If you had a D300 but wanted some video capability plus most of the features of a D300, would you buy a D300s or a D7000?"
I currently own a D300 and a D7000 which I bought with the idea of selling the D300. However, the D300 is more "pro" in terms of its ergonomics. OTOH I do like the dual cards and higher megapixels of the D7000. My primary uses of a DX body are for high school soccer, football, and golf. I use the MB-D10 and D11.
Although the D7000 is missing a couple of the features of the D300 I am starting to get used to it. As an FYI my other camera is a D3 meaning that the D300 ergonomics are closer.
I don't take a lot of video, but it would be nice to have.
If anyone has other suggestions I am open to new ideas.
I agree with you on the ergonomics of the D300
I had a D300 and went to a D700 I recently sold it and have been playing with a friends D600 and it doesn"t feel right
I like the button layout of the D300/700 much better The D600 and the D7000 are very close
You could wait and see what the next DX camera is going to be like Hopefully it will be a D300 layout with the D7000 sensor I would pass on the D300s
Just my 2 cents
Graham,
It is up to you. From an ergonomics point of view, I would prefer the D300s as I love using my D700. For your uses, it sounds like a no brainer.
For pure IQ, I'll throw one in for the D7K. Got tired of noisy blue skies with my D300s and love the fact
the D7K shares batts with my D800. What really tipped it however, is usable ISO5000 (6400 in a pinch)
I use mine primarily for BIF & Rodeo but have been known to shoot bands in da pubs with great success.
These things may not matter to you, but I wish you well in your decision.
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality even at high ISOs above 6400. I got some cool "mood" shots of a singer at a recent event that I was photographing. There was some noise but it just added to the atmosphere of the shot.
I love my D7000. I went back and forth between the two and I settled on the cheaper D7000 for the dual cards, better sensor, and better low-light capability. With the cost savings, I bought better glass.
I have to say the D7000 for the same reasons listed above. I the the D7000 would have been a beast if it had the AF system that the D300s has. That, IMO, was its shortcomings.
I'd say the D7000 is the better camera if you look at it from point to point. Does that really matter? Not really. Ultimately, you have to like what you are using. It definitely doesn't have the 'feel'. I had to have the grip on mine when I owned it... and I really don't love grips
Another option would be to hold on to what you have now and see what gets released. Shouldn't be too long for that.
Thanks Frank. The only downside to waiting for either a D7000s or D400 is that their value take a real hit as soon as the new cameras come on the market. Having said that, I think that my argument works more for the D7000. The D300 has already depreciated quite a bit, and probably wouldn't drop that much further even if a D400 came out.
My vote is for the D7000, also. Actually, I much prefer the mode dial on the D7000 to the mode button style on the so called pro cameras. It is almost impossible for me to read what mode I am in on the top LCD display. I just wish it had the mode dial lock like the D600 because I have accidentally moved it maybe 3 or 4 times in over a year of shooting with the D7000. And from what I remember, I thought the D7000 video capability was more advanced than the D300s.
I'd say D7000....... I had a D300s... and it was paired at the time with my D700 as a backup body. Video wasn't that great on it... the 7000 does a better job in that department, although my 800 blows both of them out of the water frankly.
Unless you really need the higher buffer and FPS ... the 7000 is newer technology than the 300s, IMO the images produced by the 7K are better, and if you put a vertical grip on the 7k, it ads some nice bulk, and the ability to shoot portrait orientation with a shutter button in place - which is handy for longer lenses. At the moment, this is the camera body I use all the time with my 70-200 and 200-400... so it gets a lot of call for wildlife shooting. I am actually charging up the batteries as I type for a field trip tomorrow. I've got a bit of everything in the bag - D800, D7000, F100, and I am thinking of bringing out the Speed Graphic tomorrow.
I can't plug either CF or SD cards into my computer. I simply use a SanDisk card reader which takes both. SD cards seem so flimsy plus I don't like how the gold contacts are exposed with nothing to protect them when they are out of camera.
graham_martin wrote:
Why do hate the CF card? To me they always seemed more robust than the SD card.
The CF cards do seem more robust than the SD cards. I don't know if actually are or not. But the pins in the CF socket certainly can be damaged more easily than the SD socket. And then there is the cost factor. SD is much cheaper than the equivalent CF card. I am just more worried about misplacing the much smaller SD cards. So far, none lost. I was apprehensive about the SD cards at first but now I am a believer.
When I first started using CF cards on my old D70 I did bend the pins in the slot a couple of times. With subsequent cameras that wasn't a problem. Maybe Nikon did something to ensure that the alignment of the card with the pins was spot on. No problems so far with SD cards although, like you, I am more concerned about losing one. IIRC the D300s has one CF and one SD slot.
