Motion (7.00)

The Nikon D300S only has one frame rate option for shooting video and that’s 24p. The camera uses this frame rate no matter what video setting is used to record video. Before we describe how the D300S did in our motion test, we must note that the camera did show signs of a rolling shutter issue. We’ve seen this problem, which is characterized by significant image wobble when you pan with the camera, on all the video-capable DSLRs we’ve tested — with the exception of the Micro Four Thirds cameras from Panasonic and Olympus. More on how CamcorderInfo tests motion.

The D300S did better in our motion test than the Nikon D5000, mainly because its image had slightly less artifacting and it didn’t have a problem rendering straight lines like the D5000 did. We also felt the D300S rendered fairly smooth motion with minimal trailing or blur. Overall, however, the camera didn’t do as well in this test as the Canon 7D or the Panasonic GH1.

The Canon 7D can shoot Full HD video with a 24p or 30p frame rate. Other than the camera’s rolling shutter issue (just like the D300S), we thought the 7D captured motion quite well. Its moving image was smooth, had low levels of artifacting, and didn’t have a problem with blur.

The Nikon D5000 rendered motion in a very similar manner to the D300S, only the D5000 was a bit worse. Most noticeable was the fact that the D5000 had difficulty capturing straight lines on the black and white pinwheel. The lines there looked jagged (almost like lightning bolts), which was very distracting. The camera also showed a bit more artifacting than the D300S, which makes it the worst camera of this set when it comes to motion.

The Panasonic GH1 captured choppy motion in its Full HD 24p setting, but the camera didn’t have the rolling shutter problem that we noticed in the other models listed above. This has to do with the fact that the GH1 isn’t technically a DSLR—it’s a Micro Four Thirds camera. The GH1 is also interesting in that it offers both AVCHD and MJPEG compression options for shooting video.

Video Sharpness (8.89)

The Nikon D300S didn’t do very well in our sharpness test, although its poor showing was mainly a result of the fact that the camera has a maximum video resolution of 1280 × 720. The camera managed a horizontal sharpness of 600 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 550 lw/ph.

Full HD cameras, like the Canon 7D and Panasonic GH1, did significantly better in this test — as do most consumer camcorders that record HD video. Also surprising is the fact that the Nikon D5000 actually did slightly better than the D300S in this test, although not by much. More on how CamcorderInfo tests video sharpness.