While the dual card slots and better focusing engine are reasons enough for me to switch, I suspect that it's not enough for most D300 owners. I really don't think buyers in this category care about video, hence the price drop so quickly. The screwed up economy could have something to do with it also but I think most D300 users would rather wait until the D700 drops.
I really think the 7D is putting pressure on the D300s - either it'll drop to where it's a tough choice between the $1650 7D or the $XXX Nikon, or they'll soon introduce a D400/whatever to compete.
I'd really love to know what percentage of D300 and/or 7D buyers are actually either new to the DSLR world or system switchers, as opposed to a 7D/D300 buyer that's doing so only because they're already in the system (with either a lesser body or they need a cheaper backup)...I believe it would be interesting to see just how much importance is placed on the pro crop bodies when it comes to driving new purchases to "reel in" new customers - I'm betting if the D300s drops much more, say into the $1300 range, then it must be a pretty important sector that Nikon is willing to fight for.
If, on the other hand, the price stabilizes near the price of a 7D (which, on paper, is "better"), then perhaps Nikon knows a majority of the D300s purchases are from people that are already in the Nikon system anyway and so they can keep the prices a bit higher, knowing it's a pain in the butt to switch complete systems.
Truthfully, I was in the second boat...I already have a D200 and was looking for a new body...it came down to being between the D90 and D300...
I got a D90, but am not sure how I feel at this point...
The thing that really set me over was when I shot high school football with a D200 at night and had a 30D on my shoulder at the same time...In my opinion the 30D trumped that one...
I have a D300 and am interested in video, just not now. I'd rather buy some more lenses. Price of cameras will always drop, but lenses seem to be steadily going up. I want to buy them first. I see D700 regularly selling in $2,100 range on eBay, sometimes go for <$2,000. I would NOT buy any camera right now. Prices usually dip even more in January, just two months away. As a D300 user, there just isn't enough to make me switch to D300s. Even if the price difference between what I could sell mine for and get D300s was only $250. Rather put the money towards new 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II. Good lenses I keep. Cameras are less important and disposable.
Gregg Heckler wrote:
While the dual card slots and better focusing engine are reasons enough for me to switch, I suspect that it's not enough for most D300 owners.
I don't think the primary purpose of making a camera like the D300s is to entice D300 owners to upgrade, although those who do are certainly welcome in Nikon's eyes. Rather, I believe the purpose of this kind of refresh is precisely to have a new release, so customers aren't comparing a Canon released 6 months ago to a Nikon released two years ago... so people upgrading from a D90 or D200 have more of a reason to upgrade... and so people shooting other brands find Nikon a more attractive value proposition.
All of those other market segments do benefit significantly from the release of the D300s, even if current D300 owners feel that the improvements are limited.
When the 5DMkII became available for $2699, prices on the D700 dropped from $2999 to around $2600. Something similar has happened again. I would also expect prices on the D3s to drop to below $5000 once the 1DMkIV hits market place.
Had Nikon priced the the D3s at $4999, Canon would have priced the 1DMkIV at $4799 and the D3s would quickly drop to about $4700. I blame Nikon for the high prices.
cputeq wrote:
I really think the 7D is putting pressure on the D300s - either it'll drop to where it's a tough choice between the $1650 7D or the $XXX Nikon, or they'll soon introduce a D400/whatever to compete.
I'd really love to know what percentage of D300 and/or 7D buyers are actually either new to the DSLR world or system switchers, as opposed to a 7D/D300 buyer that's doing so only because they're already in the system (with either a lesser body or they need a cheaper backup)...I believe it would be interesting to see just how much importance is placed on the pro crop bodies when it comes to driving new purchases to "reel in" new customers - I'm betting if the D300s drops much more, say into the $1300 range, then it must be a pretty important sector that Nikon is willing to fight for.
If, on the other hand, the price stabilizes near the price of a 7D (which, on paper, is "better"), then perhaps Nikon knows a majority of the D300s purchases are from people that are already in the Nikon system anyway and so they can keep the prices a bit higher, knowing it's a pain in the butt to switch complete systems.
I moved from a 30D to the 7D and have been in the Canon system for quite a while. I would think that Canon sees the 7D as a camera that appeals to existing Canon owners rather than to users of the D300 or maybe to owners of other systems that don't have anything comparable to the 7D/D300 bodies, but even getting the existing owners to upgrade their equipment to the 7D would be pretty huge from a revenue standpoint; that's a lot of upgrades. I don't see the 7D as being one of the cameras that makes D300 users switch to Canon because regardless of which is 'better' they're both very similar, but it will certainly prevent Canon users from switching to a D300 as some were considering since prior to the 7D Canon didn't really have a D300-equivalent. As for the D300S, it will be interesting to see how that one fares in the market. I would bet that it's really a stop-gap camera offered until the D400 is announced. I do think that both Nikon and Canon see this segment as a very important one because these bodies appeal to such a wide cross-section of users.
The D200 was on sale for $599 about six months ago IIRC, and I bought mine about 2 years go.