[Nikon D300] Share Your Ups and Downs Here + Q&A + pics too!

[dark72]

I think the D2X mode I is less contrasty than Standard. I've been shooting with it until I forget how Standard looks like. Saturation is lower on D2X mode I but colours are accurate, natural and more film like.

I did a small test, with the Mode I & II. Seems like you'll have to crank it up to like Contrast +2 and Saturation +2 or something to be near to it. But it'll look a bit too fake if it's +3 for both settings. I used standard with Sat +1 before i used the D2X mode. Do you adjust the settings for the D2x mode?

 

[Rev]

The D300 is much warmer than the D2x mode. It looks as if it has been photoshopped or something, but the D2x mode looks a bit soft and more dull than the actual. Is it supposed to be like this?

yes, d2x mode is supposed to look like sh*t in its unprocessed form. all digital photos are photoshopped anyway depending on the camera, lens & settings used. So... go with what U like, U can adjust as much as possible.

here's my opinion on d2x, it rocks for me =P

at first I was kinda disappointed with the d300 colors, it was either too rich or dull (slightly underexposed) despite the better noise control, awesome AF, awesome WB tuning, and prefered my d70's "stock" original curve output. the srgb (standard) output is kinda nice out of the box but I just couldnt get used to it.

actually, the raw fotos from the d2x mode I gives a false impression of a really crappy, subdued, uncolorful look. in fact, it looks almost utter rubbish without post processing. but with pp, it's so much better than my d70

Have yet to try d2x mode III tho...

 

[scaredcloud]

I really love to use the d2x mode I for my portraits, it gives a very nice skin tones, and all you need is a slight curves adjustment to improve contrast and fine tune it a bit to make it accurate as what you saw when taking the pic.

here is a portrait of my girl at f1.4, using d2x mode I:

Yah, I am a d2x mode I fans too.
However I tweak the sharpness by +2, and contrast by +1 to save PP time.
It's really nice out of cam!!

Haa, your flickr is full of ur girl!!

 

[scaredcloud]

I think the D2X mode I is less contrasty than Standard. I've been shooting with it until I forget how Standard looks like. Saturation is lower on D2X mode I but colours are accurate, natural and more film like.

I dun quite like D300's standard mode, it's neither here nor there.
Did you try d2x mode III? I realized the pics are slightly noisier when shooting with Mode III. Hence i dropped it.
Now shooting landscapes / travel with neutral with sharpness +3 and contrast +2, it's amazing!

I also realized neutral is the most flexible mode, while u just tweak a few settings and it will suit almost every shooting condition.
Now trying to get a combination that might be better than d2x mode I? ;p

 

[Shawn]

Yah, I am a d2x mode I fans too.
However I tweak the sharpness by +2, and contrast by +1 to save PP time.
It's really nice out of cam!!

Haa, your flickr is full of ur girl!!

Haha, well, nowadays busy with school, only have time to shoot my girl and newborn hamsters at home, gotta wait for my tests to ease off first.

Well, i might wanna try ure combination, if it saves me the PP time, but there's this satisfaction of doing ure own pp, and the colour and contrast comes out just the way you like it.

Shoooting portraits , i usually go for d2x mode I, for landscape and macro i go for d2x mode III, brings out the greens.

The other thing also, realise the colours are more accurate if i open it with capture NX, with Photoshop, the ACR is different from your camera and PS doesn't recognise ure camera's raw calibration settings, thus using PS's ACR, and the colours come out somewhat different from original.

any thoughts? usually i would just open with capture nx and settle it there, if i need fine tuning in PS, i would save the file opened in NX into a tiff file and import it over to photoshop .

 

[dark72]

hmm... nobody knows?

correct me if I'm wrong the 51 3D is the cam's feature to track erratically moving objects eg. animals/insects moving left/right/up/down. The 51 will just track whatever your selected AF points is pointing at.

Try it out... ask yr family member to standstill 1 moment, half-press with the 51 3D to lock-on-target, then ask him/her to jump allover the place like a madman and watch yr camera's focusing try to keep up. The way I tried it, I picked a still object, then I moved like a madman to simulate an erratically moving object and see my cam's focusing try to keep up with me

I went to test it out on the streets with cars and motorists. When set, it really does like what a speed camera does, when half-clicked, the focus point shifts on it's on when there is a movement or it somehow anticipates movement. It does a good job in tracking. :thumbsup:

 

[lsisaxon]

I did a small test, with the Mode I & II. Seems like you'll have to crank it up to like Contrast +2 and Saturation +2 or something to be near to it. But it'll look a bit too fake if it's +3 for both settings. I used standard with Sat +1 before i used the D2X mode. Do you adjust the settings for the D2x mode?

Nope.. Just used D2X mode I without any tweaks. ;p

 

[lsisaxon]

I dun quite like D300's standard mode, it's neither here nor there.
Did you try d2x mode III? I realized the pics are slightly noisier when shooting with Mode III. Hence i dropped it.
Now shooting landscapes / travel with neutral with sharpness +3 and contrast +2, it's amazing!

I also realized neutral is the most flexible mode, while u just tweak a few settings and it will suit almost every shooting condition.
Now trying to get a combination that might be better than d2x mode I? ;p

Hmm.. I might try that again but first impression didn't impress me. ;p Never tried mode III also because didn't like mode III on D2X itself. Maybe I should try when I have time but I'm fine with D2X Mode I and didn't think there could be anything better. It's really a matter of preference.

