when you press the shutter halfways down, though.

The D300’s low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD has a tempered glass screen that could be a little fragile. Nikon includes a plastic cover that snaps over the LCD on the back; this can easily be chipped or lost. The screen itself can be seen from many angles: high, low, and to the sides to about 170 degrees. This makes it great for overhead shooting: you can get a feel for how the captured images look when you are holding the camera overhead.

The Nikon D300 was announced in August 2007 on the same day the D3 was unveiled, and both add live view technology on their high-resolution LCD screens. The D300 has two live view LCD modes: handheld and tripod. The biggest difference between the two modes is the type of autofocus employed when selected: phase-detection is used for the handheld mode and contrast-detection is used for the tripod mode.

The live view mode isn’t all-purpose. It can’t be used for Burst mode shooting, nor is it for any type of photography that needs to be hastily done. The live view shows when the shutter is pushed lightly and the drive dial is selected to "LV." The live view is a noisy endeavor; the mirror flips up to allow the live view to be shown on the LCD screen. If you want a focused view, though, you must push the AF-ON button. That makes the view black out until the button is released. When the view returns, you can then take a picture by holding down the shutter button until it clicks twice. The live view is great for portrait photography or in other circumstances when viewing the camera from afar is convenient and subjects are still and/or patient, but it's not good for candid shooting; the process of the mirror flipping up and down just takes too long.

Of note is an LCD brightness adjustment in the Setup menu. It shows a grayscale on the screen for more informed judgment. The brightness can be set from -3 to +3 in full steps.

All in all, the high-resolution 3-inch back LCD screen is pretty incredible. Nikon’s first attempt at live view is respectable and will make the D300 attractive for photographers who can’t or don’t want to be locked onto the viewfinder at all times.

The second screen is the monochrome LCD on top of the camera that provides shooting information at all times. There are vast amounts of info presented here: everything from shooting mode, shutter speed and aperture to whether a GPS unit is connected or how many frames are left in the auto bracketing sequence. The monochrome LCD can be lit up with a green backlight when the power switch is pushed to the light icon. The light stays on for only a few seconds before darkening again.

Flash (8.0)
A pop-up flash appears above the lens mount when the flash release button on the left side is pushed. There is a Flash mode button near it that has dual function: it chooses the Flash mode when pushed along with the rear control dial, and it chooses the flash exposure compensation when pushed simultaneously with the front control dial’s rotation.

The Flash modes include Front-Curtain Sync (Normal), Red-Eye Reduction, Red-Eye Reduction with Slow Sync, Slow Sync, and Rear-Curtain Sync. The flash exposure compensation can be set from -3 to +1 EV in increments of a third, half, or one EV.

The D300’s flash has a guide number of 17 at ISO 200. It can sync to 1/250 of a second, the same as the D200. The flash sync can speed up to 1/320 when used with an optional Speedlight flash.

Dedicated Nikon flashes such as the Speedlight SB-800, SB-600, and SB-R200 can be attached to the ISO 518 standard hot shoe atop the camera. For non-dedicated flashes, there is a PC sync terminal to the left of the flash when viewing from the front of the camera. Nikon’s older flash systems cannot be used with the D300; only these three Speedlights can be used on the hot shoe.

The flash coverage looks as even as it did on the D200, which is vastly improved upon from the archaic Nikon D100.

Lens Mount (9.0)
The Nikon D300 comes with the same F-mount as its other DSLRs and accepts all modern Nikkor lenses. Almost all Nikon lenses can be used, but older lenses may have some restrictions.

The D300 is fully compatible with all DX, D- and G-type AF Nikkor lenses. Standard AF Nikkor lenses are fully functional except for the new metering system on the D300. AI-P Nikkor lenses cannot use the autofocus system nor the Matrix Metering II, but are otherwise functional. Non-CPU AI Nikkor lenses can be used in the Aperture Priority and Manual modes with limited control.

Near the lens release button is a lens servo switch that moves from Single to Continuous and Manual modes. The Continuous servo activates predictive autofocus tracking technology.

The Nikon D300 is sold as the body only or packaged with one of the following lenses. With an 18-135mm lens, the D300 kit sells for $2,099, and with the 18-200mm lens, the package costs $2,539. The camera we reviewed came with a $1200 AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm lens.

One of the major criticisms of Nikon’s DSLRs is their lack of internal image stabilization; instead, you have to reply on the image stabilization features of the lenses. Nikon offers this  image stabilization, which it calls "vibration reduction," in many of its lenses, but the cost more than their standard cousins. Other DSLR manufacturers like Sony, Pentax, and Olympus are including sensor-shift stabilization.