REVIEW > Nikon D300S

Nikon D300S

>> S$2,999 (body only) >> www.nikon.com.sg

The D300s is what they call an entry-level professional DSLR. Personally I’d call it a street-legal sledgehammer. Seriously though, the last thing you’d want to do is to have it make contact with anything remotely hard, but at least the sealed (and gasketed) reinforced magnesium alloy body will take the sting out of the impact, when you actually do.

The handling is much like the upper-end DSLRs in Nikon’s lineup, and is speedy as well.

This is pretty much as good as it gets with a cropped-sensor camera (upcoming Canon 7D excepted, we’ll see how that one performs); ISO performance is excellent even at 3200, and the 51-point AF (15 cross type sensors) system is possibly speedy
enough to catch the Road Runner in full flight before it goes “beep beep”!

Verdict
Despite its seemingly low megapixel count of 12.3, the D300s gives visually stunning results all the same. It handles beautifully, and there’s not much you can fault it for.

RATINGS
>> Performance: 5/5
Fast, great pictures; only flaw is its pixel count when you need humongous prints. That being said it is good for sports and
its 51-point AF is unparalleled.

>> Ease of use: 5/5
The classic Nikon system is very easy to use with plenty of shortcuts to get what you want quickly and easily.

>> Style Factor: 4/5
Not quite as cool-looking as the D700 or the D3/D3X, but its heft screams ‘pro’ all round.

>> Frills: 3.5/5
Doesn’t come with a lens but at this level, that’s normal.

>> Total: 17.5/20

QUICK SPECS
Size/Weight: Approx. 147 × 114 × 74mm / Approx. 840 g w/o battery & card
Sensor: 12.3 Megapixel, Nikon DX format (23.6 x 15.8 mm) CMOS sensor
Storage type: SD/SDHC, CF (Type 1)
File Format: NEF, TIFF, JPEG, AVI (Mono, option for external stereo mic)