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Phottix BP-D300 Battery Pack
Last modified on 2008-10-05 16:07:19 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The Chinese Phottix-brand MB-D10 replacement, the BP-D300, costs about half as much as its Nikon counterpart. Is it any good?
MB-D10 (l) and BP-D300 (r)
In a word, yes.
Phottix BP-D300 Battery Pack (MB-D10 Replacement) on eBay
I’ve used a BP-D300 on my second D300 body alongside a D300 equipped with the MB-D10 for several weeks now, and I’ve found no performance differences whatsoever. While differences exist in fit and finish, and one very minor control difference, the BP-D300 works great.
Viewed from the front (above), the BP-D300 is readily distinguishable from the MB-D10 by virtue of the hand grip - three “finger grooves” versus soft rubber on the Nikon. Functionally controls are identical, although the Nikon’s superior construction is evident in two areas. First, the the thumbwheel screw on the Nikon provides a more precise, snug fit to the camera body; the BP-D300 can wobble slightly from front to back. In use, this has been unnoticeable, however, even handholding the grip with a good-sized lens like the 80-200/f2.8 AF-S attached. The battery drawer on the BP-D300–whether one of the included for AA batteries or a single EN-EL3e, or a Nikon counterpart–sometimes needs a little bit of a jiggle to seat properly.
MB-D10 (l) and BP-D300 (r)
Turning to the back of the grip, we see the one functional difference: a sliding switch to lock/unlock the vertical shutter release button, in contrast to the circular switch surrounding the button on the MB-D10. (Nikon’s switch placement is slightly more convenient.) The remaining controls are largely the same; significantly, the 5-way directional button on the BP-D300 provides good feedback and control.
The BP-D300 comes with battery drawers for an EN-EL3e battery, or 8 AAs; a Phottix-branded EN-EL3e equivalent battery; and a car charger that can be used to recharge an EN-EL3e battery in the included drawer. (This is a feature not shared by Nikon’s MS-D10EN drawer.)
If you’re looking for 8 fps performance and don’t want to resort to secret tricks, I would recommend a look at the BP-D300.
Phottix BP-D300 Battery Pack (MB-D10 Replacement) on eBay
New Firmware Updates for D3 and D300
Last modified on 2008-07-02 07:31:26 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Nikon has released firmware upgrades for the D3 (to v2.00) and the D300 (v1.03).
The D3 firmware includes the following features (taken from Nikon USA web site):
- Images captured with “Rotate tall”, in the playback menu, set to “On”, are not automatically rotated for display immediately after capture (image review).
- The following changes and additions have been made to “f4: Assign FUNC.Button > FUNC. Button + dials” ; “f5: Assign preview button > Preview + command dials”, and “f6: Assign AE-L / AF-L button > AE-L / AF-L + command dials” menus in Custom Settings:
- The “Choose image area” option has been separated into two options, “Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” and “Choose image area (FX / DX)”
- A new “Shooting menu bank” option has been added.
- When “Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” or “Choose image area (FX/DX)” is selected and the function button (Fn) is pressed, the image area setting is displayed in the top control panel, in the shooting information display, and at the bottom of the viewfinder.
- A “Copyright information” item has been added to the setup menu. When “Copyright information” is enabled, the copyright symbol ( © ) is shown in the shooting info display.
- “Recent settings” can now be displayed in place of “My Menu”.
- The virtual horizon can now be displayed with shooting in LiveView mode.
- The “Vignette control” setting can now be confimed in shooting information.
- The “Vignette control” item in the shooting menu now supports all types of G- and D-type lenses, except DX and PC lenses.
- The “Vignette control” compensation value has been optimized for shooting with “Active D-Lighting” the shooting menu.
- Electronic analog exposure displays are now shown in the control panel and shooting info display while the exposure compensation setting is being applied.
- The degree of the “High ISO NR” setting can now be confirmed in the shooting info display while the “High ISO NR” setting item, in the shooting menu, is being applied.
- Design of the FX-format icon in the “Choose image area” setting has been modified.
- Ankara, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Manamah have been added to the “Time zone” options for the “World Time” item in the setup menu.
- When a GPS device is used and no heading information is available, –.–° is now displayed for the “Position > Heading” option in the “GPS” item in the setup menu.
- When shooting in LiveView mode using Camera Control Pro 2 (ver. 2.2.0) or later with a PC-E lens, the aperture setting can now be adjusted from the computer.
- Autofocus performance has been improved.
- Auto White Balance performance has been improved.
- An issue that, in some rare circumstances, caused the battery indicator to blink, regardless of actual battery charge, has been resolved.
