The dreaded upgrade thread.....

Tractor Boy

Tractor Boy

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Nick
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I know I can hear all the groans already:lol:

Just wanted a bit of sensible advice though. I have a Nikon D40 and the lenses in my sig which I currently use for general photos of kids, family, holidays etc but I do quite a lot of wildlife, particularly birds, and have hit some limitations of the D40. I also would quite like to try proper macro at some time but that is not a major factor at present.

The main limitations for me are not enough megapixels for cropping, High ISO, not enough accuracy/ points for AF, and more fps for all things (mainly kids and a bit of motorsport). I have narrowed it down to either the D90 or D300, probably s/h unless there are any stonking deals around on current models.

What my dilema revolves around is the following:

Do the D300's 51 AF points make a big enough difference over the 11 of the D90 :shrug:?

If I go for the D90 will I regret not going for the D300 in the first place and end up upgrading again in a short while :shrug:?

And finally can I use the 70-300 AF-S with a TC on either of these?

The long long term plan is to get a 300 F4 prime and a 1.4 TC but I can't do that at the moment.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, particularly those that have owned both cameras.

Nick
 
The D300 is a better camera than the D90. I have used the D90 and own 300`s, people will say the D90 is every bit as good,it is not in my opinion.

I don`t think the 70-300 takes a TC, though I may be wrong on that score.
 
A little more on the 70-300 and a TC...

The Nikon TCs are not suitable for use behind that lens - it's a matter of the rear element of the lens being able to make contact with the glassware in the TCs. BUT, some 3rd party TCs will fit behind the lens. (another) BUT, the image quality from some of the 3rd party TCs makes cropping the image a better option.

As for the question of which body to go for, it really comes down to how much you can or are willing to spend I'm afraid. There's no doubt that the D300 is better built than the D90 and has more bells and whistles, so I would make a list of what extra features you need or want in the upgraded body and see how many extra the D300 has over the D90. If it has more of the NEEDs, then it's an obvious choice but even then, if the bank balance can't stretch to it, you'll have to save a little longer.
 
Thanks for the speedy replys folks. I think the it will be a D300 when one comes up at the right price but I wanted to make sure that the extra £££'s was really worth it over the D90. I know the D90 has had some cracking reviews but I wanted to try and canvas some 1st hand experience.

I wasn't sure about the TC and the lens, I will look a bit deeper into that one.
 
Anyone else :shrug:
 
Thanks for that John, I have read most of the reviews on both the D90 and D300 but wanted to get some idea from people who have used both. I think I am heading for a s/h D300 as a long term upgrade.
 
If you shoot with fast primes wide open, I'd say that the 51 focus is a must, compared to the 11 points on the D90 and focus/recomposing.
 
Ken Rockwell
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That man just seems to muddy the waters of choice:thumbsdown: I have got tired of his contradictions - he seems to forget what he has written before! anywho I chose the D300 and very happy with it! NO NO it aint complicated:shrug: I am getting there with it though Lots to learn alright:thumbs:
 
LASTOLITE said:
That man just seems to muddy the waters of choice:thumbsdown: I have got tired of his contradictions - he seems to forget what he has written before! anywho I chose the D300 and very happy with it! NO NO it aint complicated:shrug: I am getting there with it though Lots to learn alright:thumbs:
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Take everything with a pinch of salt, realise that he writes everything to get more web traffic and read others opinions and it can be a useful source of opinion.
 
Tractor Boy said:
Thanks for that John,
think I am heading for a s/h D300 as a long term upgrade.
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we need a smilie for "ENVY ENVY" or will this do .......:p

saving for a D90 body.......s/h about £500 and that's my limit I'm afraid !
 
Take everything with a pinch of salt, realise that he writes everything to get more web traffic and read others opinions and it can be a useful source of opinion.
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Your not wrong there - I am seeing the light:thumbs:


I saw a D300 on gumtree a week ago for £600 - body only - sold within a day of putting it up so I was told and was genuine as the chap offered it as pickup and COD

There are bargains around - Just keep searching!!
 
Cheng said:
If you shoot with fast primes wide open, I'd say that the 51 focus is a must, compared to the 11 points on the D90 and focus/recomposing.
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What confuses me is that even if the camera had 300 focus points it still wouldn't know what I wanted to focus on. Now of course you could select the point you want but I find it much quicker to focus/recompose with the centre point. Am I missing something? Maybe on a tripod it's more of a pain to recompose.
 
LASTOLITE said:
I saw a D300 on gumtree a week ago for £600 - body only - sold within a day of putting it up so I was told and was genuine as the chap offered it as pickup and COD

There are bargains around - Just keep searching!!
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You just missed an ex-demo one on Warehouse Express for £600 also. :'(
 
toph101 said:
What confuses me is that even if the camera had 300 focus points it still wouldn't know what I wanted to focus on. Now of course you could select the point you want but I find it much quicker to focus/recompose with the centre point. Am I missing something? Maybe on a tripod it's more of a pain to recompose.
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At f/1.4 the chances are that if you focus and recompose you will lose focus as the focal plane is that narrow.
 
Why not keep the D40 and spend your pennies on quality glass,after all the bodies is only as good as what it looks through .Then upgrade your boby whenever:shrug:
 
Foggy said:
At f/1.4 the chances are that if you focus and recompose you will lose focus as the focal plane is that narrow.
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I think if I had the 7Ds system where you can choose a different point or group depending on the camera orientation I would find the extra points more useful. I flick backwards and forwards between orientations constantly while rolling around on the floor shooting my kids.

Anyway, apologies for hijacking the thread somewhat ;)
 
mxfun said:
Why not keep the D40 and spend your pennies on quality glass,after all the bodies is only as good as what it looks through .Then upgrade your boby whenever:shrug:
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I had contemplated that but I am finding that 6mp just aint enough to crop for bird photo's and the AF on the D40 is not great. It is also very noticble when you push the ISO. I think that for me the best option at the moment is to upgrade the body for probably the D300 that I will keep for a good while. I will then have a wider range of lenses available than on the D40 with the built in motor. I know you should look at glass as a longer term investment and usually I would agree but for me at this time I feel the upgrade of camera body would give me more.

Thanks for all the posts folks :thumbs:.
 
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