Nikon D300 Advice Pls

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SuperCNJ

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Morning Chaps,

I've been looking at getting a Nikon D300 to replace my D40X for sometime now. The D40X is good but has been a bit restrictive for what I want to do.

I have placed an order for a D300 now which I should get in the next few weeks. Although I have done a lot of reading up on this camera I would like to know if there are things I should look out/check for when it arrives.

I read that there are firmware updates which I should get but are there any known faults, areas of poor workmanship/design etc that I should check when it arrives?

Also, which version of the "Compact Flash" memory cards should I get for it? There seems to be different speeds etc... I'm looking at a 8Gb card. Any pointers?

Cheers (y)
 
with regard to memory stick with 4gb cards, sandisk extreme III are a good one to go for good speed/cost ratio.

Extreme 4 are faster, but unless you are gonna go 6fps in raw all day long ( sports ) then the extreme III is perfectly adequate.

What lenses have you got?
 
Thanks, I will have a look at the extreme 3 cards. Saw a few on ebay for around £20-£30 which seems ok.

I only have a 18-200 VR and the standard 18-55 at the moment but did have a 70-300 but had to get rid of it to fund the D300. My next lenses will probably be the Sigma 10-20 and a 50mm prime when cash becomes available.

Just out of interest, have you had any problems with your D300 at all?
 
no problems at all... the JPEGs from a D300 arnt as sharp as from the D40, USE RAW and PP for top results.

Ive got the 18-55 VR lens and its Tack Sharp. Ive had an 18-200 on loan from lenses for hire but i prefer the quality of the 18-55 over the handiness of the 18-200, so im going to get the 70-300 VR for my telephoto needs.

Remember a fixed 50 comes out at equivalent 75mm on a crop body, if funds allow the 35mm f2 would probably be better.


Play.com or amazon are the cheapest for extreme III cards.
 
SuperCNJ said:
Thanks, I will have a look at the extreme 3 cards. Saw a few on ebay for around £20-£30 which seems ok.

I only have a 18-200 VR and the standard 18-55 at the moment but did have a 70-300 but had to get rid of it to fund the D300. My next lenses will probably be the Sigma 10-20 and a 50mm prime when cash becomes available.

Just out of interest, have you had any problems with your D300 at all?
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DO NOT buy CF cards on Ebay, it is awash with fakes. PC World have a Price beater offer on which sees the 4gb Extreme III at just over £14, which is £3 or so cheaper than Play.com
 
Flash In The Pan said:
DO NOT buy CF cards on Ebay, it is awash with fakes. PC World have a Price beater offer on which sees the 4gb Extreme III at just over £14, which is £3 or so cheaper than Play.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. :) Must admit its pretty tempting seeing the 8Gb CF cards go for £30 delivered though. Any idea how much the 8Gb ones are in PC world?

Also, wheres the cheapest place for the battery grip?

Oh theres one other thing I want to know though, it states that the life span on the shutter is approx 150,000 actuations, has anyone exceeded this? Any problems?
 
Got my grip from Kerso for £150, no problems with my d300 either
 
SuperCNJ said:
Thanks for the heads up. :) Must admit its pretty tempting seeing the 8Gb CF cards go for £30 delivered though. Any idea how much the 8Gb ones are in PC world?



Oh theres one other thing I want to know though, it states that the life span on the shutter is approx 150,000 actuations, has anyone exceeded this? Any problems?
Click to expand...

PC World don't do the 8gb cards, just the 2 +4gb ones.

I wouldn't worry about exceeding 150,000 actuations, even at 1000 shots a week it'll take you 3 years to get to that figure, by which point Nikon will be onto the D500 and your D300 will be worthless anyway :LOL:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
PC World have a Price beater offer on which sees the 4gb Extreme III at just over £14, which is £3 or so cheaper than Play.com
Click to expand...

Can I ask how I would go about getting a Sandisk Extreme III 4Gb SD card cheaper than either Play.com or Amazon from PC World?

Thanks (y)
 
No issues with my D300 and it's about three months old. No updates on it yet but I want to add the D2x firmware and the one that Nikon have released, which I forget the name lol.

I decided to go for the Sandsik Extreme IV 4gb cards as I need the speed for using RAW in motorsport. If you want my tuppence, stick to 4gb cards as losing 8gb worth of data is A LOT to lose compared to the smaller sizes (IF it happens!)

Look on http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat2.html for all the current Sandisk CF comparison prices. :)
 
Naith said:
Can I ask how I would go about getting a Sandisk Extreme III 4Gb SD card cheaper than either Play.com or Amazon from PC World?

Thanks (y)
Click to expand...

Have a look at PCW's Price Beater Guarantee, on the front page of their site.


Shak said:
No issues with my D300 and it's about three months old. No updates on it yet but I want to add the D2x firmware and the one that Nikon have released, which I forget the name lol.
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It's not D2x firmware, but rather a picture mode (for jpegs and raws processed through Capture NX) which simulates the image style of the D2x.

The firmware update (1.03) can be dowloaded from Nikon's site and is relatively easy to install, although, to be honest,it only really addresses the battery indicator reading error which affected a few cameras.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
PC World don't do the 8gb cards, just the 2 +4gb ones.

I wouldn't worry about exceeding 150,000 actuations, even at 1000 shots a week it'll take you 3 years to get to that figure, by which point Nikon will be onto the D500 and your D300 will be worthless anyway :LOL:
Click to expand...

lol true! I was just thinking if I do happen to sell it later, whether it would still have a lot of life left in it really... still, on the other hand, I think its a camera ahead of its time so it'll probably be good for some time.:bonk:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The firmware update (1.03) can be dowloaded from Nikon's site and is relatively easy to install, although, to be honest,it only really addresses the battery indicator reading error which affected a few cameras.
Click to expand...

If I'm buying a new camera (UK one) is it likely to have this new firmware pre-installed? I'm getting it from dixons btw.
 
Shak said:
No issues with my D300 and it's about three months old. No updates on it yet but I want to add the D2x firmware and the one that Nikon have released, which I forget the name lol.

I decided to go for the Sandsik Extreme IV 4gb cards as I need the speed for using RAW in motorsport. If you want my tuppence, stick to 4gb cards as losing 8gb worth of data is A LOT to lose compared to the smaller sizes (IF it happens!)

Look on http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat2.html for all the current Sandisk CF comparison prices. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that mate. It does seem that most peeps prefer the 4Gb over the 8Gb probably for the same reason you described. I'll probably pick up a 4gb first to get used to the camera and pick up some more when I go to Hong Kong later this year! :woot:
 
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