- Errors in the German help displays have been corrected.
The D300 firmware includes only one change: to address the “dead battery syndrome” some users have experienced. (For the record, I have not seen this in either of my D300s so I have no plans to upgrade.)
The new firmware can be downloaded from the following links at Nikon USA:
D300 Does DIII Softball Championships
Last modified on 2008-05-21 04:13:18 GMT. 6 comments. Top.
I recently had the opportunity to shoot some of the action at the 2008 NCAA Division III Softball Championships. Check out some of the images as well as my settings for this sport.
Caught Stealing. 1/1600 @ f4, ISO 1250, Sigma 120-300/f2.8.
Women’s fast-pitch softball is an interesting sport with some important differences from baseball. The D300 has a number of features that are well-suited to capturing the action.
One thing I relied on photographing the championships this year was the Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick. This allowed me to set my preferred shutter speed (usually 1/1600) as well as aperture (f4 or f2.8) and the camera would automatically adjust the aperture to fit lighting and scene conditions. 1/1600 is a good speed for women’s fast-pitch, as this will usually show an ever-so-slight amount of ball movement while freezing other aspects of the action.
Release. 1/1250 @ f2.8, ISO 900, AF-S Nikkor 80-200/f2.8D.
Other settings I used are as follows (where they differ from factory defaults):
Shooting Menu
- Quality: JPG Normal - Really more than enough quality; I find the D300’s out-of-camera JPGs are just about perfect.
- Image Size: L - Make every pixel count!
- JPEG Compression: Quality
- White Balance: Auto (varies by location, of course)
- Picture Control: Standard - I like this for sports, natural yet bright colors and decent skin tones.
- Sharpening +5
- Saturation +2
- Color Space: Adobe RGB
- Active D-Lighting: Normal/Low - Active D-Lighting is the bomb!
- High ISO NR: Off - In-camera NR is better than the D200’s “cartoonish” look, but I still prefer NeatImage for high-ISO images.
- ISO auto sensitivity control: On - Thanks to the Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick, this is a very useful setting! I allow ISO to float all the way up to 3200 depending on the lighting conditions.
Custom Settings
- a1 AF-C priority selection: Release + focus - I find that when shooting at the greater distances involved in outdoor sports, giving the D300 just a bit more time to acquire and lock focus is useful.
- a3 Dyanmic AF area: 51 points (3D-tracking) - It’s amazing how useful and accurate this mode can be. With players generally spaced widely apart, it’s easy to lock on. And the 3D-tracking is extremely useful for keeping the focus on, for example, the pitcher’s eyes during a herky-jerky windup motion.
- a4 Focus tracking with lock-on: Long
- d2 Viewfinder grid display: On
- d10 MB-D10 battery type: FR6 - I keep a battery tray loaded with AA lithiums as a long-term backup power source.
- e1 Flash sync speed: 1/250 (Auto FP) - Gives me maximum flash flexibility.
- e2 Flash shutter speed: 1/30 - If I’m shooting flash I will likely have a VR lens mounted (18-200).
- e7 Bracketing order: under/meter/over - It only makes sense…
- f1 Multi-selector center button
- Shooting: Select center focus point - Especially with so many to choose from, I need to get back on center quickly!
- Playback: Show histograms - I like my cameras to behave consistently with one another.
- f3 Photo info/playback: On - See above.
- f4 Assign FUNC. button: FV lock (button press) - Consistently use function button for this function.
- f9 No memory card: Lock - Yes, I’ve shot games with no card (or no film) in the camera, so I always set this function!
I also found myself dialing in a little exposure compensation: +0.3 of a stop during an overcast game, and +0.7 of a stop when shooting into a bright, early evening sun. I find these values fairly consistent to use with the D300’s matrix metering. I also took advantage of sun’s backlighting to get some under-exposed shots (dialing in -0.3 of a stop).
Windup. 1/1600 @ f4, ISO 900, Sigma 120-300/f2.8.
Update on D300 Replacement Batteries
Last modified on 2008-04-19 20:54:08 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Two new third-party batteries that are compatible with the D300 have been added to my battery compatibility page.
Deal Alert:D300 with 18-200 VR lens
Last modified on 2008-04-10 06:55:36 GMT. 4 comments. Top.
Nikon is offering a $300 instant rebate on the purchase of a D300 with an 18-200/f3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR DX lens when purchased from an authorized dealer through May 11. This is a fantastic deal, considering the 18-200 was selling for above-MSRP prices on eBay not all that long ago.
