The D300s has been discontinued in Japan, and Nikon has begun coming out with new cameras again. My choice between D300s and D7000? Neither. I'm sitting tight, thinking a D400 is just around the corner.
Two23 wrote:
The D300s has been discontinued in Japan, and Nikon has begun coming out with new cameras again. My choice between D300s and D7000? Neither. I'm sitting tight, thinking a D400 is just around the corner.
Kent in SD
+1
I'm going to wait and see whats coming later this year.
I thought, stupid discussions like that only happen in the Canon forum. Thank you, you teached me I am wrong.
Even I am a Canon shooter, I shot all 3: D 300 and D700 and 7D. I would never have imagined somebody swears on D300 IQ. It is far away below D700. I do not know the D7000 but if it does not show better IQ then D300, I guess Nikon would not have offered it.
I have both the D300s and the D7000 and so I’ll offer my 2-cents worth here. I’ve owned the D300s for almost 2 years now; it’s been my primary camera for shooting HS baseball during the spring & summer. I picked up the D7K about 6 months ago (traded up from a D90).
The first time I used the D7K for shooting HS baseball I was quite surprised by how much better the images were than those coming out of the D300s. The clarity, color and just overall quality were noticeably better. And that was using the same lens (Nikon 70-300VR) that I use(d) on the D300s, and with essentially all the same camera settings. Not that the images from the D300s are bad, it’s just when I compared the two under very similar shooting circumstances the D7K was better. A lot better? Well, maybe not by leaps and bounds, but definitely some.
I have to say though, where the D7K blows away the D300s is when shooting indoor sports. As everyone here knows trying to attain reasonably high shutter speeds to stop action, combined with less than ideal lighting, is one of photography’s eternal challenges. During the winter months I’ve been shooting flag football, various baseball clinics, and girls’ volleyball. In the past I’ve used the D300s for this, with so-so results. More often than not it was a struggle to get good images out of the D300s at ISO 3200 - even with post-production clean up (Lightroom 3). But the D7K produces way better results up to ISO 6400 (that’s my max auto-ISO threshold).
However, as others have opined, I do (much) prefer the build and feel of the D300s – especially with the 70-200/2.8 attached. And my lone annoyance with the D7K is the placement of the OK button, which is in the center of the multi-selector. When shooting sporting events I like to do a lot of quick in-camera reviews and deletions. With the D300s I can press the magnification button and the OK button with just one hand (left). With the D7K it’s a two-hand operation (right hand needed for the OK button). A minor issue I suppose, but one that bugs me nonetheless.
Regarding AF, and sports…. both cameras are sufficient for what I do. If I had to pick one or the other, I’d probably have to say that the D300s is a little bit better in this area. But I’ve never felt like the D7K is causing me to miss any shots. So it’s really not much of a factor for me. And as far as a CF vs. SD card debate – I don’t really care one way or another. They all work just fine as far as I'm concerned.
So will I keep the D300s forever and ever? Probably not – when (or if) a D400 (DX) ever comes out I’ll most likely trade up for that. Assuming it ends up being what we all hope it will be.
Since your friend already has the 3100, the 300s would give him more separation, more pro-like build with the AF points and buffer. Overall, the 7000 is much closer to the 3100 in terms of size etc.
