upgrade from d90 too d300s?

ewick · May 17, 2012

I am going thru an "issue" with Best Buy right now. Not gonna get into detail but but here is the situation: Best Buy owes me a brand new d90 with kit lens or at one point I was told I could upgrade to the d300s if I pay the difference. Here is my dilema: My old D90 was used and showed wear and tear and they lost it so they are going to give me a brand new one. So take the d90 with kit lens or pay the 600 (which I can't afford if I don't eat for a week or two, joking but you get my point right?) or caugh up the difference and get just a d300s body. I currently own a 50 fixed 10-17 fisheye and a kit 18-105 as far as lens go. what makes the d300 better than the nikon other than the 52 focus points? I havfe read that it kinda sucks in low light. what are your opinions on this? thanks in advanced.

Kerbouchard · May 17, 2012

Currently, there is not a $600 difference in the D300s and the D90. Prices for both have dropped since the D4/D800 introduction which made the D700 much more affordable.

I would take the D90. If you want an upgrade, sell the brand new D90 and kit lens, add some money and look for a D700.

No telling where the prices will fall to. The D90, kit lens, accessories, box, etc, brand new should bring around $900 to a $1,000. I think the D700 will probably drop in to the $1700 range over the next few months or so.

As far as the D90 and D300s, they are dropping value pretty fast, especially with the D90 battery issues.

IByte · May 17, 2012

ewick said:
I am going thru an "issue" with Best Buy right now. Not gonna get into detail but but here is the situation: Best Buy owes me a brand new d90 with kit lens or at one point I was told I could upgrade to the d300s if I pay the difference. Here is my dilema: My old D90 was used and showed wear and tear and they lost it so they are going to give me a brand new one. So take the d90 with kit lens or pay the 600 (which I can't afford if I don't eat for a week or two, joking but you get my point right?) or caugh up the difference and get just a d300s body. I currently own a 50 fixed 10-17 fisheye and a kit 18-105 as far as lens go. what makes the d300 better than the nikon other than the 52 focus points? I havfe read that it kinda sucks in low light. what are your opinions on this? thanks in advanced.

Put it on store credit and use it for later.

Dominantly · May 17, 2012

I would stick with the D90.
DxOMark - Compare cameras side by side

coastalconn · May 17, 2012

The first obvious question is were you happy with your D90? The D90 and the D300s "share" the same sensor with minor tweaks, so low light performance is similiar. If you shoot sports/wildlife and you felt that the D90's AF system was slowing you down, or if you really like older non-cpu lenses than the D300s would be a logical choice. The D300s also has MASP and user banks, no scene modes that I am aware of, if you like scene modes... There are many other advantages such as the more robust build, micro focus, etc that you can read about anywhere on the web. I have the D90 and often think about upgrading to a D300 for the better AF module because I have been shooting birds quite often lately. I have a D200 full spectrum and I love the ergonomics of the pro dx body. I'm holding out for the mythical D400 if it ever arrives.

kassad · May 18, 2012

What about a D7000?

ZapoTeX · May 18, 2012

If you have the 18-105, a prime 50 and a fisheye, I'd forget about kit lenses. What kit lens would come with your new D90? 18-55? Useless.

I'd go with the D300s body only. Especially if you like photographing sports or wildlife. D300s's AF is a lot better than the D90's.

ewick · May 22, 2012

decisions, decisions.....

KmH · May 22, 2012

The D300s 51 AF point, 15 cross-type, Multi-CAM 3500DX autofocus module system alone is worth the higher cost when compared to the D90.

I have owned both the D300 and the D90. The D300 was better suited to my use, and had a less limiting feature set.

The following additional features are just gravy;

Full magnesium alloy metal chassis
1/8000 shutter
150,000 actuation rated shutter
2 card slots - 1 CF, 1 SD
14-bit Raw (lossless compression, including the 12-bit Raw setting)
9 Auto Exposure Brackets (AEB)
PC lighting cable port
10-pin connector
100% viewfinder
many more external controls, and better control layout
flash sync speed of 1/250 (up to 1/320 in Auto FP sync mode - built in or external flash )
more CLS control options
Live View handheld and tripod modes
CF cards and UMDA capable
up to 8 frames-per-second (FPS) in burst mode
quiet shutter release mode
1005 pixel exposure metering sensor
auto focus fine tune
can use older Nikon AI-P and non-CPU AI Nikkor lenses (with function limitations using either type)

Nikon is still recovering from the 2 natural disasters that effectively shut down all of their production for many months. In stock supplies will take more time to get back up to pre-disater levels.