First Impressions: Nikon D300 - Part 1

Warning

Most of this post has camera technobabble that may or may not make sense. I'm doing the best I can to explain what I am experiencing with my new camera and if there is anything that doesn't really make sense, let me know and I'll try to be more clear on later posts.

Arrival

After anticipating the arrival of my new D300 all weekend, it finally came in via UPS Ground on Monday. It was really like Christmas morning for me, but there was no one else around to really be excited with. My dad was in the back weed wacking and my mom was at work. Tough.

The D300 box. Woot!

The camera body, nicely packaged in clear plastic.

Oh Shoot! For $1700 it sure does look small in this photo, doesn't it? It's more of a handful than this makes it out to be.

After the initial shock, I settled down... literally. I'm so lazy, I didn't even attempt to go shoot with it since that day outdoor Lawton was about 98 degrees. Sorry camera, we'll have to wait. In the meantime, I watched four movies: For Love or Money (starring Michael J. Fox), The Queen, Everything is Illuminated (Warner Independent film, you should really check it out) and Awake (starring Hayden Christiansen and Jessica Alba... it sucked, don't watch it).

Tuesday I traveled back to Norman for some work-related activities. We got proofs back for Sooner and they ended up being more of a bitch than anyone anticipated. Too long of a story for this entry. Maybe some other time. Anyway, after my day of work I felt like I finally had time and energy to go out and shoot a little bit. Having it for a couple of days without doing anything legit with it made me feel a bit useless. Time to make up for that.

So, where can I go in Norman to see what this thing can do?... wasn't too sure, so I just went to the Duck Pond. Pretty generic - the usual foliage and wildlife shots, but it seemed like a good place to at least experiment with the acclaimed color saturation of the D300.

Colors

I read everything I could and looked at plenty of shots from other people's D300, but having one in your hand really makes a difference. Boy was I surprised. THE COLORS ON THE D300 ARE ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. This camera pops everything. I NEVER see colors like this until I bump the shit out of it on Photoshop. This is awesome.

All of the following photos are straight out of the camera.

The water tower on Lindsey St. The blue sky was not this blue with the naked eye. Nikon D300, 38mm, 1/2000 at F/4.2, ISO200, Picture Control VIVID +3.

Greens and blues are particularly striking. Nikon D300, 42mm, 1/400 at F/4.5, ISO200, Picture Control VIVID +3.

Contrast is well controlled alongside the amazing color saturation. Nikon D300, 200mm, 1/160 at F/5.6, ISO200, Picture Control VIVID +3.

The sun at low horizon made for amazing orange tint on the trees and leaves. At sunset is when the camera's colors really dance. Nikon D300, 18mm, 1/640 at F/3.5, ISO200, Picture Control VIVID +3.

ISO Noise

The D300 is said to have the best ISO performance of any prosumer DSLR. I can safely say that I agree with that statement. While out at the Duck Pond, I experimented at ISOs 200, 400, 1600, 3200 and H1.0 (equivalent to ISO6400). I was comfortable with the noise levels at 800 and 1600 but also really impressed at the noise levels at 3200. I didn't expect it to be as clear as it was. It helped that I was outside and shooting subjects with bright colors. I experimented with different conditions indoors and with people's faces later in the night and was less than impressed with the noise at 3200. Might just me being very picky.

Anyway, here is an example at ISO3200. Again, all photos are only cropped and are not level edited.

I know, this is a small photo, but can you see any visible annoying noise?

Take a closer look. here is a 100% crop

Amazing! I wouldn't dream of running a D200 photo at ISO3200. Colors still look good and the noise is very manageable. 

Needless to say, I have much more shooting to do with the D300 to really put it through it's ropes. This was only an hour's worth of shooting, so I have much more to show. Hopefully the next few days with prove as fruitful as my hour at the Duck Pond. 

You may have noticed I get a real kick out of the technobabble. Hopefully it made sense.

More to come. Thanks!