My D300 vs D90 vs D300s theory

I have been looking at the web site Dxomark.com and comparing Nikons. Despite the D90 being a "lower speced" camera to the D300 it rates better in every regard according to the dxomark tests. I put this down to newer technology.

My main interests are high iso and dynamic range.

Sooo.... can I expect the D300s to be better again? Or will its specs be tied to the D300.

Dxomark haven't as yet included the D300s in their test results. I emailed them asknig when but no reply.

Thanks to Sam Chae my Nexus D200 housing can fit the D300 but I feel the D300 camera may not be a quantum enough leap for the dollars. I am happy to forego video controls to put the D300s inside only if it is better with high iso and dynamic range.

Any thoughts?

Mary

I have been looking at the web site Dxomark.com and comparing Nikons. Despite the D90 being a "lower speced" camera to the D300 it rates better in every regard according to the dxomark tests. I put this down to newer technology.

 

My main interests are high iso and dynamic range.

 

Sooo.... can I expect the D300s to be better again? Or will its specs be tied to the D300.

 

Dxomark haven't as yet included the D300s in their test results. I emailed them asknig when but no reply.

 

Thanks to Sam Chae my Nexus D200 housing can fit the D300 but I feel the D300 camera may not be a quantum enough leap for the dollars. I am happy to forego video controls to put the D300s inside only if it is better with high iso and dynamic range.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Mary

In DPReview's testing of the D90, they say the D300 still out performs the D90. Just another data point. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD90/page33.asp

Nikon says the sensor in the D300s is the same as D300, but they could have improved other parts of the processing chain to get better IQ. But my guess is any improvement would be minimal. Personally I'm keeping my D300 as I'm quite happy with it and I don't need video. I would say if you can find a good used D300 that would be a good bargain, and shoot 14 bits RAW for the best dynamic range. If you really need great high ISO performance then the D700 is the way to go over D90, D300 or D300s. I owned a D200, and IMHO the D300 is a big quantum leap over the D200. The D300 is even than my D2x. So I would say it is a totally worth while upgrade to refit your housing to either the D300 or D300s.

Cheers,

alan

Ken Rockwell covers the differences pretty well:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d300s.htm

I have been looking at the web site Dxomark.com and comparing Nikons. Despite the D90 being a "lower speced" camera to the D300 it rates better in every regard according to the dxomark tests. I put this down to newer technology.

 

My main interests are high iso and dynamic range.

 

Sooo.... can I expect the D300s to be better again? Or will its specs be tied to the D300.

 

Dxomark haven't as yet included the D300s in their test results. I emailed them asknig when but no reply.

 

Thanks to Sam Chae my Nexus D200 housing can fit the D300 but I feel the D300 camera may not be a quantum enough leap for the dollars. I am happy to forego video controls to put the D300s inside only if it is better with high iso and dynamic range.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Mary

Between the D90, D300 and D300s I think you would be hard-pressed to notice anything all that different with respect to the raw files that come out of them ... what differs is build and features.

The D300s is supposed to have better interface, faster AF, video, dual-cards and quiet mode ... if I were gonna get a backup for my D700, I'd get a regular D300 ... if it were my go-to camera I'd probably get the D300s.

The D90 just isn't built as well - takes mighty fine images, but doesn't have mirror lockup and isn't really built like the '000 series - deal-breakers for me.

I owned a D90 and a D300. I hated the D300. I couldn't get a decent exposure out of it. Maybe I just didn't understand it's metering, but I really hated the D300. The D90 was a far superior camera to the D300 IMHO. Plus, the D300 weighs too much. It is like carrying a brick around. The D90 beats the D300. I expect the D90 will beat the D300s as well, at least in my hands.

I hated the D300. I couldn't get a decent exposure out of it

There's certainly no good reason you shouldn't be able to "get a decent exposure" with a D300 - that's most certainly operator error and most likely not the camera's fault.

There's certainly no good reason you shouldn't be able to "get a decent exposure" with a D300 - that's most certainly operator error and most likely not the camera's fault.

Either that or there's something wrong with your copy of D300. Have you thought about sending it into Nikon Service to have it checked out? I've 3 D300 bodies and I've to say its metering is very accurate even in tough lighting situations.

There's certainly no good reason you shouldn't be able to "get a decent exposure" with a D300 - that's most certainly operator error and most likely not the camera's fault.

I am sure you are right about operator error, although I am quite well versed in DSLR's and photography in general. If you love doing everything manually, and trying 3 different exposure setting for each situations, the D300 is a dream come true

However, there is no doubt about the weight difference between the 2 cameras. The weight of the D300 was a huge turn-off for me. YMMV.

I don't want to hi-jack this topic any more than I have, so I'll be quiet now, and sit in the corner

I know your main interest was not video, but I thought I would add this to the thread for the interest of others. In our initial testing, the bitrate of the HD video on the D300s is much higher than the D90 - 23Mbps vs. 9Mbps. This is a significant improvement, and will hopefully lead to less artifacts in the footage.

From a practical standpoint, the D300 and D300s are outstanding cameras in terms of build quality. The weather sealing and ruggedness are definitely superior to the D90. Yes they are heavier, but they definitely stand up to abuse better. This may be something to consider depending on your applications outside of the housing.

Best regards,

Sterling

Thanks everyone for your input. But I think I need to clarify my situation...

I have no interest in video and the D90 is not an option. I don't have a housing for that one. But I can house the D300/s

I was wondering if it was worth paying extra for the D300s over the D300 based on IQ alone. In particular high iso and dynamic range. And was using dxomarks' test results who claim D90 was better than D300 in these regards to extrapolate the D300s would be better again??????

Mary

Thanks everyone for your input. But I think I need to clarify my situation...

 

I have no interest in video and the D90 is not an option. I don't have a housing for that one. But I can house the D300/s

 

I was wondering if it was worth paying extra for the D300s over the D300 based on IQ alone. In particular high iso and dynamic range. And was using dxomarks' test results who claim D90 was better than D300 in these regards to extrapolate the D300s would be better again??????

 

Mary

This person was not impressed with the D300s over the D300. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opini...p;opinion=43453

However, if I was going to the expense of changing a housing to fit one or the other, I'd pay the extra money for the D300s. Not really that much more money than a D300.