I might become a Nikonian, I need input about D300

Hello everyone, I am a canonian, I have a 40D with two very good lenses, for some reason I am not very happy with my equipment.

I am seriously considering buying a D300, I have read lots of reviews and stuff about this camera and I think I will be very happy with it.

Since I don't have much cash right now (you know the recession) I saw this Kit in Ebay from Cameta Store:

Nikon USA Factory Demo
Mint Condition
Nikon D300 Digital SLR Camera Body
With BONUS Extras:

• Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX Nikkor Lens with 1 Year Warranty
• Nikon 55-200mm AF-S DX VR Zoom Lens with 1 Year Warranty
• Spare EN-EL3e Lithium-Ion Battery Pack
• Deluxe 6 Piece Lens & Digital SLR Camera Cleaning Kit
• 1-Year Subscription to PCPhoto Magazine
• Free High Quality Prints from Clark Color Labs

1 Year Full Warranty (90 days from Nikon and 9 months from Cameta)

Is this a good deal? or should I buy a new one from Adorama and buy lenses one at the time??
Thanks so much for your input.

--
Scot

Hi Pix538,

I've been very happy with my D300. One of the reasons I decided to go with Nikon was how they felt in my hand, I always felt the Canons (I could afford) were a bit flimsy.

As for the Ebay auction you listed in your message, I'm sure it's a "good deal" for someone. If the money is the biggest issue then let that be your guide. For my money I would rather have the piece of mind about the body then try to save with some low end glass.

Just my thoughts for you,
Bill

--
Bill 'tekmage' Borsari

I own the D300 and both of those lenses listed.

I can tell you although those lenses are quite good for the money, they are not up to the level of this body. Mine mostly sit on the shelf, although my wife uses them on her D70.

If you're just starting with Nikon equipment, they're fine, but you soon want lenses that make this baby shine.

$.02

Sorry I forgot the price!
$1419.95 no tax and $28 for shipping

Yes those will be my first lenses, and later on I will buy a better ones

What is more recommendable to buy this kit for $1419.95 or buy a brand new body from adorama for $1469.95 and wait and buy a nice lens??

I would buy the kit as you can always sell the lenses and put the $'s towards a nicer lens when you're ready.

I have purchased from Cameta before and was satisfied.

I think you'll be very happy with the D300 (only because I can't imagine not being happy with it), but not those lenses. They are very cheaply made. I'd rather live with a 50 1.8 only on my D300 than use those lenses (calll me a lens snob if you must). Yes, they can take great photos, but I hope you won't have to live with them very long, especially if you are used to good Canon lenses.

What Canon lenses do you have? You also don't say what you aren't happy about with Canon. Hopefully it isn't photo quality, because you may be taking a step backwards until you get some new lenses.

Pix538 said:

Hello everyone, I am a canonian, I have a 40D with two very good
lenses, for some reason I am not very happy with my equipment.

Click to expand...

Pix538 said:

• Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX Nikkor Lens with 1 Year Warranty
• Nikon 55-200mm AF-S DX VR Zoom Lens with 1 Year Warranty

Click to expand...

I have a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and a 70-200mm f/4. One thing that bothers me about my 40D is the resolution of the screen, I never know if a picture is sharp, until I see it at 100% in my computers monitor. The D300 has 920 000 pixels it's like a VGA monitor!

Also I like the 51 point AF system and I think is more professional than the 40D, I could go with the 50D instead but I really have a thing for a Nikon!

Thanks to all for your comments!!

Pix538 said:

Hello everyone, I am a canonian, I have a 40D with two very good
lenses, for some reason I am not very happy with my equipment.

Click to expand...

This sets off a red flag to me. Why aren't you happy? I would proceed cautiously and really try to identify why you aren't happy with your current equipment, and then try to see if the system you mention addresses your particular concerns.

For example, the DPReviews of the D300 and the 40D are averaged out to 9.2 and 8.9 (out of 10) respectively and both get a 9.0 in image quality.

A 40D with two very good lenses should perform very well. Having spent the time and money on your camera gear, I would certainly be hard-sold on getting a completely different make of camera.

--

Everything I write is a personal opinion. Even when I quote facts, they are the facts I personally choose to accept.
http://www.pbase.com/mariog

Ouch! Two lenses that Nikon has no equivalent (if you want VR in a 17-55). Look at what lenses you'll want before you switch.

What you are saying right now is that you'd rather have your photos look sharp on the camera screen than the computer screen/print. If you want to go Nikon, great, but wait until you can get at least one decent lens. I'd take the 40D + your lenses any day before a D300 with two kit lenses, and I loathe Canon.

Maybe your body/lenses have problems if you aren't getting sharp shots with what you have.

