Nikon D300

[Cussy]

I don't wish to make Steve's (SDB66521) thread on the D80 go off on a tangent again, but we had a little discussion about the D300. Finally it would appear that underwater photos are starting to appear: Futo Info.

Nothing in those images say "I want one", just goes to prove the camera is just a tool.....
Rob

[Cussy]

Well, what difference the photographer can make:
Underwater Camera Articles: First dives with the Nikon D300
These shots are very impressive. Looks like the D300 is definitely worth looking at.
Rob

[GLOC]

Nice...all I need is a load of people to rush and get the D300 and ditch their D200s and I will be quids in!!

Well, maybe not, maybe alot of money down

There is always the money fairy to believe in!

[pauldiving]

just been into lce bath and d200 price is dropping,

are fuji made by nikon? the s5 i think looks identical......

new sigma 14 mp are on e-bay selling cheap.. any views on this one?

[GLOC]

Fuji and Nikon use the same bodies but their insides are different including the sensors.

The S2 Pro was the same as the D100 (almost) and the D300 is the same chassis and body as the S5. I liked the S2 over the D100, but I am looking at a D200 for the not too distant future but I have the added expenditure that I need a second body for wedding work and I may as well have that body the same as my first camera so an upgrade would be 2 x D200 and an Aquatica Housing. Best part of 2 grand for the whole sheebang

Scooter or new housing...

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by pauldiving

new sigma 14 mp are on e-bay selling cheap.. any views on this one?

The sensor in these is really different. In a normal sensor you have 2 greens, a red and a blue arranged in a square (Bayer pattern). In the Sigma it has three separate layers for R, G and B stacked on top of each other. So in the Sigma chip each photocell is bigger, so in theory would be better at high ISO as there should be less noise (you need 4 photo elements to make up a digital pixel). There are plenty of sites comparing the different types of sensor. Looking at the noise levels in the D300 and D3 I think Bayer still has a lot of life in it.

If you're talking underwater, only one housing available.
Rob

PS think ChristianG said he had one

[pauldiving]

Originally Posted by GLOC

Fuji and Nikon use the same bodies but their insides are different including the sensors.

The S2 Pro was the same as the D100 (almost) and the D300 is the same chassis and body as the S5. I liked the S2 over the D100, but I am looking at a D200 for the not too distant future but I have the added expenditure that I need a second body for wedding work and I may as well have that body the same as my first camera so an upgrade would be 2 x D200 and an Aquatica Housing. Best part of 2 grand for the whole sheebang

Scooter or new housing...

suppose you can get some bucks back if your doing weddings, get both, you cant fin all the time! bad for the heart ha ha

[Rob Dobson]

I spent quite a lot of time in camera shops whilst out San Francisco over Xmas. I was after a D200 but after talking to several camera guys in different stores in different parts of the city the consensus of opinion seemed to be along the lines of:

"People who know cameras buy Canon these days. People who like badges buy Nikon."

All of the stores had Nikon D200 and D300's for sale and all pointed me towards the EOS 40D as being the better setup. Probably in terms of VFM as far as the N300 went instead of outright performance but nobody seemed to want to give the 200 the time of day. "why buy a dead camera that's still really over priced?" was how one guy put it.

[GLOC]

Some good points. But I will be buying second-hand and I want to continue to use the Nikon glass I have and the Aquatica ports.

There is no way I could afford to buy a new UW SLR setup (Canon, Nikon or Fuji) which would be in the region of £5k whereas, if I had the money, I could pick up a D200 setup for less than £2k as I would only need to replace the body and housing. It is quite amusing watching people upgrade on the whim of the new camera and not using all of the features. I am still very impressed with what I can achieve with my S2 despite it being nearly 5 years old. The D200 is 2 years old and what I like about it is the huge display on the back compared to my S2. I also like the histogram displays which are much easier to play with than the S2.

I understand the focus criticality for the guys doing macro work and so the requirement to get the focus spot on, but for me doing WA, wreck and underwater portraiture work, what I have is fine.

The other advantage of the Canon's is the full sensor which I is an advantage when doing WA work. The D3 has FF sensor but I wouldn't be able to use 2 of the 4 lenses I have with my S2 so would need to replace them too.

Even if I sold the set-up (housing only and 2 bodies) for £800, I would still need to find £1200 which I still don't have let alone £5k!! Although it depends on what the tax-man gives me back

[wilbo]

Originally Posted by GLOC

Nice...all I need is a load of people to rush and get the D300 and ditch their D200s and I will be quids in!!

Well, maybe not, maybe alot of money down

There is always the money fairy to believe in!

have a chat with Jenni..

on second thoughts..