ok I sold my D80 the other day and now I am looking at purchasing a D90 or a D300. Ive been going back and forth on my decision for the past few days so Im looking to get some advice from some of you more experienced shooters. I can get a used D300 for $1100 versus a new D90 for right around $900. When I shoot I only use Aperture prioity or Manual mode so the auto modes on the D90 mean nothing to me. Being that the D300 is now discontinued Im having a hard time deciding whether it will be worth it or not or if I should just get the D90 for now and save up for the new pro-consumer model to come out. Im not really worried about getting new lenses right now. The ones I currently have are completely meeting my needs. So the extra money saved by buying the D90 will be just that, extra money. My budget it about $1400 so D300s is out of the question and video is not something I care to use.
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looking for some advice on d300 or d90 decision
- Thread starter jmdfd415
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The only real reason to get a D300 over a D90 is if you need the weather sealing. If you don't feel you need that, then I really don't see a reason to spend the extra money.
How many actuations does the D300 have?
If it's low, I'd get it purely for the faster and better AF as well as the weather sealing.
I just stepped up from a Pentax K10D (which was essentially right in the middle of the D80 and D200 at the time build and feature wise) to the Nikon
D700 which is of similar size weight and build quality to the D300, I absolutely love it.
SLC
If it's low, I'd get it purely for the faster and better AF as well as the weather sealing.
I just stepped up from a Pentax K10D (which was essentially right in the middle of the D80 and D200 at the time build and feature wise) to the Nikon
D700 which is of similar size weight and build quality to the D300, I absolutely love it.
SLC
Right now I think im am leaning towards the D300 but I am still having a bit of trouble justifying paying that much money for a body that is now 2 years old when I could get the D90 for a little less now and by next year something like a D400 will come out and I have a feeling the D300 will really drop in price due to the D300s being out now. I dont know I guess it seems to me that buying the newer D90 with a warranty would be more worth it at the moment. Still thinking though so who knows.
I hadn't thought about the warranty! That's a valid concern.
If you don't need the weather sealing and faster AF; the image quality is virtually identical between the two so saving money and getting a warranty would make a lot of sense.
But if you shoot in inclement weather with any sort of regularity, or you typically shoot subjects in motion and could benefit from a pro-grade AF system, then a warranty and less cost won't really do much for you.
Tough call!
SLC
Most of the stuff I shoot is portraits. I ocassionlly do landscape and concerts with low light but all the ones ive done allow me to use a flash. With my D80 ocassionlly it owuld have a hard time focusing during these concerts but othere than that the focus has not been an issue. Its starting to seem like the more logical thing to do is get the D90 for now. I didnt mess around with a D90 the other day before I sold my D80 and I was really enjoying it. I didnt think the 1.5fps differnce between those two would make a difference but it really did when I used it. The ISO on the D90 just absolutely kills the D80 I had. Even starting at 400 you can see a clear difference. Also the weather sealing doesnt really effect me. I simply dont shoot when its raining and if I were out shooting when it started I do have a bag that is waterproof so I would just simply put it up.
I thought about that when I answered, but the D200's resale value isn't that high compared to the D80's, certainly not in the realm of the price difference.
Well I guess its just my luck. I had to return the D90 this morning because of front focusing issues. They didnt have any more so I just got my money back. Oh well guess it just wasnt meant to be. But I just find a D300 locally for $950 with only 10000 actuations. Going to go check that out later and probably get it.
That's odd, that's generally a lens issue more than a body issue- it happened with more than one lens in manual focus mode?
I was in the same boat you are and ended up getting the D90. If the D300 that you are looking at doesn't work out I would recommend getting a new D90 because of the warranty but also because if you do upgrade to the a D300s or the D400 when it comes out, the D90 is a great back up to have. Good luck!
I was in the same boat, I sold my D80 and was undecided between the D90 and D300. I ended up with the D300 The 51 area auto focus and rugged weather sealed body were a huge selling point. I also like the compact flash plus I really don't want video in my camera. It is just one more thing to malfunction. Good Choice Hope you enjoy your new camera !!!! 
Congrats. I have a D90...no problems so far. D300 I've shot with and its a great camera. If my work involved more photography, I would get a D300. What I've noticed is the D300 focuses faster in low light vs D90. Image quality is great on both.