Archive for the 'Nikon D300' category

The new full Frame SLR camera from Nikon is just out and there is already a little hack appearing to give it additional features. The Nikon D700 has the capacity to shoot continuously at 8fps if you use the additonal grip. Nikon Watch found a way to allow this very high frame rate without the booster grip.

It may even be working on some other models from Nikon.

Amateurs of sports photography and wildlife photography are generally well aware that the Holy Grail of lenses seems to be a (relatively) light tele-zoom lens of 100-400mm range and an aperture under f/5.6. This set of features allows a lot of versatility (tele range with the ability to quickly and easily change the frame) and a good behaviour in terms of AF (most modern AF behave correctly up to f/5.6 but no further than this).

This is the reason why the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS UM and Nikon AF 80-400mm VR f/4.5-5.6 D ED has been so successful despite their obviously high prices (around $2000). When I’m on photo safari, I’d say that about half the people around me have one of the Canons as their main lens (somtimes, it’s even their only lens).

Some time ago, Sigma added its own version of this lens (see this high-end zoom lens comparison). And it was a winner in terms of price-performance.

Now, we can expect several significant news in this range of products coming from different manufacturers.

• Sony presented about a year ago a mockup of a zoom lens corresponding well to this range. The word is out that it will be a 70-400mm f/5.6 zoom presented to the European press on August 14th (for an official launch in the beginning of September, probably at the same time Sony launches the Sony Alpha 800 and/or Sony Alpha 900 Full Frame camera(s)).
• According to some rumors (mainly originating from an unsubstantiated initial post at NikonRumours), there will soon be a Nikon AF80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR update. And this should be explaining the reduced availability of the original version.

I would even be tempted to read between the lines of a recent test article of Chasseur d’Image and say that Canon will also be hard pressed to provide an update to its aging 100-400mm. After all, it’s a real cash cow and a sure sale for owners of top- and mid-range cameras like the Canon EOS 40D (and possibly its successor EOS 50D - next year?).

There is so much uncoordinated turmoil on the Internet and all around the world (at Nikon, at distributors, at vendors) that it seems now warranted that the Nikon D700 -a sort of Full-Frame-sensored Nikon D300 or affordable Nikon D3- will be launched early next week.

I found the user manuals of several Nikon SLR cameras on the web:

• Nikon D300
• Nikon D3

It’s not only a naming game. Since people are waiting for a possible launch by Canon on the 24th of January, and since they don’t see anything coming during the waiting period, speculations abound. Now the rumour is that Canon will launch only a EOS 450D (or Rebel XTs, Rebel XTS, the silver version of 300D/Rebel XT) at the February PMA and the replacement for the Canon EOS 5D will wait until Photokina.

This would be the occasion for Canon to shoot higher than the supposed slight improvements over the 5D (with a slight name change like EOS 5D Mk II) and pile up major features to fight back Nikon and its most recent D3 and D300 (explaining a move to the more severe name change of EOS 6D or EOS 7D).

Some field tests are more demanding than others. Jan Vermeer and PhotographyBlog brought a Nikon D300 D-SLR to the South of the world: Antartica. Dry, windy and cold.

The article is interesting because it speaks about this very special environment and because it makes a good review of the new Nikon nearly-pro digital camera.

There are also a few good images of local penguins and ice-breaker.

While I was browsing the Internet I found two interesting Digital SLR reviews for recent products:

• Nikon D300 at CameraLabs
• Sony Alpha 700 at Luminous Landscape

At least during the launch period and in the UK, Nikon will include a free CD-ROM of the Capture NX excellent imaging software in the box of the new Nikon D3 and Nikon D300 cameras. Some people having perceived the price of the Nikon D300 as too high, may be tempted by this offer.

Imaging Resources has a few test images shot with a brand new Nikon D300 digital camera (click on the Samples tab). The camera seems to be up to the expected level. Despite its very high price of $1800, I would expect that quality image lovers will be hesitating even when comparing with cameras set at a lower price point (like the Canon EOS 40D or the Sony Alpha 700).

For those of you who missed the detail: The Nikon D300 is slightly more expensive than its direct competition (Sony Alpha 700 or Canon EOS 40D), but it won’t be available until mid-November of 2007. The Canon is already available (in small quantities, though) and fully released. Nikon lovers will still have to wait a little more.

Some fear that the D300 will not be in quantities before the beginning of the year but nothing seems to support such a notion.

Update : it seems that Nikon won’t be able to meet its initial release date. You can expect the camera to be available in December (can you spell “last minute Christmas shopping“?). Furthermore, the European price will take a 200€ increase. All this points to a limited manufacturing capacity (at least compared to the expectations of the public).

At the launch of the Nikon D300 camera, we learned that it would have an LCD screen of 900,000+ pixels. This seems quite impressive, however, it is a bit misleading. Once again a company decided to count dots on the screen instead of pixels. So, this screen is only a VGA (307,000 pixel LCD).

If I seems disappointed, it’s only because I feel misleaded by Nikon. But it’s still the best LCD screen on D-SLRs at the time of this writing.

Source: McNamara report.

The recent launch of the Nikon D300 and Nikon D3 was made long with the announcement of new pro telephoto lenses. Very noticeable for lovers of nature photography (with a deep pocket): the super telephoto lenses. They open at f/2.8 and f/4, they are all stabiliszed (VR) :

• 400mm f/2.8G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
• 500mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
• 600mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR

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