Life with a D300

Mark L. Cooper -- Junction City, Ohio , Feb 05, 2010; 10:35 p.m.

Life with my D300.

I'm an amateur photographer. My first and only film SLR is a Nikon FE purchased new in 1978 and used through 2008. It still is in excellent working condition, but getting film processed and printed was becoming more and more aggravating. Developing and printing at home was not an option. I purchased an Epson scanner with negative inserts in the early 2000's, but dust removal was a pain so I ended up not using it very much. I also purchased an Epson P2200 printer at the same time. I often use the printer now. I purchased my first dSLR, the D300, in 2008. I chose not to go digital until Nikon produced a camera that fit my requirements. It had to work with my old lenses. It had to have decently high ISO quality. It had to have good control placement. The command and sub-command wheels are totally natural to me. I normally shoot in Aperture Priority mode as that is what I used on my FE for 30 years. The camera had to be robust.

I purchased my D300 on September 11, 2008 and now have 13,013 (actually 3,014 showing because the D300 rolls over at 9,999) pictures on the odometer. After reading all the reviews and threads available on photo.net I purchased the following:
1 - Nikon D300 body only
1 - Nikkor AF-S 17-55 f/2.8 G ED
1 - 77mm Nikon protection filter
1 - MB-D10 Grip
2 - extra EN-EL3e batteries (in addition to the battery that came with the D300)
2 - SanDisk 8 GB Extreme III CompactFlash Cards
1 - David Busch's Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography

In February 2009 I purchased:
1 - 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
1 - 77mm Nikon protection filter

In December 2009 I purchased
1 - Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash

After reading many of the questions posted on the Nikon forum over the last 14 months or so I'd like to address some of the issues as follows.

Picture file format
I save RAW and JPEG Small Normal. My girlfriend uses the JPEGS as-is when she emails friends. I use the RAW when printing (up to 24" x 36") and for conversion for posting on photo.net and my web site.

Battery Life
The only time I do not use the battery grip is when I have my old Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI lens mounted and that does not happen often. I generally go 2 months between charges. I rotate the batteries after they are charged. My camera is set to use the grip battery first, then switch to the internal camera battery. First off, I top off the charge on the spare battery kept in my bag. When that's topped off, I pull the battery out of the grip, place it in the charger, and place the newly charged spare in the grip. Once the old 'grip' battery is charged I exchange it for the camera battery. The camera is now fully charged and ready to go. Once the old 'camera' battery is charged I place it in the bag as the spare.

Lenses
The lens normally mounted on the camera is the 17-55mm. I have 30+ years on my FE and Nikkor 50 f/2.0 and 50 f/1.4 and they all work perfectly. I feel that if I get 10 years on the 17-55mm I'll have $120/year invested in it. It was worth it to me to go all Nikon. Same thing with the 70-200mm. $180/year seems like a reasonable expenditure for a hobby purchase. I could have gone Sigma, Tokina, etc. but I'm very happy with Nikon and am lucky to be in the position to be able to afford Nikon (within reason.....I might have to take up residence in the dog house if I came home with a $6000+ 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor). Back to the 17-55mm. It truly is a wonder. Between the relatively high ISO capability of the D300 and the 2.8 max aperture on the 17-55 there has been very times where I couldn't get the shot. It's great indoors, as a candid/portrait lens, as an outdoor walk-about lens, etc. The battery grip provides balance to this lens. Granted, it is kind of large, especially with the hood mounted. I take this setup everywhere: to work, the grocery store, walking around town, the hardware store....everywhere.

I often mount the 70-200 when we go for a walk on the farm. We have 5 (and counting) dogs that we try to walk daily on the farm. The 70-200 allows me to get in much closer than the 17-55. I can focus on individual dog movement with this lens. It's almost a macro lens. I've gotten some decent closeups of wildflowers and butterflies with this lens. Once mounted I typically carry it around for a week or two before I switch back to the 17-55. Again, I've carried it in the grocery store, hardware store, local restaurant, etc. The 70-200 is a bit large as a walk-about lens, but it's do-able.

It is worth it to me to get a 2.8 zoom. There are very few missed or blurry shots with a 2.8. I think if someone is really serious about their photography, whether amateur or pro, they should do what it takes to invest in a 2.8 lens. Or, go for some even faster primes. I'm trying to keep my lens inventory to a minimum so I'm willing to use zooms. I've not regretted it.

