What camera/lens should I get Nikon D90 or Nikon D300?
Posted by admin | Under Nikon D90 Lenses Tuesday May 27, 2008I’ve narrowed my choices to a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D90. I have an initial budget of around $2500 to spend for just lens and body and plan on purchasing the Nikon 18-200mm lens for ($750) and then have a choice of either getting the Nikon D300 ($1799) or getting the Nikon D90 ($999) with the same lens 18-200mm and buy an additional lens 12-24mm lens ($1000).
Everyone says spend more on the lens, and I have allotted that much money to the lens, but my concern is, for what I am buying is the 18-200mm lens for D300 good enough or should I spend more to get more out of the D300 or stay with the D90 and get the same lens along with my extra savings and purchase a wide angle 12-24mm lens…
Prices are from RitzCamera, no tax no shipping, no problem.I could shop around to get a better deal, but thats not my main concern.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry, didnt mention to note I will be shooting indoor sporting events (baseball, basketball, hockey, football), night life events (requiring low lighting) and wide angle shots.. (nature, trips to Europe and Asia).
I Agree with David M…You are going to be frustrated and disappointed trying to shoot indoor sporting events and low light. Go with the D90 and get the 70-200. It’s worth every nickel!
“The D300 is completely high definition. From the 3-inch VGA LCD screen with 170-degree viewing angle, to the HDMI interface for HD ready displays, the D300 is ready for tomorrow’s imaging environment. ”
I quote the review for D300 here. I think D300 is better.
The lowest price i find for D300 body is $1500.
http://www.dealstudio.com/ad_redirect.php?url=http%3A//dealstudio.pgpartner.com/search.php%3Ftopcat_search%3D1%26Search%3DSearch%26form_keyword%3DNikon%20camera&ru=283
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You missed one very crucial piece of information to enable us to answer your question without guessing: What are you going to use the camera for?
In general – if little things like faster frame rates, higher shutter speed (by just one stop), and 100% coverage viewfinder vs 96% are not your deciding factors, I’d say D90.
It’s surpasses D300 in many departments too, because it’s newer camera. D90’s got more powerful flash, movie mode (if you care) and HDMI output to review on HDTV, plus it’s lighter.
That’s what I can make out of this page after a quick scroll:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=nikon_d90%2Cnikon_d300&show=all
See if you can find something that will catch your attention though.
As far as your concern as to how 18-200VR lens will perform on either body – don’t worry. That’s a great lens, that performs flawlessly even on the $350 D40 body. So it’s a non-issue at all.
I’ll side with those who suggested you a cheaper body and better glass. If I were to choose for myself today, I’d go for D90 + two lenses. You laid your eyes on two great pieces of optics.
I own D80, the D90’s predecessor, and I am very happy with it. For what I do with it, I honestly can not justify upgrading it to either D90 or D300 at this time, but again YMMV, because you didn’t say what it’s going to be used for.
LEM.
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To respond to your additional details if you are shooting sporting events you will need a fast lens. For your purposes I would go with a 70-200mm F2.8. You will need this in the low light situations. The 18-200 is not fast enough. You wont be able to get a shutter speed fast enough to freeze action.
This lens is expensive. Cost is about $1,500 or so. In this case you would be better off going with the D90. Remember that your lens will last you for decades. Whichever camera body you choose will be obsolete in a couple of years. I recommend you buy the lens and get the lesser camera. In a few years you can upgrade the camera body and you will still have the lens.
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I Agree with David M…You are going to be frustrated and disappointed trying to shoot indoor sporting events and low light. Go with the D90 and get the 70-200. It’s worth every nickel!
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Experience with D300 and the 70-200 f2.8
Another vote for D90 + 70-200mm 2.8 lens. If sports photography is important to you then you will really enjoy this combination. If your budget permits, you can add a 35mm f2.0 prime lens ($300 new) to your kit as your walk-around lens. It won’t get you wide angle shots but it will be quite versatile and will work great for low light photography.
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