Nikon D300S

Nikon D300S
Pro DSLR Pro DSLR
July, 2009

Summary Nikon D300S

Prices Price
Body only $1,243 - $1,697 With 85mm lens $2,227
all D300S prices
Score Snapsort rank
Within its price range #n/a of 1 Among similar cameras #n/a of 13
details details
Specifications Key specs
Sensor size Help APS-C 23.6x15.8mm Screen resolution Help 920k dots
Megapixels Help 12.2 MP Movie format Help 720p @ 24fps
Screen size Help 3.0" Light sensitivity Help 3,200 ISO
see all specifications
Lenses Lenses
Browse all Nikon D300S lenses at LensHero
Nikon D300SNikon D300S

reviewsWhat are people saying about the D300S

"The D300S is not the standout product that its predecessor was and unless you find your clients are clamoring for video footage... that shouldn't take away from an absolutely excellent product - a gently polished and refined update of a product that we considered a benchmark when it was released."
dpreview.com | talking about the camera's overall-performance
"It is significantly improved over existing Nikon DSLRs. The biggest difference it that the camera can now use its contrast-detection autofocus system while shooting movies."
dpreview.com | talking about the camera's video-quality
"Excellent high ISO performance with low noise and good levels of detail"
dpreview.com | talking about the camera's iso-noise

Videos

Nikon D300S First Impression V...

Nikon D300s review

Canon EOS 7D vs Nikon D300S - ...
Nikon D300S First Impression Video by DigitalRev
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 Nikon D300s review
  • Review
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  • Image quality
 Canon EOS 7D vs Nikon D300S - Which one is better?
  • Sample video
  • 24p

Browse all Nikon D300S videos

Pros

The Nikon D300S vs other recent DSLRs

Focus points Many focus points Help
51
Viewfinder Doesn't use battery, see more detail Help
Pentaprism
Viewfinder coverage Above average viewfinder coverage Help
100%
Storage slots More storage slots Help
2
Startup delay Short startup delay Help
300 ms startup delay
Weather sealed Weather sealed Help
Shoot in extreme weather
Lens availability More lenses available Help
169 lenses
Fastest shutter speed Fast shutter speed Help
1/8000 of a second

The Nikon D300S vs other recent pro DSLRs

Size Quite small Help
Professional size 147x114x74 mm
Thickness Thin Help
2.9"
Lowest price Inexpensive Help
$1,242.59
Built-in flash Built-in flash Help
External flash not needed

Cons

The Nikon D300S vs other recent DSLRs

Screen flips out Fixed screen Help
Less flexible
Autofocus Manual focus only Help
None
3D Doesn't take 3D photos Help
No 3d support
Announced Old Help
July, 2009
Weight Heavy Help
938 g
Image stabilization No image stabilization Help
Risk of blur
Panorama Lacks in-camera panoramas Help
You could stitch photos in post
Shutter lag Longer shutter lag Help
225 ms shutter lag
HDR Lacks in-camera HDR Help
You could do HDR manually

The Nikon D300S vs other recent pro DSLRs

Overall image quality Low overall image quality Help
70.0
Movie format HD movies Help
720p @ 24fps
Viewfinder size Small viewfinder Help
0.62x
Sensor size Small sensor Help
APS-C 23.6x15.8mm
GPS No GPS Help
Missing geo-tagging
Light sensitivity (boost) Low boost light sensitivity Help
6,400 ISO
Low light performance Very noisy at high ISO Help
787 ISO
Color depth Less color depth Help
22.5 bits
Screen size Below average sized screen Help
3.0"
True resolution Lower true resolution Help
12.2 MP
Light sensitivity Poor maximum light sensitivity Help
3,200 ISO

dxomark

DXOMark

Appearance

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Discussion What do you think about the Nikon D300S?

Speech is free, but discussion at Snapsort is moderated! Please discuss your opinion of this camera here, and discuss feedback for Snapsort at our support community.

Showing 6 comments

Avatar for Ian Rees Ian Rees (10:15 PM, March 02, 2013)
I have a Nikon d300s, what I found was if your using it in low light and changing the cf memory card it is very easy to insert the new card the wrong way as I found much to my cost as it cost me over £200 to get it fixed as the guarantee does not cover this so you have to be very careful when changing that card, otherwise its a great camera
 
Paul (10:20 PM, March 17, 2012)
This camera is just amazing. Even though it is almost obsolete now, it still kicks ass! The only thing I don't like is that the noise becomes just horrible at ISO higher than 1600 - everything else is just perfect with this camera. But you can still take great photos even in low light using external flash. I really love my D300s, it is the product of superb quality and reliability.
 
Letucuong (7:51 AM, January 06, 2012)
I love this camera too!
 
Nono (7:49 AM, February 21, 2011)
small size pro dslr (smaller sensor)
suitable for me, i think
 
Francisco Pereira Andrade (11:46 PM, January 26, 2011)
I don't like the Nikon D300s, I love this camera !
 
Mathew (10:03 PM, December 01, 2010)
Very good camera for sports photography.