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Nikon D7100 vs D300s

Feb
22
2013
February 22, 2013
By 82 Comments

A lot of questions from our readers about differences between the D7100 and the D300s are rolling in, so I decided to do a separate article that compares the specifications of the two cameras. It has now been over three years since Nikon announced the D300s. Since then, both Nikon D7000 and D7100 have been announced with impressive specifications that top the D300s in a number of ways. In this Nikon D7100 vs D300s comparison, I will first go into detailed specifications, then talk about main features that differentiate the two cameras. Please keep in mind that this comparison is purely based on specifications.

Nikon D7100 compared to D300s

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Nikon D7100 DSLR Announcement

Feb
20
2013
February 20, 2013
By 88 Comments

Nikon has just announced the Nikon D7100, an update to the existing Nikon D7000 camera that was released back in September of 2010. After more than two years of waiting, many DX shooters are quite anxious to see what features Nikon added to the already excellent DSLR. Many Nikon fans and existing D300/D300s owners are also probably wondering if they will soon see an update to the high-end DX line in the form of a D400 that has remained nothing more than another rumor. With today’s Nikon D7100 announcement, we can mark the death of the high-end DX line – read below on the reasons why I think we might never see a D400.

Nikon D7100

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Nikon D7000 vs D300s

Oct
9
2010
October 9, 2010
By 250 Comments

Ever since Nikon released the new Nikon D7000, I have been getting a lot of emails from people who are asking if they should go with the D7000 or with the older Nikon D300s. To make it easier for our readers, I decided to post a quick comparison between the two in this “Nikon D7000 vs D300s” article.

Nikon D7000

The new Nikon D7000 is a new generation DSLR that sits between D90 and D300s, which can be classified as an “semi-professional DSLR”. It features a brand new sensor from Nikon, which has been specifically engineered for the Nikon D7000 and possibly other upcoming cameras. The Nikon D7000 is the second camera announced this year by Nikon with the new Expeed II processor, allowing faster image and video processing up to 1080p (the previous Expeed processor could not handle more than 720p video).

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Current Nikon rebates ending 10/02/2010

Sep
18
2010
September 18, 2010
By 15 Comments

If you are planning to buy a pro-level DSLR camera with lenses or want to upgrade your current gear, you should take advantage of the current rebates that are still being offered by Nikon until 10/02/2010:

NOTE: All of the below rebates have expired.

Lens Combos with Nikon D700

  1. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lens ($200 Off)
  2. Nikon D700 with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens ($300 Off)
  3. Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lens ($300 Off)
  4. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lens ($400 Off)
  5. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II & Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lenses ($700 Off)
  6. Nikon D700 with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lenses ($700 Off)
  7. Nikon D700 with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lenses ($1000 Off)

Lens Combos with Nikon D300s

  1. Nikon D300s with Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G Lens ($200 Off)
  2. Nikon D300s with Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Lens ($250 Off)
  3. Nikon D300s with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lens ($300 Off)
  4. Nikon D300s with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lens ($400 Off)
  5. Nikon D300s with Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II & Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lenses ($450 Off)
  6. Nikon D300s with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lenses ($700 Off)
  7. Nikon D300s with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G Lenses ($700 Off)
  8. Nikon D300s with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR ($1100 Off)

The above are all instant rebates, so you do not need to fill out any forms or wait – just add the items to the cart to get the full discount.

The most attractive of the above are obviously the last links to the Nikon trinity: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G – the top Nikon lenses for most photography needs.

I know that many readers are wondering if the D300s is still worth looking at, since the Nikon D7000 has a lower price tag and offers many more features that Nikon D300s does not. As you can see, I posted the links to Nikon D700 above Nikon D300s, because I think that D300s is not worth investing in at this point. However, if you need good lenses and have the money to spend, the last link with the three lens combo will save you $1,100, which is almost as much as the D7000 costs by itself. If you get D7000 with the three lenses, you will not be able to get the $1,100 combo discount. So, you could get a D300s and D7000 with 3 lenses at almost the same price as the D7000 body only + three lenses, which is an awesome deal!

What about D700? I was hoping for Nikon to release an update to D700 this year, but you can rest assured that it won’t happen. We won’t see an update to D700 this year and we might see a new generation camera like D800 with brand new features next year (probably 6-9 months after D400 is announced), so the D700 is safe to buy at this point.

I am in the process of writing reviews for the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR and Nikon 85mm f/1.4G lenses, which will take me some time to write. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Nikon D700 vs D300s

Apr
5
2010
April 5, 2010
By 101 Comments

Many of our readers request detailed information on the difference between the Nikon D700 and Nikon D300/D300s DSLR cameras. They wonder why there is such a big price difference, while the cameras look almost identical and the number of megapixels is the same. In this comparison, I will be providing not only feature differences between these cameras, but also high ISO samples to explain the difference between the different types of sensors used in D700 and D300/D300s.

