D300 - 8fps without vertical grip

Since the D200, it has been a basic thought that burst rate was dictated by the amount of power the batteries were able to put out for the shutter. That's why, at the time when the D200 was the newest Nikon camera, it was only able to shoot at 5 frames per second (fps). With the dawn of the 6fps D300, we learned that wasn't the case. The battery could put out enough power for at least 6fps. Anything more than that requires more power - hence the need for the vertical grip to achieve the D300's maximum 8fps burst rate.

What I'm about to show is that the battery is actually capable of more than that.

I'm going to show you have to get 8fps WITHOUT the vertical grip.

There are, of course, limitations to the method I'm about to show you. Nevertheless, it's a pretty cool trick.



Limitations:

1) You can only get 9 frames at a time. Since I set the camera on a bracketing burst, the camera will only shoot 9 frames continuously. After that, you'll have to depress the shutter again to get another 9 maximum frames. This means you only get a little over a second of continuous shooting. BUT, that's not so bad considering you're doing it without the vertical grip. If you know for sure you need a little fast frame rate for a specific thing (like say the middle of a ice skating routine or a golfers celebration) then you can quickly get 8fps speed just by holding the FUNC button while you shoot.

2) You can't use flash. It's questionable to be using flash on a 8fps burst anyway. You're flash won't be able to recharge to a high enough level to be very reliable. So, this trick is no good for that.

3) You have to shoot in (S)ingle shot shooting mode. It's too bad you can't go from Continuous High at 6fps straight to 8fps with FUNC button held down. I've tried and it doesn't work. So, if you want 8fps, you're going to have to sacrifice the 6fps convenience.

4) Not a reliable way to shoot a whole event. Who wants to hold a button down while you press the shutter? That can and will get annoying very quickly, especially considering you have to shoot in Single shot mode. So, if you forget to hold down the FUNC button, you'll be pleasantly surprised with a camera that is not shooting continuously when you've taken it for granted the whole time.

To go back to the battery power discussion - I guess we'll never know if power is the limitation to higher burst rate. We know now that it has at least enough power to take the D300 to 8fps for 9 frames without assistance by a second battery. If power really isn't an issue, then I would really like to know what is. If it isn't, then there is really no reason for the D300 to be limited to 6fps. That is unless they are limiting the camera just to market the vertical grip, which is currently selling for a little less than $200. You can't have everything you want, I guess.

Anyway, that's all I have the energy for right now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Good night.