Nikon D300 or D7000

[pezgrande]

Hello,

I have been shooting my D300 for years and like it. But I am wondering is there any reason to switch over to the D7000? Thanks

 

[Larry C]

D7000 has the better sensor from the D300S and does video as well, but the body is lighter and flimsier so it's a toss-up. Maybe they'll come out with a D400 eventually and give us the best of both worlds. It's too bad the D300S won't work in a D300 housing (although I tried stuffing one inside at Backscatter and it seemed to fit fine, notwithstanding the wrong controls and window for the video). They're coming up on e-bay at reasonable prices.

 

[PatW]

I have shot with both cameras. As Larry C above has said, each camera has its advantages. The D300 is the top of the line camera for amatuers. It pretty much assumes that you know what your are doing and is set up like the old SLR film cameras. I also like its larger size and "feel". As already mentioned, the D300 has a pretty well made body and is reasonably bullet proof.

The D7000 is smaller and I don't like its fit in my hands as well as the D300. The D7000 also has those (to me) canned settings for people who want cameras that are a bit on the side of point and shoot. Now it has the full range of settings so you can ignore them. But I don't like having them on my camera and if I could, I would get rid of them.

That being said, the D7000 has noticeably better high ISO performance than the D300. Underwater being able to go higher on ISO can be a nice feature. If I am not pleased with my exposure on review, I can just fool with the ISO and adjust the exposure with the D7000. I really would be pretty limited doing that with the D300.

The D7000 also has a 16 MP sensor vs a 12 MP sensor for the D300. Now that is a nice feature but I would far prefer more dynamic range than more mega pixels. I have calculated that the D7000 is limited to an F stop of 8 before it starts losing resolution to diffraction. I have done tests with my 60 mm micro lens and confirmed this. So you can see, that the added mega pixels are not that big a deal because you only get the benefit at F stops of 8 or less.

We have all been waiting for the D400 for some time now and Nikon is taking their own time on this. I don't know if the D400 will be a simple upgrade of the D7000 with 16 MP and a similar iso performance or use the same sensor as the D5100 which is 24 MP. I don't pretend to know what features the D400 will eventually have. It could be a wait until we see one or it could be this fall. Who knows? I think Nikon has better security than the Pentagon.

Still, I would give the nod to the D7000 for underwater photography. But it is not a major difference. You can get superb shots with both camera bodies.

So what would I use? Well I would suggest that if you have a D300 & you have the housing, sit tight. I don't think the expense is worth the upgrade unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket (in which case have at it). Even with what I know now, I would be tempted to go for the D300 housing. I have discovered that you can get used housings for older Nikon DSLRs at a steep discount (check the classifieds in Wet Pixel). Heck, you can even get used housings for the D7000 at a nice discount.

 

[Searcaigh]

D7000 has the better sensor from the D300S and does video as well, but the body is lighter and flimsier so it's a toss-up. Maybe they'll come out with a D400 eventually and give us the best of both worlds. It's too bad the D300S won't work in a D300 housing (although I tried stuffing one inside at Backscatter and it seemed to fit fine, notwithstanding the wrong controls and window for the video). They're coming up on e-bay at reasonable prices.

Larry I tried my 300S in my D300 Sea&Sea housing and apart from a couple of controls it works fine.

I shoot manual focus and manual settings for macro and only use autofocus with my Tokina 10-17

 

[Larry C]

Larry I tried my 300S in my D300 Sea&Sea housing and apart from a couple of controls it works fine.

I shoot manual focus and manual settings for macro and only use autofocus with my Tokina 10-17

Thanks Searcaigh. I've been planning to get a back-up body, but I was hoping I could use an "S" because it has some superior capabilities topside. I don't do video underwater, but I'd like to be able to use it topside, plus the "S" has greater ISO capabilities without getting grainy from what I've heard.

 

[Searcaigh]

Hi Larry,

The key differences are shown here

The only things I change underwater are generally focus, aperture and sometimes shutter speed.

D300s on top

 

[jsanford]

D7000 has the better sensor from the D300S and does video as well, but the body is lighter and flimsier so it's a toss-up. Maybe they'll come out with a D400 eventually and give us the best of both worlds. It's too bad the D300S won't work in a D300 housing (although I tried stuffing one inside at Backscatter and it seemed to fit fine, notwithstanding the wrong controls and window for the video). They're coming up on e-bay at reasonable prices.

Nikon just released the d600 price tag is up there and not sure about the housing situation yet, but you might take a look

 

[PatW]

Nikon just released the d600 price tag is up there and not sure about the housing situation yet, but you might take a look

The D600 is a full frame camera. That is a different situation than a cropped sensor camera like the D7000 or D300. You can use the excellent 60 and/or 105 macro with a full frame. But there are many great lenses for cropped sensors like the superb Tokina 10-17, numerous rectilinear lenses like 10-20 or 12-24 and the all around Sigma 17-70 macro. You really do not get these kind of options with a full frame sensor. Also generally a full frame sensor requires a larger, high quality lens which tends to cost more. I am not denigrating the full frame system. The D600 or D800 both sound very interesting. But they are not an automatic choice vs a cropped sensor camera.

 

[BoltSnap]

The D600 is a full frame camera. That is a different situation than a cropped sensor camera like the D7000 or D300. You can use the excellent 60 and/or 105 macro with a full frame. But there are many great lenses for cropped sensors like the superb Tokina 10-17, numerous rectilinear lenses like 10-20 or 12-24 and the all around Sigma 17-70 macro. You really do not get these kind of options with a full frame sensor. Also generally a full frame sensor requires a larger, high quality lens which tends to cost more. I am not denigrating the full frame system. The D600 or D800 both sound very interesting. But they are not an automatic choice vs a cropped sensor camera.

But don't the D800 and D600 shot in DX format also (with less pixel)?

 

[jsanford]

But don't the D800 and D600 shot in DX format also (with less pixel)?

yes if you put a dx lens on a fx camera the camera will automatically crop it, you loose a few megapixels but still end up with a great shot.

---------- Post Merged at 06:37 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:28 AM ----------

The D600 is a full frame camera. That is a different situation than a cropped sensor camera like the D7000 or D300. You can use the excellent 60 and/or 105 macro with a full frame. But there are many great lenses for cropped sensors like the superb Tokina 10-17, numerous rectilinear lenses like 10-20 or 12-24 and the all around Sigma 17-70 macro. You really do not get these kind of options with a full frame sensor. Also generally a full frame sensor requires a larger, high quality lens which tends to cost more. I am not denigrating the full frame system. The D600 or D800 both sound very interesting. But they are not an automatic choice vs a cropped sensor camera.

Full frame sensors tend to pick up more light due to the larger sensor, thus being something very useful for underwater photography. You can use a dx lens on an fx sensor just fine the camera will adjust for it. When you compare the 7000vs600 i think we are comparing good to great. If your looking for excelent get the d4 or d3x. You said it your self the Fx cameras have "high quality" lenses, the better the lens the better the picture. Get the best body you can afford, use the lenses you have for now they will work just fine and then when you get some extra cash upgrade your lenses, dont buy something that you are going to regret in 6 months and wish you would have gotten something better.