erratic d300

[gener flancia]

warm greetings,
nikon products have always been my favourites, thats why i am so disappointed to
say that i am about to bring my week old d300 back to the distributor/service center here in manila..my other Nikons have faithfully served me all the time ,i am so impressed with my d200 thats why i bought the d300..but the D300 suffers from a very erratic focusing system.it just suddenly takes very under exposed pictures almost black!!.what a let down Nikon!

[patrick]

Hello,
I have shot over 12,000 images with my D300 and have NEVER had a problem. Is it focus, or exposure? These are two very different systems. The focus system has 51 points AF, check to make sure that you don't have it set to a signal point. Perhaps you have the light meter set to spot, change it matrix metering. also be sure and take it off Auto ISO.
There are a lot more fuctions on a D300 than a D200, the D300 is more like my old D2x. It could be that you just got a "bad" one, if thats the case I would have the camera store replace it. My camera works flawlessly so its not a design issue. It took me weeks to figure out some of the more advance fuctions of this amazing camera. Replace it and I'm certain you will be a Nikon fan again! Also, find an aftermarket manual, it explains the camera better than the Nikon manual it comes with.
Best regards and happy shooting,
Patrick Smith

[gener flancia]

Hi Patrick,
thanks for replying to my note,just got back from the local distributor and their suspect was the complimentary cf card
that went with the d300.bought a kingston and seems to be working just fine,up to now..i have the 18-200 vr nikon lens
attached to it and hopefully log the same amount of shots that you did without any glitches.thats why they are Nikons right.!

all the best,and happy shutter fingers,
gene flancia

[Lea]

Oh wow, the crappy cards, what a difference the card makes with this camera! This is a fast camera pumping a lot of information into the card and if it can't process the information just as quickly it will bog down.
First thing I was told my my dealer who didn't even offer a complimentary card was to buy the best card available dispite the cost. I bought several Extreeme IV and haven't had a problem.
Good luck and I hope that's the problem. This camera is a wonderful machine and so sorry to hear it caused you a hassle.

[gener flancia]

Hi,..it's 4:26 am here so ,good morning..i am so sorry to say that after about 60 shots on the d300 with an 18-200 vr lens attached to it,the
camera just wont register properly on the new kingston cf card.its just awfully under exposed!!.almost no image at all,as in BLACK!i thought of changing the lens with my old 55mm micro nikkor set of course in manual,and i finally get some decent exposures.what is so frustrating is that,without changing any setting,my unit just suddenly bogs down on my auto focus lenses.this does not happen on my D200 or D40x.i will be at the door of Columbia digital, the local distrbutor,first second that they open to return the unit..is there a way this ranting reaches the Nikon guys!? i have a feeling they are monitoring this site....thank you very much for letting me ventilate this issue,i am sure Nikon will find something positive about all this to better control quality..congrats to all of you who did not get the same problem..i think i am going to get some sleep now..Gene

[patrick]

Boy Gene, that sucks! I agree with Lea, just have them get you a new one. I think you got a lemon.
I talk to my camera repair guy and he says that once in while Nikon quality control will let camera senors pass thru and not test them. Sounds you got un-lucky. Get it replaced as soon as you can.
I would love to think that some honcho at Nikon Corp is monitoring this forum or other web sites for issues about the quality of their products, but I don't think thats the case. From your postings, sounds like you are a loyal Nikon guy and Nikon needs us because a lot of pros I know use Canon for thier digital SLR.
There is NOTHING worst than spending big bucks on a body that everybody is raving about and it doesn't work. I feel for you.
Hope it all works out, I look forward to seeing some of your images shot with your new D300 on this web site. Post some when you get a chance.
Best
Pat Smith

[Sandeep]

Hi Patrick,

I have just purchased a new D300 and I am very happy with it. You mention of buying an aftermarket manual. Where can I get one online?

Regards,
Sandeep

[patrick]

Hi,
I am using the "nikon D300 field guide" by J Dixon Thomas, but their is also the "Magic lantern Guide" too. I"m not sure if the "Magic lantern" series is available yet. You can order the "D300 field guide" thru Amazon, but I got mine at Barnes & Noble.
The field guide covers the camera really well, and the book is well laid out. Wiley Publishing ISBN # 978-0-470-26092-0. well worth the $20 for a $1700 camera. Also get George Mann's Pocket reference for your camera bag, its been invaluable to me when I'm on a job and I don't want to look like an idiot flipping thru a manual to figure out this camera. (thanks George!)
I am finding a lot of interest from consumers when I whip out my D300, I've had serval ad directors and corp people express an interest in purchasing this great camera for personal use. Nikon marketing is doing something right; getting consumers thinking about buying a expensive camera. Suprising, considering that they have so many lower end cameras on the market. Check out Ken Rockwells web site, he has some online stuff that will get you going in the mean time. Ken rocks!
Once you read the field guide you will be blown away by all the things this camera can do!
Happy Shooting
Patrick

[Lea]

"Magic Lantern Guide DVD" is now available at Camera Stores, got mine at Ritz Camera, good guide and does cover a number of items that aren't readily available elsewhere. George Mann's Pocket guide is invaluable to take with you in your camera bag a real necessity to quick reference.

