Nikon’s announced the D300s today, deliverable as of 1. August 2009.

Nikon D300s

As an owner of several D300′s, I inspected the specs to see if there was something in the bag I needed to persuade me to upgrade.

In short: No.

Nikon has merged the capabilities of the D90 with those of the D300 to produce this hybrid. No longer do buyers of the D300 need to envy features available in the much cheaper D90, movies for example.

The D300s now also rolls 1280×720 (720i) movies, same as the D90. This is NOT 1080i HD. It pumps out the TV signal through a crappy HDMI-C connector, the full-sized HDMI connector of the D300 is gone.

A dedicated Liveview button has been added, same as the D90. (this is a convenient feature, which can be programmed to the FUNC button on the D700 but not on the D300. Come on Nikon, add this in a firmware upgrade).

A virtual horizon has been added, same as the D700 and D3.

A second SD-Memory slot in addition to CF has been added, although it’s not clear if this can be used to allow simultaneous writing to both cards. Which would be nice.

A silent shutter mode has been added. This is perhaps the most intriguing feature of this camera. I’ll need to check this out on a physical copy of the camera to make up my mind.

Apart from this, all the upgrades seem to be minor: “better AF”, faster continuous shoot mode (by a hair), Auto-D-Lighting (as on the D90 and D700).

So, in a nutshell, nothing revolutionary in the D300s. If you’re crazy for video the D90 will be good enough (although hardly anywhere nearly as good as a pro camcorder). If you already have a D300, keep it.

And finally, what I missed on the D300s:

* 1080i Video

* Swivelling display like the D5000

* Higher resolution sensor

* Rotating ISO dial which I mentioned ages ago (The Canon G10 already has this)

* Better Movie-AF

* In-Camera VR for movies

This is the question photographers are most often asked .

This is also the question which irritates them the most. When Helmut Newton supposedly was asked this by a famous cook, he blustered back “and which pans do you use?”.

So why does this question touch a raw nerve among photographers?

Simple, ego.

They assume that others perceive the key to achieving their results to be the camera, not them. Their talent, their eye and their experience is not being appreciated. They assume that others feel that would they have the same camera, they would get identical results.

Photographers counter this with similarly interesting statements “the camera is not important”. “I could shoot with any camera”. “I’ve won contests with cellphone pictures” (just stumbled across this somewhere. He’s proudly listing his small arsenal of equipment which would easily cost around $10k. That’s ridiculous. I’d be more impressed if he could pull it off with a Canon 500D or a Nikon D5000 and a kit zoom).

Yuck.

If the equipment were not important, why are they not all shooting with 100$ point and shoots?

Gear IS important, so important in fact that the so sought-after shallow-depth-of-field look is creating high demand for some the fastest lenses available, Canon’s 50mm/f1.2 and 85mm/f1.2. They are not cheap pieces of equipment. Is there any well-known photographer who uses the significantly smaller and cheaper f1.4 version instead of the f1.2, although there is hardly a big difference between the two? I don’t know any. The same goes for the camera itself, for example “Full Frame” and high ISO capability are all the rage right now.

Yes, you might happen to win a contest with a cellphone image. This could happen to both a professional or a rank amateur. It all boils down to luck, happening to press the shutter when all conditions were optimal. A professional might get a few more lucky strikes than the amateur, but that’s it.

The problem is that the results are not consistent. It is simply not possible to get consistently good results with a consumer camera under any condition which can be encountered. Low light. Studio. Rain. Fast action. Single-opportunity situations. Tight schedule. Cramped quarters. Getting published. And so on.

So – let’s go through some typical situations:

* Low light? You’ll have speckles all over with a point and shoot. If you can focus, that is.
* Studio? Your model will run when he sees your camera. If he doesn’t, try triggering a studio flash setup with a cellphone camera.
* Rain? Your camera’s electronic junk after the first 3 drops.
* Fast action? Umm, ever heard of shutter lag?
* Single opportunity situations? Oops, the camera couldn’t focus on the bride walking up the aisle. Yeah, and the kiss happened just moments before.
* Tight schedule? Wait till I change batteries and wait again till I find the menu to pump up the ISO.
* Cramped quarters? Back up, back up. Ow, didn’t see those stairs behind me. Never mind, I’ll stitch a pano in Photoshop.
* Getting published? What? These images are noisy? Come on!

And consistency is what it’s all about in professional photography. Take any situation and be 100% sure to get a great if not stunning image.

This can only be obtained with a combination of an artist’s eye, experience and equipment. Take one away and it just won’t work.