Anyone move from a D80 to a D300? Comments?

Bevel Heaven · Dec 21, 2007

Greets

If you own and regularly shot with a D80 and moved up to a D300 and have been using it a bit, Please tell me what you find to be the most significant changes, or PROS/CONS etc. A comparo is what I am after.... Things you noticed, big pluses, big letdowns [what?] or whatever..... Please tell me your personal experience in the whole deal.... Was it worth the expense etc

I don't want to hear from anyone who doesn't OWN a D80 and hasn't just stepped up and bought the D300 so if you are one of those know-it-alls that hangs out all day on this forum berating folks PLEASE don't bother posting your comments based on what you have read in reviews etc [I can/have read those on my own thank you very much] and besides, I don't really care what you have to say anyways...

:sexywink:

I am only interested in real world experience here. Thank you in advance.

Trenton Romulox · Dec 21, 2007

I moved from a D80 to D300 a week ago today. I had the D80, it was my first camera, since January of this year and thought it was great. But, I wanted something that was better in low-light, so I got a D300, and it was totally worth it. The D300 has a super rugged body and it just feels nicer than the D80 holding it and using it. The LCD on the D300 is amazing, the best I've ever seen on a camera, and live-view is a nice addition, especially when shooting with a tripod. The D300 shoots with more vivid colors and sharpness in my opinion than the D80, at default settings. The high-ISO performance on the D300 is much better than that on the D80. I get similar noise at ISO 2500 on the D300 that I did at ISO 800 on the D80, so that's great if you shoot in low-light environments.

So, pros of moving from D80 to D300:
-D300 has an amazing body (rugged, well-sealed, better ergonomics)
-D300 has an awesome LCD (crisp, big, live-view)
-D300 has great image performance (D80, to me, has only good image performance)
-D300 has the best high-ISO performance on any camera I've used

Cons of moving from D80 to D300:
-The D300 is rather costly

In summation: It's worth the upgrade if you want a rugged body and value a large, crisp LCD. It's worth the upgrade if you shoot at high-ISOs. It's not worth the upgrade if you're just looking for more resolution.

sabbath999 · Dec 22, 2007

Ok, I have had my D300 for about 3 weeks now, moving up from a D80. I haven't gotten to shoot it very much other than doing sports (baskeball), but I can tell you what I know of as of right now:

1) IQ is MUCH better. Frankly, I was shocked how much better it is. The whole Active D-Lighting thing is the bomb, it keeps highlights from getting blown out, and gives more honest color tones.

2) This prolly won't matter to you if you don't have a 105 f/2.8 VR, but the unlike on the D80 the stupid lens actually autofocuses correctly without hunting. Not that big of a deal because I mostly manually focus doing macro work anyway, but I thought I would mention it.

3) More buttons... however this is an advantage of the D200 as well, where it is much easier to use the ISO button, etc.

4) 6FPS motor drives seems REALLY fast after the 3FPS of the D80

5) To my eye, the meter is off two thirds of a stop, just like the D80's was, but unlike the D200.

6) The "Live View" thing might well be great for people shooting architecture, but I find it of no use. I was not disappointed in it... it does actually work... it is just not a function that I will use.

7) Automatic dust sensor cleaning is nice in theory... In practice? I assume so, I haven't seen any dust yet.

8) I was going to be shooting it all day today on subjects other than sports, but caught a nasty flu bug (stomach flu) so I can't give you any more details than this.