Overclock Your Nikon D300
Last modified on 2008-04-17 11:27:37 GMT. 6 comments. Top.
Don’t have the MB-D10 grip for your D300 but still want a taste of what 8 fps is like? Try this secret trick to fool your D300 into shooting at 8 fps.
Warning: Using your camera in a manner other than that described by the manual could possibly damage your camera, void your warranty, or cause impotence. Follow the steps described below at your own risk.
First, make the following custom setting adjustments:
- e5: Flash only
- e6: Flash only
- f4: Button press - Bracketing burst
- f4: Button + dials - Bracketing mode
Then set your camera to JPG or 12-bit RAW mode. Set exposure manually. Activate bracketing with the Fn + Command dial and set 9F (9 frames). Set your shooting mode to single-shot (S). Do not use flash. Then hold the Fn button and when you are ready to shoot, press the shutter release and continue holding the Fn button. The camera will fire up to 9 frames at 8 fps.
Don’t like relying on gimmicks? Get your MB-D10 today!
To continue shooting after 9 frames, you will need to let up on the shutter release and depress it again. If you fire fewer than 9 shots, you will only be able to shoot the remaining exposures in your 9-frame burst if you continue shooting again, without letting up on the shutter release again.
Since you have set auto bracketing to apply only to flash, your non-flash bracketing burst is fired at your manually set exposure — it is not bracketed.[[63]]
New D300 JPG Write Tests
Last modified on 2008-04-26 19:52:05 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I’ve reformulated my JPG performance tests, and re-tested more than a dozen cards. The recommendations remain the same, with cards from SanDisk, Lexar, and PNY remaining the top performers, but the new rating scale does a better job, I believe, of differentiating JPG burst performance.
Deal Alert:
PNY Optima Pro UDMA 4GB CompactFlash — Just $59.99 with free shipping from Circuit City
PNY Optima Pro UDMA 2GB CompactFlash — Just $34.99 with free shipping from Circuit City
Nikon D300 Battery Compatibility
Last modified on 2008-10-10 11:25:03 GMT. 3 comments. Top.
Lots of traffic on the Internet about the non-compatibility of aftermarket batteries in the D300, thanks to Nikon’s Department of Interfering with Competitiveness and Customer Screwing (DICCS).
Here’s what I know in terms of compatibility (√ works, X doesn’t work). Listings in italics have not been verified by me personally.
D300 body:
√ Lenmar DLNEL3E (7.4V 1500mAh)
√ Phottix EN-EL3e repl “New Version” (7.4V 1600mAh)*
√ Adorama EN-EL3e repl “for Nikon D300″
X Adorama EN-EL3e repl “for Nikon D200, D80, D70s and D50″
X Phottix EN-EL3e repl (7.4V 1600mAh)*
X Delkin EN-EL3e repl (7.4V 1600mAh)**
* The “New Version” Phottix batteries from eBay are compatible with the D300. The seller (etefore) is still marketing the older, incompatible batteries as well, so be sure to read the auction description carefully for D300 compatibility information.
** Delkin’s site claims compatibility but users report otherwise. I sent an inquiry to Delkin on April 5 and was told their battery product manager would get back to me, but to date I’ve heard nothing from them on the issue.
MB-D10 grip:
√ Lenmar DLNEL3E (7.4V 1500mAh) (w/ MS-D10EN)
√ Phottix EN-EL3e repl “New Version” (7.4V 1600mAh) (w/ MS-D10EN)*
X Lenmar DLNEL4 (11.1V 2000mAh) (works w/D2H)
X Delkin EN-EL4 repl (11.1V 2000mAh) (works w/D2H)
X Powersmart EN-EL4 repl (11.1V 1800-2000mAh)
I can personally recommend the Lenmar DLNEL3E replacement batteries. I’ve owned mine for about 18 months and have used them in the D300, D200, and D80 with no issues; they last longer than original Nikon EN-EL3e’s and are about $10 cheaper.
D300 Does D3FF
Last modified on 2008-04-12 04:16:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I took a pair of D300s to the NCAA Division III Final Four in Salem, Virginia, this weekend.
D300 w/MB-D10 & EN-EL4, 80-200/f2.8 AF-S, Auto ISO (2000), 1/500 @ f2.8 manual
What a great combination for almost effortlessly handling the fast action of college hoops together with the celebratory atmosphere of a championship tournament! With a combination of lenses covering everything from 18mm to 300mm, I shot over 5,000 frames during four games and put many of the D300’s features to work.
