Looking to upgrade camera body.

ShepsMom

I need first hand experience from you fine people.

D200 VS. D300 ? Cons, pros? I'm debating whichever to upgrade to. How much difference in those 2? I know the price is, of course :rolleyes but what else? My main concern is a high ISO noise issue i currently have with D80.

Thanks!

swintonphoto

They are both fabulous cameras. However, I think the upgrade from the D200 to the D300 was significant enough I would pop for the D300. It will be better at high ISO.

ziggy53

Hi Marina,

The Nikon D200 and D80 share a very similar imager. The D80 does seem to have better in-camera JPGs, but the RAW performance is almost identical. If you are not liking the D80, you would almost certainly also not like the D200 noise levels

The Nikon D300 is a whole-other-animal, with "much" better high-ISO performance.

If you can swing the cost of the D300 I can highly recommend it over the D200 for low-light, high-ISO work.

Comparisons:

http://www.digitalreview.ca/content/Nikon-D300-Digital-SLR-Camera.shtml#Compared
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d300/moonlight/index.htm
http://www.photomalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37281
http://www.dustylens.com/d200_vs_d300.htm
http://www.nikondigital.org/articles/nikon_high_iso_test/

ShepsMom

Awesome! Thank you guys, i knew that D300 would be a better choice, just wanted to hear it from you,

jonh68

I really like my D300 and the noise performance is really good. I have it in Auto ISO most of the time. I do recommend NOT using the aggressive noise reduction. It just blurs details. Keep it on normal and it will still do some noise reduction, but you will not lose too much detail.

ShepsMom

Thanks John, i keem my cam on auto as well, never thought any different.
Ahh, just have to find a decent price on D300!

System

swintonphoto wrote:

They are both fabulous cameras. However, I think the upgrade from the D200 to the D300 was significant enough I would pop for the D300. It will be better at high ISO.

I have found the same to be true as well.

jonh68

If price is an obstacle, you may want to hold off until the D90 is announced. There are credible rumors it will be announced in August and have the same "innards" as the D300, much like the D80 is to the D200.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/05/nikon-d90-rumors-heating-up-ahead-of-photokina-as-well/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/14/nikon-d90-gets-upc-code/

http://web500.us/when-nikon-d90-will-be-available-updated-aug-15-08/