A dpreview member from Germany had a chance to play with the Nikon D300s in a local Nikon dealer (no virtual horizon in the viewfinder?).
Electricpig has D300s unboxing pictures.
NPS Nikon D300s pre-orders will start shipping in the next few days (more pre-order option available here).
…and three new Nikon D300s videos after the break:
Videos via PhotographyBay
Related posts:
49 Comments
First!
Dumb.
Only 200 pounds difference between this and the awesome d700?
Lol, think ill keep my money thanks and wait for the 700x.
You’re forgetting the difference in the weight of the lenses…
I had a chance to use a new D300s in a Brazilian fair. I did a micro review with pics and a movie.
http://pip.fot.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43:micro-review-nikon-d300s&catid=4:cameras&Itemid=3
Just in Portuguese for now, sorry.
Thanks for the heads up on the video autofocus test Vitor. It seems very point and shoot camera like. Pretty much what I was expecting.
And no offense to Chris, Vitor, but you could have gotten a beautiful Brazilian girl to model his watch :^)
yourwelcome, I’m glad to share.
I’m going publish in HD, asap my free vimeo account permit
hehehe everyone told me that, but you understand the emotion to use the new camera
tks
No virtual horizon in the viewfinder is no big deal for me. Just use the grid lines, simple.
Man, I want to wait for a 700x so badly, but just sold my D300 (with the new model coming out, and an amazing offer from a rental house, I couldn’t say no) and I need a camera that does video for me MFA thesis in photo and video art–might have to go Canon, the 300s video is not impressive
No offense, but if you cannot take good videos with the D90/D300s, you probably won’t with the 5DMkII either.
Just like with pictures.
Cartier Bresson would take much better shots with a crappy digicam than I would with a D3X.
It’s about resolution and codec–MJPEG is killing the video versus h264 which is a rocking codec. I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment
I agree that H.264 is a rocking codec, but I’ve seen better D90 sample video than what’s shown here. I doubt this is the pinnacle of video quality from this camera.
The video actually looks pretty good for a DSLR, and one done by an amateur. I can’t tell much difference in the quality between this and Canon, as long as one compares apples to apples.
Of course with the 5dmkii you have a lot of really great videos floating around, but they were shot and edited by pros. You can’t compare the test video above with Vincent Laforet..
It has begun!!!
Oh my gosh the D300s has such a cheap CF-door! It doesn’t even have a lever such as the old D300!
Nor does the D700. This has been debated since the D700 was announced. Not a big deal for photographers who actually use the D700. I wouldn’t make an uproar about it being on the D300S.
The canon 5d2 has an even crappier CF door – in fact the whole camera is very plastic build – D700 feels like a D3x in comparison….doesn’t seem to affect the pictures or video though … And as others have noted d700 has exactly the saem door….who cares?
the stupidity of dpreview forum members is fascinating.
looking for virtual horizon in the optical viewfinder…. poor retard
alex, you’ve never used this feature before have you my friend? Scroll down to the virtual horizon viewfinder example in this link to see what all the “retards” are talking about
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond700/page8.asp
The exposure scale in the viewfinder is used as a virtual horizon ! Not the aircraft like display on the LCD.
The D300 never had this feature, correct?
One thing I noticed from the unboxing pictures, is that the D300s has this black thingy in place in the flash shoe. It’s only a small detail but I missed it on the D300. I had one on my old D50 and used that on my D300.
I’m pretty sure my D300 came with the flash shoe piece, just like my D80. Mine hasn’t been back in the shoe since I unboxed it though. I’m pretty sure your lack of one was a mistake.
my D200 didnt’ have one but my D40x did, go figure . .
It still has terrible jello video!
If the best nikon can do against the MKII is the d300s, then they are in trouble. D300 been out over 2 years and all they do it stick an extra card slot,video and a few extra fps and charge almost the same price as the d700.
Both canon and Sony have FF high resolution camera on the horizon for under $2k.
Amen to that.
“… on the horizon for under $2k” – are you comparing an announched, launched and almost/already available product against things-yet-to-come? I wouldn’t dismiss Nikon based on this.
Dude,
the Sony A850 is already in production will be out announced v shortly.
Somehow i dont think the d700x, even if it comes out this year will be anywhere near the $2000 mark. I know its aimed at a different market, but Nikon has nothing that i know lined up to match this price point for a high res F camera.
the price will come down, CALM DOWN EVERYONE!
