First Date with D300

I took the new D300 out for a spin tonight to really see if I could put it through its paces and figure out some of the differences between it an my old D200. I've been using the D200 for a little over a year now, and while I wasn't upset with its performance, I was looking for a little more.

I'll also add that tonight's shoot didn't really stress some of the key differences in the cameras (the frame rate, the ISO performance (these were all ISO 200) etc. But I did shoot all of these images in 14-bit RAW mode (with my 17-55 2.8 lens) and processed them all in Lightroom.

It was a great sunset tonight, even if I did feel like the location was a bit lacking (no portfolio images, and I got nothing for my site tonight, but I did get to play with my new toy.) The learning curve isn't too too steep, but there are a lot of small differences that will total up to a significant difference.

After a few hours of use, my favorites are definitely the improved ergonomics of the vertical grip (the integrated multi-selector to change focus is sweeeeeeeeeet), the brighter, larger and more accurate LCD, the 14-bit mode and the autofocus.

I'll add that I don't have the new autofocus system quite mastered yet, as it's a completely new setup, but I do see its potential and think it will be an improvement, especially when I go back to shooting sports. Anyway, on to the images.






A 2.5 min. exposure.