D300 Basics; D300 Design - Nikon D300 Complete Manual

Hide thumbs Also See for D300:

Table of Contents

D300 Basics

In this section we'll look at the controls of the camera,

how it is powered, how images are stored, and the

important things you'll need to set up before you first use

The D300 design derives directly from the D200. Almost all

of the changes between the D200 and D300 are internal, and

there are a considerable number of such changes.

Essentially, the D300 has an all-new digital heart, an all-new

autofocus system, a state-of-the-art card write mechanism,

and the metering system has been tricked out in new ways not

seen before. Yet the D300 body design is essentially that of

the D200. The controls and menu system are the same. The

internal flash is the same. The viewfinder is the same, though

it now has an accurate 100% mask (the D200 had a 95%

mask). The power system is the same (though the D300 uses

less power while shooting than the D200).

From the front, the primary differences between the D200 (left) and D300

(right) are the cover for the 10-pin and PC sync sockets (upper right) and

the positions of the controls on the left side as we face the cameras have

changed very subtly. Still, these cameras could almost be twins.

The D300 uses the same mount for interchangeable lenses

that Nikon has used since the first F-series camera, introduced

back in 1959. While Nikon has made subtle improvements to

Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300