My lord, it’s an introductory MSRP. . .no retards buy it fresh off, esp given how QC is now of these days. . .wait to Xmas 2009, it’ll be down to $1699 with rebates. . .
Excellent point Ted – I’ve already gone out and bought a canon 5d2 and a couple of lenses cause I couldn’t wait any longer. Heaps of people I know who have never even had an SLR are buying the 5d2 and lenses because of the video – not for happy snaps but for serious commercial, web and art work. It’s a dog to use and feels like a toy compared to pro Nikons but what is the alternative? D700x might be last chance to tap into this new market – might be too late already – Nikon lenses can go on canon (well some can) but once you invest in Canon lenses there’s no going back – remember what happened when canon went AF? C’mon Nikon – hurry up!
Just ordered the nikon 14-24mm, 50mm 1.4g, and pre ordered the new 70-200mm vrII. So im kinda committed to a nikon full frame camera now. I was so close to convincing myself that should just buy the d700. I would be so upset if nikon announced the d700x next month if that was the case. So here I am, with soon to be 5k worth of lenses, and no camera except my old d80 to use them on! Come on Nikon, atleast drop some hints for the d700x as you did with the d300s, which had pics and details up more than a month before it was even announced.
I got one
And its fantastic!!!
I’ll keep my D300 and D700. But I would like a D3000.
I am only able to handle just ONE camera at a time, how about you?
tested it for a few seconds at the nikon center in shinjuku.
has a gyroscope actually, kind of weird overlay of the gyroscope interface on top of your lcd screen as well, almost like a 1st person shooter video game, when trying to shoot video.
to access video, you have to press the live view button, which is doable, but strange they dont have a dedicated video mode.
Nikon lost. Everyone is buying Canon, for several reasons, for many reasons. No way for Nikon to keep up. They are making 80% sales on cameras, but only answer to canon’s FF cameras is a D300s!!! Unbelievably stupid and ignorant. They should go bankrupt, we could sell our Nikon gear to collectors for appropriate prices, at least.
getanalogue, I call an EOS 20D my own, and up the EOS 40D (which came out too early for an upgrade) i was looking forward to the 50D. Now look at the in-depth-reviews at dpreview.com: The 50D has far worse per-pixel-detail compared to the 40D, the highlight headroom is less than with the 40D and so on. Although I got three lenses for the 20D, i will switch to Nikon if the Canon EOS 60D does not return to sane pixel numbers.
What are you talking about? The “answer” (as if Canon is asking a question) to the 5D MKII is not the D300s, it’s the D700 or its successor. Why would a much cheaper camera (the D300s) be the “answer” to the 5D MKII?
And why are you even here if all you can do is make nonsensical comparisons to skew your own opinion?
I do pro arch viz photography. Simply put, My clients want the megapixels for high res prints.Im sick of having to stitch images together or scale stuff up. If Nikon carnt get a serious answer to the MKII in terms of a FF high res camera, then im going to sell my d700 and nikon glass. ive been waiting almost a year….no more.
Hmmm, spend 8k on a Nikon body, or 8k on a cannon and 3 top end lenses to go with and still get change back. Good idea Nikon.
I doubt you own a Nikon, troll.
…and forgot to mention about their quality problems: Look at their second D5000 service recall – a scandal. Even their quality image is spoilt! Maybe Canon acquired Nikon secretly? They couldn’t have done any better job to destroy Nikon.
Get a grip (in a literal sense) on the 5D Mark II: Move the grip. Yes, it MOVES. It shouldn’t, but it does. It’s not a stable body in a literal sense. And Canon does NOTHING about it.
A service recall is a scandal? No, a scandal would be if they pretended the issue doesn’t exist. The fact that Nikon addressed it is a testament to their customer service.
Seriously, why are you here?
That
Canon’s dealing with the 1DMk iii autofucs issue was so much worse and did a lot more to ruin their reputation.
Now lots are reporting focusing issues with the 5D ii
what about the 1d not being able to focus and canon completely ignoring the problem. thats a scandal. Go away you Crapnon troll.
you are a troll and the last I checked, trolls are not allowed to post in forums cuz its bad for their health
I guess I should hold onto my tried and true D2H……