Key again was the Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick, which allowed me to set my shutter speed and aperture manually (typically 1/500 @ f2.8) and let the camera adjust the ISO in 1/6-stop increments to achieve perfect exposure. I can emphasize how useful this feature was, not only for allowing me to cover action anywhere on the floor, but also for quickly switching to reaction shots of the crowd. The 8 fps shooting speed of the MB-D10 & EN-EL4 combination was also very useful.
Support this site–buy your Nikon D300 via this link
10 frames @ 8 fps – 1/500 @ f2, ISO 400-640, Sigma 30/f1.4
The sequence above shows how the AF system of the D300 is up to the challenge of following good college basketball - in this case, the passing and ball movement that characterizes top-tier Division III hoops. This backdoor cut executed to perfection by Amherst College in the championship final was shot at 8 fps. The focus in the 3rd frame, as #24 catches the pass, is slightly off - the defenders are in sharp focus - as I transition from the passing guard to the shooting player. But the remaining frames are tack sharp where you’d expect them to be. What’s more, ISO was continually adjusted, starting a 450, moving to 400 briefly, then up to 640 in several steps. The sequence also illustrates the value of shooting with a wider lens like the Sigma 30/f1.4 - a longer lens could not have captured the nature of this play. (See my old site for a comparison of the 30/f1.4 to the Nikon 50/f1.4 which it replaced in my camera bag.)
Support this site–buy your MB-D10 grip via this link
D300 w/Sigma 18-50/f2.8 HSM, 1/500 @ f2.8, ISO @ 2500
At the end of the game, I was looking for something different from the usual “jube” shots the other dozen or so photographers would get from the floor, so I ran to the back of the Washington University student section where I captured this priceless image. Knowing the D300 Auto ISO feature would handle the exposure, I kept my “game setting” of 1/500 @ f2.8 to give me a shallow depth of field while still freezing the frantic reactions of the joyful students.
Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick
Last modified on 2008-02-29 00:15:45 GMT. 7 comments. Top.
Somewhat by accident, I discovered a very powerful combination of settings on the D300 for shooting low-light sports action.
The secret: manual exposure mode in combination with Auto ISO (or what Nikon calls “ISO sensitivity auto control”). This is a combination that does defy logic, in two ways.
First, Auto-ISO in combination with manual exposure is pretty counterintuitive (fellow photographer/writer Ken Rockwell calls it a ‘defect‘). Back in the days of film, there wasn’t much to else to change when you set your aperture and shutter speed manually. Sure, you could manually adjust your ISO, but you had to do it a roll at a time and push or pull process your film. But allowing your digital SLR to adjust ISO based on lighting conditions while maintaining a constant shutter speed/aperture combination is a great feature for sports photography.
Second, Nikon only provides a “floor” shutter speed of 1/250 for Auto-ISO. In program or aperture-priority mode, the D300 will start adjusting ISO at the minimum shutter speed set in the Shooting Menu for ISO auto sensitivity control. This might make one think that shutter speeds of faster than 1/250 (more desirable for sports action) aren’t readily useable with Auto-ISO. Au contraire! The minimum shutter speed setting has no effect whatsoever in manual or shutter-priority modes, since shutter speeds do not vary in those modes.
Thus, I can happily set my D300 to, say, f1.8 and 1/320 in manual mode, and the camera will automatically fine-tune the ISO (in 1/6 steps, no less) to achieve optimal exposure. At a recent basketball game, I could shoot anywhere on the floor or even into the crowd at automatically-adjusted ISO settings ranging from 800 to 2000, all while achieving perfect exposure at 1/320 and f1.8.
Consequently, I’ve added this very useful setting to my recommendations for shooting basketball and other fast-paced indoor sports.
D300 RAW Burst Test
Last modified on 2008-09-12 14:21:14 GMT. 2 comments. Top.
After testing the Best UDMA CF Cards for the Nikon D300, which analyzed JPG burst performance, I thought I would take a look at RAW write performance. The results contained a few surprises.
For this test, I fired off 3 bursts of 20 12-bit, lossless compressed RAW files, otherwise using the same settings from the earlier test. The D300’s buffer can absorb 17 files under these conditions, so this is just enough of a test to begin to see major differences in write speeds.
Highly Recommended √+
- San Disk Extreme Ducati Edition. This card topped the performance list with an effective 6.7 fps and nearly 29 MB/sec throughput.
- San Disk Extreme IV Series. The two cards I tested - 8GB and 2GB - were just behind the Ducati and averaged an effective 6.3 fps and approximately 28 MB/sec.
- PNY Optima Pro. This card averaged an effective 5 fps and 24 MB/sec throughput. Both the PNY and Extreme IV cards topped the performance charts for JPG burst shooting as well.