Because I have a manual focus 50mm f/1.4 AI that I really liked on my FE, I'm considering the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Manual focus and 50+ year old eyes wearing tri-focals don't always work out real well. There may be a macro in the future, but that's down the road a year or two.

Water resistance
We have a 170+ acre farm in SE Ohio. We have a herd of cattle and a flock of sheep. We have several out-buildings in various states of dis-repair. Just recently I lost track of my D300 with SB-900 and 70-200 attached. I put the rig on a table under an open sided pavilion prior to running after a couple of escaped sheep. Got the sheep back in the fence, got sidetracked with feeding and watering. The day moved on. The next morning I went looking for my camera in the usual 1 or 2 places I normally stash it. No luck. It had rained all night. As I walked past the pavilion in the rain I had a sinking feeling. I started to recall setting the camera down the prior day. Sure enough, it was on the table. It was covered with water. It was out of the direct rain, but it still got wet from the wind-blown rain. I picked the camera up and patted it down with a dry cloth. Turned it on and it worked like a champ. Heart failure ended and I started breathing again. Whew!!!!!

File downloads from camera to computer
I use the USB cable supplied with the D300 and Windows Explorer to transfer files. I believe the USB jack is a more robust connection than pulling the memory card from the camera, inserting in a card reader, then re-inserting in the camera. Look at the number of contacts on the USB cable and the number of pins in the memory card slot. To me it's a no-brainer. From reading posts on photo.net about camera battery consumption on earlier models, I've come to the conclusion that the D300 just sips from the battery. Powering up the camera for a file transfer is no big deal.

Once I've copied from the camera to the computer, I spot check to make sure the transfer went well. I then turn off the camera, disconnect the USB cable, turn on the camera, and re-format the memory card. Every time.

Memory cards
I chose the 8 GB SanDisk Extreme III compactFlash memory card. I purchased 2 of these with the camera. I always carry the second card in my pocket when I have the camera. Last week I was walking the farm with 5 shots on the in-camera memory card when it failed. I swapped the defective card for my spare. I lost 5 shots, but as an amateur it was not a big deal. It's going to take about 2 - 3 weeks to get a warranty replacement card from SanDisk so I ordered another card to keep on hand, just in case.

DX vs FX
With the results I'm getting with the DX format I see no need to go to the FX format. If FX cost the same as DX that would be another matter. At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, I liken todays D300 with my FE of old. I expect the FX could be compared to medium format (6 x 6, 6 x 7) of old. I printed one of my scenic photos at 24" x 36" on plain old CAD roll paper at one of my clients. It's impressive. I can't imagine how it would look if I'd used photo paper. I used an HP 130nr printer which probably doesn't show up near the top of anyone's list of photo printers.

Flash
I'm not really a fan of flash photography, but there have been times when a flash would have improved my results. I selected the SB-900 because it can easily be set to be used as an off-camera remote with the built-in flash used as the trigger. Just turn the on-off lever to 'remote.' I'm going to be taking some environmental portraits at one of my clients to be used on their web site, so I felt I needed an off-camera flash. The SB-900 has helped my farm dog photography by eliminating some distracting shadows. When you have 5 dogs running all over the place doing dog things, you don't always get the best composition.

In summary
The D300 is a very, very versatile camera. It can be set to be as automatic or as manual as desired. With inflation I suspect it is comparable in cost to my 1978 vintage FE. I have no interest in taking video with my dSLR, but the D300s will still be a worthy successor to the D300.

I hope someone finds this info useful.
Thanks - Mark

D300 17-55 f/2.8G 55mm ISO 400 1/500s f/5.6 with SB-900

Responses

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Shun Cheung , Feb 05, 2010; 10:43 p.m.

Well, I also bought a Nikon FE back in 1978, the year it was introduced and that is my very first Nikon camera (not counting the Nikkormat I had bought a year earlier), and I also have a D300 from late 2007.

However, that is where the similarity ends. Between 1978 and 2007, I bought many different Nikon cameras and lenses.

Matt Laur , Feb 05, 2010; 10:46 p.m.

Very nice, Mark, and bound to be helpful for some folks that come across what you've written. It's a little spooky how similar our experiences and habits are (um, other than having that 170 acres ... grrr!). It is indeed tremendously versatile camera, and you've got some great glass to go with it. You might indeed enjoy that 30/1.4 (I know I do), or given the setting in which you wander, look at an ultra-wide in the 10-20/24 range. Huge new creative possibilities open up.