Nikon D300s vs D700

If you are wondering about the differences between the Nikon D300 and Nikon D300s, I highly recommend to check out my Nikon D300 vs D300s comparison. Basically, Nikon D300s is an update to the Nikon D300 with more features and speed, while the sensor remains identical. The biggest changes are: more frames per second, ability to use both SD and CompactFlash memory cards and video-recording capability up to 720p HD.

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Nikon D300s vs Canon 50D High ISO Noise Comparison

Mar
18
2010
March 18, 2010
By 8 Comments

This article is to primarily show the key differences between the Nikon D300/D300s and Canon 50D and provide information on high ISO performance above ISO 800. While there is a significant difference in both features and price between these cameras, in this Nikon D300s vs Canon 50D comparison, I will primarily focus on low-light performance between these two cameras.

Major differences between the two cameras

  1. Sensor Resolution – Nikon D300/D300s is 12.3 Megapixels (4288 x 2848) while Canon 50D is 15.1 Megapixels (4752 x 3168).
  2. Pixel Pitch – Nikon D300s is 5.49 microns and Canon 50D is 4.7 microns.
  3. Crop factor – All Nikon APS-C (DX) sensors have a crop factor of 1.5x, while all Canon APS-C sensors have a crop factor of 1.6x.
  4. Autofocus focus points – Nikon D300/D300s has the same professional autofocus system as in Nikon D3/D3s/D3x with a total of 51 focus points, while the Canon 50D has a much inferior 9 focus point system.
  5. ISO – Both cameras can handle up to ISO 3200 in native mode. Nikon D300/D300s can be boosted to ISO 6,400, while Canon 50D can go up to ISO 12,800.
  6. Wireless flash master – Nikon D300/D300s has a built-in flash that can be used as a master flash to control other Nikon flashes, while Canon 50D does not have such feature.
  7. Exposure compensation – Most Nikon cameras can handle -5 to +5 EV, while Canon 50D can only handle -2 to +2 EV.
  8. Frames per second – very similar performance between the cameras. Nikon D300 is 6 FPS, Nikon D300s is 7 FPS and Canon 50D is 6.3 FPS. With the MB-D10 battery pack both Nikon D300 and D300s can shoot 8 frames per second.
  9. Movie mode – Nikon D300s can handle 720p video and Canon 50D has no video support.
  10. Viewfinder coverage – 100% on Nikon D300/D300s and 95% on Canon 50D (pentaprism on both).
  11. Weight – Canon 50D is lighter (730g) than Nikon D300/D300s (840g).
  12. Custom Functions – 25 on Canon 50D and 48 on Nikon D300/D300s.
  13. Price – Canon 50D is currently selling for $925 at B&H and Nikon D300s is $1,519.

High ISO Comparison

Let’s move on to high ISO tests for both Nikon D300s and Canon 50D. Here is what I photographed for this test:

Sample

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Nikon D300 vs D300s

Jul
27
2009
July 27, 2009
By 91 Comments

Nikon has just announced the new Nikon D300s, so I decided to post a quick comparison between the old Nikon D300 and the new Nikon D300s.

Nikon D300s

Nikon D300s

Basically, the new D300s is exactly the same camera as the D300 in terms of features, except for the following:

  1. D300s shoots HD movies at 720p resolution, 24 FPS with stereo audio. Maximum length is 5 minutes for 720p and 20 mins for lower video resolutions.
  2. D300s is slightly faster than the D300, shooting 7 FPS in Ch mode (Nikon D300 is 6 FPS). With MB-D10 battery pack, it will shoot 8 FPS.
  3. A new release mode “Q” (quiet shutter-release) is added to the dial right after Ch (continuous high speed).
  4. Dual card slots – the Nikon D300s features dual card slots to work with both CompactFlash and SD (SDHC-compliant) cards. Either card can be used as the primary card. Secondary card can be used for overflow or backup storage, or for separate storage of NEF (RAW) and JPEG images and images can be copied between cards.
  5. Active D-Lighting now has “Auto” and “Extra High” added. “Auto” is something expected, as both D700 and D90 have this mode. The “Extra High” is something new though.
  6. Nikon D300s is slightly heavier than the D300, adding 15 more grams of weight, weighing total 840g total.
  7. Nikon D300s has a dedicated “Lv” (LiveView) and “Info” buttons on the back of the camera.
  8. Nikon D300s has a virtual horizon now (D300 did not).
Nikon D300s Back

Nikon D300s Back

Along with the new Nikon D300s, Nikon released an entry-level Nikon D3000 (which replaces D60) and two updated lenses – Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 DX and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II. I really don’t care about the 18-200mm lens update, since I sold mine and I’d rather be shooting with quality primes instead, but the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II is definitely a worthy update that everyone has been waiting for. However, the 70-200mm price point left me scratching my head…$2,400 is too darn expensive! That’s $500 over what the current version of 70-200mm f/2.8 is selling for.

Is D300s worth the upgrade? If you already have a D300 and do not care about the video feature (which kind of sucks, since I was expecting full HD at 1080p), it is not worth the upgrade. The sensor of the new D300s is basically identical to the older D300. It is nice that the D300s has dual slots and faster frame rate, but it is nothing extraordinary.

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