Pix538 said:

I have a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and a 70-200mm f/4. One
thing that bothers me about my 40D is the resolution of the screen, I
never know if a picture is sharp, until I see it at 100% in my
computers monitor. The D300 has 920 000 pixels it's like a VGA
monitor!
Also I like the 51 point AF system and I think is more professional
than the 40D, I could go with the 50D instead but I really have a
thing for a Nikon!

Thanks to all for your comments!!

--

Click to expand...

Check out your present kit. To switch systems COSTS $$$.
Unless you already have it set you want to change.

Geee guys now I am having second thoughts about switching to Nikon

My biggest complaint about my 40D is I always get very soft pictures, it doesn't matter if I use tripod which is not a top of the line but is very steady (Slik pro 700DX) and I even use a wireless shutter.

I thought it was my camera but I sent it to Canon for calibration and still I don't see much difference.
That's why I'd like to try a Nikon.
I might buy the Nikon and use my 40D as a backup.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

If the issue is very soft images, then I would post some examples with exif information. And quite honestly, I would also do it in the Canon forum. I'm sure that another Canon user with the same lense would be willing to take a similar shot of something you have in common (currency, Canon manual, etc) so you can compare.

It may be that even though the lenses are very good, maybe you got bad copies. Or maybe you're just expecting too much (are you pixel peeping at 100% and expecting to see an eyelash 30 feet away?).

--

Everything I write is a personal opinion. Even when I quote facts, they are the facts I personally choose to accept.
http://www.pbase.com/mariog

The camera they are listing is a Nikon Factory Refurb (they call them Demos). It carries a 90 warranty from Nikon then Cameta covers the remaining 9 months. If you need service after the 90 days you have to send the camera to Cameta and then they in turn send it to Nikon. Adds another step that makes the repair process take longer. From what I have read the cameras are generally in excellent condition and indistingushable from new. If it were me I would buy a brand new from eBay, they are generally around $1350 less live.com cashback of 8% for a net cost of about $1250. You can get a used 18-55mm lens for about $75.00.

I shoot using a D300 / 17-55 2.8 combo, and to be honest my pictures look fairly soft straight out of camera.

In fact if you compared pictures from my D300 / 17-55 and a good quality P&S camera straight out of camera the P&S always look better.

I 'm sure your aware of the strength of the AA filter on the D300, stronger than the d200 , I'm not sure about canons 40d ( But I've held a 40D and loved it!) but you really need to sharpen the pictures in processing / photoshop or what ever you use.

I certainly think you are making a mistake swapping your kit for a D300 body and cheap kit lenses (although they are great lenses for the money!!)

IMO if you do not process or sharpen your pictures with software and use them straight out of camera, I think you will certainly be disappointed with the d300.

Check my flickr site out, my pictures are not soft.....BUT they all looked soft straight from my D300 before post processing.

Stick with your great 40D kit....unless there is a fault???

Regards.

Fletch in miserable cold Burton Upon Trent, Midlands, England.

--



Cheers, FletchUK/Fletch147
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30649408@N00/

DON'T DON'T DON'T

You own two of the finest Canon lenses.

The cheap Nikon Glass will disappoint you. You may probably like the body better, but you will like your pictures much less.

Cheap Glass on high-end bodies makes little to no sense and is a bad long-term investment. Lenses will stay with you and keep their value, DSLR bodies don't.

Keep what you have and learn to use it.

Lars

What about your 40D are you NOT happy with?

In other words, what to you expect the D300 to do for you that the 40D isnt already doing?

Roman
--
The SOUL of a photographer is in SEEING the beauty ....
The GOAL of a photographer is to use their craft to capture it.
You CANT have one without the other.

http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

Hi I like my nikon but I would rather a 40d with good glass than a d300 with poor

I agree with all that has been said. A 40D with great lenses will beat a D300 with cheap lenses. That said, there is no comparison to the D300 vs. the 40D. The D300 rocks: better AF, better metering, better build, far more customizable, it's just simply a better camera and I have shot thousands of images on a 40D. One of the reasons we switched is that the 20/30/40D system wasn't very accurate in it's auto-focus. The tipping point for me was a college graduation where three graduates had their arms around each others shoulders, leaning in looking at the camera. The whole frame was just the 3 graduates, no background element, no foreground element. Shot with a 40D and 24-70 f/2.8 from a least a few feet away. The image was simply out of focus (using auto-focus), and the camera took the shot. Looks fine on the little screen but obviously out of focus when viewed on the computer. There wasn't anything for the camera to back focus on, there wasn't a brilliant light source coming in from any angle to confuse it. It simply got it wrong. And it wasn't the first time- but it was the last. We switched. To be fair, we bought some good glass for the Nikon system and we love it.

You may want to consider the D90 and better glass. The D90 is more in line with what the 40D is. But the D90 still has a better AF system and better metering than the 40D. Heck, if you don't need higher ISO's, you can get a D80- which in my opinion is still better than a 40D and definitely have enough left for a at least one great piece of glass!

Just my .02.
Mike