Five dogs!

Mark L. Cooper -- Junction City, Ohio , Feb 05, 2010; 10:56 p.m.

Shun and Matt,

Thanks guys. I did purchase a second FE 4 or 5 years ago...black body for B&W film. The original FE is the silver/black, now for color only. I do have a Mamiya C330f with 3 or 4 lenses. I also have a Cirro Flex TLR made long ago in Delaware Ohio, about 1 1/2 hrs from the farm.

The farm makes it worth carrying my pager 24/7/365. We're gearing up to collect maple sap in a week or so to make some syrup.

5 dogs and counting. We just bred our oldest female to a local dog that was signed over to us for placement. We now have 3 intact females and 3 intact males. We live in a 37' motorhome. You can see where the importance of the daily walks comes in.

Mark

Jerry Litynski , Feb 05, 2010; 11:06 p.m.

"I believe the USB jack is a more robust connection than pulling the memory card from the camera, inserting in a card reader, then re-inserting in the camera."

This instance puts battery power to use in your camera, where a simple USB card reader works with your D300 resting in your camera bag. If Nikon designed the camera to put 'risk' into installing or removing the CF card, then the USB camera-to-computer connection would be fine.

[My first Nikon was a second-hand Nikon F, bought in 1971.]

Stephen Fassman , Feb 05, 2010; 11:24 p.m.

Put your 70-200 on a D700, and you'll never pick up the D300 again. If you miss Dx, you can set 1 of 3 Fn button/command dials on the camera, to switch between Fx & Dx. At Dx, those 5.8M jumbo pixels take a very presentable picture if set for Lg/Fine. And speaking of f2.8, you are absolutely correct: there is nothing like the image from the 24-70, & 14-24 riding on the D700! Nothing like it!
My lineage: F2Photomic...FE2...F4S...D70...D200...D700, and 35 years of Nikkors that all work on the later 2 bodies. (Also still working: the F2 & F4)

Mark L. Cooper -- Junction City, Ohio , Feb 05, 2010; 11:56 p.m.

Jerry - Nikon supplied the USB cable that I use on a regular basis. Why did they do that? If I was a pro photographer and filled multiple cards in a photo shoot I would be forced to change out cards. But, for my (probably typical amateur) use, the cable is the way to go. Besides, my camera is never in the bag...it's almost always close at hand ready to be used.

Stephen - At the time I purchased my D300 I believe the D700 cost around an additional $1000 on top of the approximately $1600 I paid for the D300. Also, the 70-200 isn't the only lens in my bag. So for an additional $1500+ I could have purchased a D700 and a 24-70 FX lens along with my 70-200. I'm still limited to 24" x 36" print size. Did you try a D300 before you went with the D700?

I have a 1/2 ton 4 x 4 farm truck. For several thousand more dollars I could have purchased a 3/4 ton 4 x 4. It's just not cost effective for me to spend the extra money to get that extra oomph that's needed on a very rare occasion. I have too many other uses for those extra dollars.

Thanks - Mark

Michael Kohan , Feb 06, 2010; 02:34 a.m.

In 1972 I bought my first F2 Photomic, a couple years later a second. In 2007 I traded them in for a D70s, then a few months later bought another D70s. Going on three years later, I know I'm moving to D300 bodies with the idea that they could very well be the last cameras I need to buy. I also have a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 because Nikon has nothing like it, and with the Dx sensor, a 16/17/18-50/55 2.8 (any one of them), I have the standard professional focal lengths of 24-200(+) covered. (As an aside, I used the same criteria when I bought the Nikon 18-135 for my snapshot lens, to have that range covered, for a reasonable price. I have to say, it's very sharp.)

Martin Abtman , Feb 06, 2010; 04:13 a.m.

glad to hear it Mark. D300 + 17-55 2.8 was the best combo I've had before switching to Canon. results was just amazing straight from camera without PP. made a mistake by selling it for D700...what finally made me repel from Nikon. but for now I'm thinking warm about D300 and much older D70s - that was something. real pleasure to work with...

Errol Young - Toronto, ON, CA , Feb 06, 2010; 07:51 a.m.

Jerry, CF cards can and do bend the contact pin in the camera. It happened to me and it is not easy to get it repaired. I now have a 8G card in my D300 and have never removed it. My repaired D70 still loses contact with the card from time to time.

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