[Lea]

Sorry to hear about your continuing problems, it sounds as if you indeed did get a faulty item. Take it back and file a report to Nikon. But please remember sometimes there are problems with a mechanical device, no reason to count it out entirely. Overall the reports on the D300 are excellent. I'm sure they will make good.

[gener flancia]

Good day Nikon D300 users,
Thank you for your comments on my notes.i brought the D3oo to the distributors/service center and upon telling them that the change in CF card
did not work,they did a more thorough check on the unit..they are going to replace it because it has a faulty aperture mechanism..i hope this would end my travails on the nikon d300 model..
all the best photo greetings
Gene
ps,hello Patrick i uploaded some decent photos that i got from the faulty (synonymous to lemon) nikon model that i shot..you think i can post some from my d200.?looking forward to get my replacement D300 in a week.thanks.

[patrick]

Hi Gener,
I don't have a problem with posting pic's that were not shot with a D300. The photo I use for my profile page (old man in front of York Motel) was shot about 35 years ago. Good photography is good photography, no matter if you shoot with a D300 or a Holga. I'm a believer that the gear is secondary to how we photographers "see" the world around us.
I'm glad they figured out the problem, but its too bad you won't get a replacement until next week. I would get an aftermarket guide for the D300, just so you can take full advantage of the features that this great camera has to offer. As far as media cards go, I have used "crappy" cards and never had the problems you experenced, but if you are shooting in RAW you will want a least a 4gb card. I use a sandisk 16gb card bought on ebay and never a an issue . I'm off to shoot the sunrise.
Take care
Pat

[Lea]

Saving money on memory cards: not worth it with this camera IMHO. If you do anything that uses the continuous shooting modes, you'll soon be back on here complaining that your camera doesn't shoot at it's full fps. Or, that it takes ages to transfer these big files from the D300 to your PC or Mac. Either way, the faster cards - especially the UDMA - are worth it.
I've found you need a faster card than you would likely use in the previous models, also a larger capacity card as the files are much bigger. Tiff and RAW files take lots of processing room and memory. You might also want to take advantage of the high density images that the limited systems cards wont be able to do some won't even save. I recommended you have at least one card like the Sandisk Extreme IV at a minimum of 4 gig size and try it for yourself. Personally I don't like changing cards in the middle of a project due to lack of card space. If you do a search you will find lots about what cards people recommend with the D300.

Wondering when you would need the much faster card? Continuous shooting raises the need for faster and larger memory cards. Firing off bursts of shots over and over like maybe in sports, or concerts. If you do any kind of continuous photography where you do bursts then write speed is important. Isn't this one of the cool features that drew you to purchase this camera? I cover lots of both and saw an extreme difference in speed of reading the processor at 6fps, throw in the boost and that's even faster processing time. Less bog down on the camera mechanism also
because the camera will be able to move images from it's buffer to the CF card more rapidly. Downloading is also a big factor unless you use a card reader

I can tell you you'll get excellent continuous shooting performance with the Extreme III and more so by far with the Extreme IV. But if you absolutely must have the best, which is what you purchased the D300 for, and are willing to pay the not insubstantial premium, go for the Extreme IV to squeeze every bit out of the system in the camera, and the reason you bought this camera.

I had a crappy Centrios 4 gig 80x memory card last Winter. Ran out of room on my Extreem IV so used it briefly on a paying gig and after 4 shots had a wide green stripe which I was later able to recover but needless to say I'm not using this card or any other besides Extreem IV or the like anymore!

Just my opinion but as far as the topic of putting other camera produced photos on this Forum. Although I love seeing anyone's work regardless of Camera Brand... there are many many other forums to do just that. This Forum is geared towards and caters to ... The Nikon D300 and I would appreciate keeping it that way. As stated on the front page and the reason this site was started...
"This place is all about the Nikon D300 digital SLR camera. Share your D300 photos (unlimited space for photo uploads right here!), rants and kudos. Write your Nikon D300 review. Ask a D300 question. Help others with your tips, tricks and tutorials."