Nikon D300S review

The 12-megapixel D300S could be seen as a 'maintenance release' for Nikon's pro-specified D300. The main addition is a high-definition movie mode, although other enhancements have also been made. The continuous shooting speed, for example, has risen to 7 or 8 frames per second with the optional battery pack. The D300S is no bargain, though, at around £1,350 for the body alone.

Hewn from rock?
If you do lay out what is a sizeable wad of cash, you'll get a digital SLR that feels like it's been hewn from granite. When you're not taking pictures, you could use it to bang in tent pegs or beat back grizzly bears. The continuous shooting speed is only a couple of frames per second off the fastest that money can buy, and you've got recourse to Nikon's vast array of professional lenses and accessories. If you're serious about photography, the D300S can go with you all the way.

This example was shot with the Nikkor 16-85mm VR lens, a top choice as a kit lens for the D300S. The definition's about what you'd expect from a 12-megapixel dSLR, but the quality at high ISOs is amazing (click image to enlarge)

The HD movie mode was overdue, mind, considering that the much cheaper D90 has had it for ages, and it's on the new D5000 too. If you're used to a consumer-targeted digital camera or camcorder, you'll find the need to focus before shooting something of a faff (there's no autofocus during filming), but professional film makers won't mind the D300S' more laborious approach at all.

Video quality is excellent. Films might only be shot at a 1,280x720-pixel resolution, rather than a 'Full HD', 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, but it's still a huge leap up from standard-definition movies. You can record stereo sound, too, although you'll need an external mic.

The D300S is sufficiently solid to be used as a weapon if a bear ambushes you in the woods. Once you've clubbed it to death, the D300S will also let you take fantastic photos of its corpse

The D300S' picture quality is excellent too. Colours are saturated, but still look natural. The camera's high-ISO performance is fantastic, and Nikon's 3D Color Matrix II metering copes with most situations perfectly, although a few of our test shots did come out looking rather pale.

This model gets dual CompactFlash and SD card slots too. This feature isn't provided just in case you've only got one type of memory card or the other. It also lets you shoot simultaneous back-ups on one of the cards, or save JPEGs on one and raw files on the other. It's one of the features that separates pro cameras from amateur models. Another is a shutter mechanism that's been tested to withstand 150,000 cycles.

Two flaws
But there are two things counting against the D300S. One is its price. The other is the fact that it uses an APS-C sensor (DX format in Nikon speak).