Nikon D300s DSLR Camera Review

Introduction

The D300s is Nikon's newest video-capable DSLR. While the camera did show some impressive results in our low light testing, we were disappointed by the fact that Nikon didn't implement any new video features as compared to last year's D5000.

Exclusive - Read the full review of the Nikon D300s at DigitalCameraInfo.com, including complete, comprehensive video testing and analysis by CamcorderInfo.com.

Color & Noise Performance

As is the norm for video-capable DSLRs, the Nikon D300s did a good job in our color accuracy test. The camera didn't produce as much color saturation as some other models, but this can be adjusted in the camera's menu system. Click here to read our full color performance review, including color swatches and crops.

Color Accuracy Performance
Color Test Chart (above), Color Error Map (right)
The Nikon D300s produced a color error of 3.83 and a saturation level of 83.38% in our bright light color testing. (The map on the right is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular color.)

The D300s also did a great job in our bright light noise test with the camera averaging just 0.2% noise. This, as with the camera's color accuracy performance, is on par with the top video-capable DSLRs on the market. Click here to read our full noise performance review, including crops and comparative analysis.
 

Motion & Sharpness

The D300s records all video with a 24p frame rate, which is the same frame rate used on last year's Nikon D5000. We weren't crazy about the way the D300s rendered motion, but the camera definitely did a better job than previous video-capable DSLRs from Nikon (the D90 and D5000). Click here to read our full motion performance review, including video clips.

Since the D300s can only capture video at a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720, the camera didn't have the sharpest image of the video-DSLRs we've tested. Both the Canon 7D and the Panasonic GH1—which we used as comparison models—can record a Full HD image (1920 x 1080). Click here to read our full sharpness performance review.

Low Light Performance

The D300s required just 7 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor—a performance that is a bit better than last year's Nikon D5000. Overall, the D300s did quite well in our series of low light tests. Click here to read our full low light sensitivity performance review.

Required Illumination *

* the lower the lux required, the better the performance

Color saturation increased on the D300s when we shot our low light test, while the camera's color accuracy dropped by only a smidgen compared to our bright light testing. Click here to read our full low light color performance review, including comparative images and analysis.

Auto Low Light Color Performance
Color Test Chart (above), Color Error Map (right)
The Nikon D300s produced a color error of 4.04 and a saturation level of 95.73% in our low light color testing. (The map on the right is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular color.)

Noise levels remained low for the D300s in our low light testing. The camera managed 0.625% noise in this test, which is roughly the same amount we measured on its comparison models. Click here to read our full low light noise performance review, including crops and comparative images.

Conclusion

The Nikon D300s is not the camera to get if you're serious about using a DSLR to record video. It doesn't have a good set of video controls and its overall video performance is far behind similarly-priced models from Canon and Panasonic. The fact that the D300s can't even record a Full HD image (its resolution tops out at 1280 x 720) is probably its biggest downside from a video perspective. The price of the D300s ($1699 body only) should also dissuade people who are simply looking for a DSLR with a video mode they can experiment with. Many other models—like the D5000 from Nikon or the E-P1 from Olympus—are available for less than half the price of the D300s. The video modes on these cheaper DSLRs are also not top-notch, but they aren't much different than what the D300s offers. Honestly, we can't see any reason to recommend the D300s based on its video performance or features. We're not saying the D300s is a bad camera, however, as this judgment is solely based on the model's video performance and capabilities. If you want to purchase a video-capable DSLR we recommend looking at the Canon 7D or Panasonic GH1 instead.

Exclusive - Read the full review of the Nikon D300s at DigitalCameraInfo.com, including complete, comprehensive video testing and analysis by CamcorderInfo.com.