 

[geraldkhoo]

After 2 months of using the D300, and shooting some events, this is what I have discovered about it. I thought it was going to be easy to move from a D200 to D300, but realized there is a learning curve as well. I was frustrated at not being able to capture a shot like I did with the D200, but as I discovered along the way while using the D300, that it gives you more flexibility and adjustments, which means more control in your hands... but that also means that just out of the box may not get you what you used to have almost out of the box for the D200.

When shooting in a well-lit outdoor scenario, the D300 performs very well. Focusing is fast, sharp, and auto-ISO works well too. Most of my issue arise when shooting indoors with difficult lighting... and the following points have all to do with indoor shooting.

- When shooting an indoor concert with a fast lens and no flash and using auto-ISO with different metering modes, the camera tends to over expose the shots, and some were very over exposed. The overexposure come from the inability of the D300 to decide what ISO to use, and in some scenarios, it went to ISO 1600 when ISO 200 or 400 in that lighting condition would do. Advise is to forget about auto-ISO with indoor shooting.

- When shooting indoors without flash, the camera tends to overexpose the shot by 1/3 to 2/3. This is easily resolved by adjusting the exposure compensation.

- The default sharpening for the D300 is less than the D200. Hence, the pictures may look a little soft, so would need to bump up the sharpening by maybe +3 in your picture control. This is more for shooting in jpegs, but some people prefer to leave the sharpening to post processing.

- With a 12MP camera, my shooting flaws + lens sharpness is more evident. This is where breathing techniques, how to hold the camera, etc. becomes more evident with the pictures taken. Also, I have found the AF fine tuning useful to adjust the front or back focusing of the lenses... and even Nikon lenses needs some adjustments.

OK... here are just some thoughts to share after 2 months with my D300

 

[lsisaxon]

When shooting in a well-lit outdoor scenario, the D300 performs very well. Focusing is fast, sharp, and auto-ISO works well too. Most of my issue arise when shooting indoors with difficult lighting... and the following points have all to do with indoor shooting.

- When shooting an indoor concert with a fast lens and no flash and using auto-ISO different metering modes, the camera tends to over expose the shots, and some were very over exposed. The overexposure come from the inability of the D300 to decide what ISO to use, and in some scenarios, it went to ISO 1600 when ISO 200 or 400 in that condition would do. Advise is to forget about auto-ISO with indoor shooting.

- When shooting indoors without flash, the camera tends to overexpose the shot by 1/3 to 2/3. This is easily resolved by adjusting the exposure compensation.

- The default sharpening for the D300 is less than the D200. Hence, the pictures may look a little soft, so would need to bump up the sharpening by maybe +3 in your picture control. This is more for shooting in jpegs, but some people prefer to leave the sharpening to post processing.

The overexposure might be due to your metering mode, I think the matrix works differently from that of D200.

In case no one knows about this yet, I found that for the newer cameras (D40, D40X, D60, D80, D300, D3), the correct setting for LCD brightness should be set to -2 and not 0. 0 would be too bright.

I find the D300 sharper than D200 if you use lenses which are sharp. Check the focus calibration and do a fine focus adjustment and you will be pleased with the sharpness.

 

[geraldkhoo]

In case no one knows about this yet, I found that for the newer cameras (D40, D40X, D60, D80, D300, D3), the correct setting for LCD brightness should be set to -2 and not 0. 0 would be too bright.

Yep... I found the LCD too bright as well. I had some shots that look pretty alright on the LCD, but when I went home and downloaded it to the PC, I found them underexposed. Currently, I have mine at -1.

 

[geraldkhoo]

The overexposure might be due to your metering mode, I think the matrix works differently from that of D200.

Do you know how the matrix mode works for D300? It is definately different from D200... and that is where I tend to get the pics overexposed by about 1/3 to 2/3.

 

[lsisaxon]

Do you know how the matrix mode works for D300? It is definately different from D200... and that is where I tend to get the pics overexposed by about 1/3 to 2/3.

I think it would evaluate the entire scene and weigh it to see if you need better shadow details, unlike the older models which tend to be conservative and prevent blown highlights. :dunno: Occasionally Matrix works for me but I think I'm getting a better hit rate with centerweighted average, it's more predictable. Maybe you can try that. ;p

 

[woolman]

man it's great to see so many sharing their experiences!!! :thumbsup:

appreciate it! keep it coming and we can all learn from each other!

 

[woolman]

I think I'm getting a better hit rate with centerweighted average, it's more predictable. Maybe you can try that. ;p

bro, heh heh maybe go even further and use spot-metering via the zone system :bsmilie:

 

[lsisaxon]

bro, heh heh maybe go even further and use spot-metering via the zone system :bsmilie:

Zone system too slow lah.. still need to mentally calculate the latitude etc.. Just let the Active D-Lighting take care of it.. (Disclaimer: I don't use it though.. ;p)

 

[woolman]

Zone system too slow lah.. still need to mentally calculate the latitude etc.. Just let the Active D-Lighting take care of it.. (Disclaimer: I don't use it though.. ;p)

haha ya hor *slaps forehead* how could i forget the Active D-Lighting heh heh :bsmilie:

 

[mysterio506]

hi ppl, need feedback on Live View...

how often been used to shoot?
is it very useful & important?

 

[woolman]

hi ppl, need feedback on Live View...

how often been used to shoot?
is it very useful & important?

the tripod mode is pretty useful for macro still life shots...

 

[geraldkhoo]

I think it would evaluate the entire scene and weigh it to see if you need better shadow details, unlike the older models which tend to be conservative and prevent blown highlights. :dunno: Occasionally Matrix works for me but I think I'm getting a better hit rate with centerweighted average, it's more predictable. Maybe you can try that. ;p

Cool... I'll go try center weighted and see how it goes