Exceptional. Period.
Whether you're a professional photographer or a serious amateur, you're a veteran of the digital SLR format. Like any artist, you're still looking to grow, to further develop your skills and your craft. And as with any medium, part of growth requires the proper tools. Enter the D300S dSLR from Nikon. This flagship DX-format dSLR equips you with a diverse array of advanced photographic tools, ensuring that you realize your creative vision. A Multi-CAM 3500X Auto Focus sensor module is able to deliver an exceptionally wide area of AF coverage with superior accuracy and speed thanks to selectable 51- and 11- point auto focus. While a durable shutter unit and robust magnesium-alloy body deliver rugged performance even in extreme environments, dual memory card support for Compact Flash and Secure Digital memory offers functional versatility. Further, a 100%-coverage viewfinder ensures accurate composition. And if you'll remember, we said that the D300S is a flagship Nikon dSLR, which means that as far as exceptional features go, this is only the beginning.
Real-time composition with Live View
The rear LCD viewscreens found on dSLR cameras are great tools for reviewing and sharing your recent shots. With standard dSLRs, however, you can only preview the shot you are about to take — there will always be a lag time between what you see on the rear LCD and the image that the camera captures. This occurs because the camera must re-route the information about what the lens sees from the LCD circuitry to the image sensor. As a seasoned photographer, such limitations are not acceptable. Good thing, then, that the D300S from Nikon is not a standard dSLR. Sure, the D300S's 3.0" color LCD viewscreen offers an ample platform for reviewing and sharing photos, but its real advantage is its Live View functionality. Live View technology eliminates the lag time suffered by other dSLRs: when you press the shutter, the image sensor captures the exact same image you're viewing on the LCD . . . in real time. Greater speed, responsiveness, and accuracy for heightened creative control.
Lights, camera . . . High definition!
You know the D300 as a high-performance, high-detail, high-speed digital camera. But this Nikon SLR has a secret identity . . . it's an HD video camera, too. Expand your creative horizons with the D300S's D-Movie mode, which allows you to record video up to a 1280 x 720 resolution at 24 frames-per-second. Back at home, you can use the built-in HDMI output to watch your HD footage on your big-screen HDTV.
The right equipment
Many dSLR cameras are sold as "body only" units, meaning that you have to make a second purchase to get a lens that lets you experience your new investment's full potential. Nikon's D300S, on the other hand, offers you an 18mm - 200mm NIKKOR lens, delivering wide-angle to full-telephoto performance. Further, the D300S's zoom lens includes integrated VR image stabilization. Factors ranging from the excitement of the shot to unstable shooting conditions can result in minor camera shake that can produce blurry photos. VR image stabilization counteracts vibration both inside the lens and in the camera's viewfinder, ensuring that you compose and capture flawless photos. Finally, the D300S is compatible with a variety of interchangeable lenses, allowing you to diversify your photographic toolbox.
The detail, speed, and performance of Nikon
Realism and detail are synonymous. And when it comes to detail, Nikon's D300 digital SLR camera body delivers. The EXPEED image-processing system combines with a 12.3-megapixel CMOS image sensor, producing finely detailed images, superb color reproduction, and rich tonal gradation, all with minimal visual noise. The advanced processing speed offered by the EXPEED system makes it possible for the D300 to offer a seven-frame-per-second continuous-shooting capability. You can capture multiple frames of a fast-action subject, ensuring that you catch the ideal shot. Further, Nikon's 1,005-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II system teams up with an exclusive Scene Recognition System to evaluate each scene for unmatched exposure accuracy. Active D-Lighting restores lost shadow and highlight detail in high-contrast exposures, while extended ISO sensitivity further improves performance when shooting under low-light conditions or using fast-shutter speeds to freeze action.
A dark room in the field
There's no need to wait to get home before editing your new set of photos. Thanks to a long list of in-camera image-editing functions, the Nikon D5000 lets you fine-tune your shots in the field. Trim, straighten, correct red eye, or adjust color balance. You can even adjust D-Lighting and filter effects, or apply monochrome or fisheye effects. And this is just the beginning.
The white-glove test
Hopefully you weren't raised by an evil great aunt who made you ceaselessly clean every corner of her enormous mansion, subjecting each and every surface to a white-gloved inspection. Well, just as dust was the bane of your (fictitious) great aunt's existence, so too is dust the sworn enemy of photography. All it takes is a single fleck of dust on a lens or mirror to ruin an otherwise perfect shot. Impeding the accumulation of dust on its image-sensor device, the Nikon D300S sports an Integrated Dust Reduction System. When powering the camera on or off, the low-pass filter automatically vibrates, using precise ultrasonic frequencies to release any image-degrading dust that may adhere to it. A dust-free image sensor ensures helps you achieve the results you're shooting for.
Compatible lenses
The following Nikon lenses are compatible with the D300S: DX NIKKOR lenses; Type G, D, and other AF NIKKOR lenses with built-in autofocus motor; (IX NIKKOR lenses are not supported); Type AI-P NIKKOR lenses.
Included with purchase
Rechargeable Li-ion battery (EN-EL9), Quick charger (MH-18a), Eyepiece cap (DK-5), Rubber eyecup (DK-23), USB cable (UC-E4), Audio/video cable (EG-D2), Camera strap (AN-DC4), Monitor cover (BM-8), Body cap (BF-1A), Accessory shoe cover (BS-1), and Software suite CD-ROM.