- Transcend 300x UDMA. Transcend’s newest UDMA card hit an effective 5 fps and 24 MB/sec.
- Lexar Pro UDMA. The Lexar edged into the top performance tier for RAW shooting, with an effective 6 fps and 23 MB/sec throughput.
- SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/sec. The upgraded, UDMA-capable Extreme III series clocked in at an effective 5 fps and 23 MB/sec throughput.
- ATP Pro Max II UDMA. A pleasant surprise, the ATP card — an also-ran in JPG burst shooting – joins the elite of RAW shooting with an effective 5 fps and 22 MB/sec throughput.
- Pretec 333x. Another also-ran in JPG shooting, the faster of Pretec’s two UDMA models consistently recorded 5 fps and 22MB/sec in our RAW burst test.
Buy Extreme Ducati Edition Cards from Adorama: 4GB, 8GB
Buy Extreme IV Cards from Adorama: 2 GB, 4GB, 8GB
Buy Extreme III Cards from Adorama: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Newegg: PNY 2GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card
Newegg: PNY 4GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card
Transcend 4GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card
Transcend 8GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card
Transcend 16GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card
Buy Pro UDMA 300x Cards from Adorama: 2 GB, 4GB, 8GB
Buy Pretec 333x Cards from PTI Global
PNY Optima Pro UDMA 2GB CompactFlash — Just $34.99 with free shipping from Circuit City
Marginal √-
- Kingston 266x Ultimate. The Kingston led a pack of cards whose performance was a bit disappointing, at just 4 fps effective and 14 MB/sec throughput.
- Ridata 266x Supreme. Ridata’s second effort reached 4 fps and 14 MB/sec throughput.
- Apacer Steno IV 300x. This entry hit 3.75 effective fps with 14 MB/sec throughput.
- Transcend 266x. Transcend’s faster UDMA card hit 3.75 effective fps and 13 MB/sec throughput.
- Delkin Pro UDMA 305x. Delkin’s card just topped 3.5 effective fps and nearly 12 MB/sec.
- Hoodman RAW. Hoodman’s card limped in at 3.3 effective fps and 11 MB/sec throughput.
- BiWin 150-300x. This 16GB monster struggled to reach 2.9 effective fps and a 9 MB/sec throughput rate.
- A-Data Turbo 266x. A-Data was sucking wind at 2.7 fps and 11 MB/sec.
The ranks of the also-rans included the following sub-par performances: Pretec 233x (2.3 fps and 9 MB/sec), Ridata 233x Lightning (2.3 fps and 8 MB/sec), and Transcend 133x (1.7 fps and 6 MB/sec). Two non-UDMA cards yielded the following results: Transcend’s 120x 2GB card hit 3.2 fps and 12 MB/sec, while the Kingston Elite Pro 133x 4GB card reached 2.2 fps and 8 MB/sec - quite respectable compared to some of the above UDMA cards.
Camera Settings - Basketball (D300)
Last modified on 2008-02-29 00:28:26 GMT. 4 comments. Top.
To complement the article on the gear I pack for basketball season, here’s a rundown of the shooting and custom settings I use for that sport on my D300.
Only settings that differ from default are shown below; settings in bold, explanation in regular type:
Shooting Menu
- Quality: JPG Fine - Really more than enough quality; I find the D300’s out-of-camera JPGs are just about perfect.
- Image Size: L - Make every pixel count!
- JPEG Compression: Quality
- White Balance: Auto A2/M2 (varies by location, of course)
- Picture Control: Standard - I like this for sports, natural yet bright colors and decent skin tones.
- Sharpening +6
- Saturation +2
- Color Space: Adobe RGB
- Active D-Lighting: Normal - Active D-Lighting is the bomb!
- High ISO NR: Off - In-camera NR is better than the D200’s “cartoonish” look, but I still prefer NeatImage for high-ISO images.
- ISO auto sensitivity control: On - Thanks to a Secret D300 High-Speed Auto ISO Trick, this is a very useful setting! I allow ISO to float all the way up to 3200 depending on the lighting conditions.
Custom Settings
- a3 Dyanmic AF area: 21 points - I sometimes use 51 points. It’s kind of a toss-up for basketball; the action is fast and unpredictable enough to warrant 51 points, but the number of bodies in close proximity can make 51 points problematic at times.
- d2 Viewfinder grid display: On
- d4 CL shooting speed: 1 fps - I use 1 fps shooting for strobes, White Lightning UZ1600’s set to half power. Normally, I now use the D2h with strobes and shoot the D300’s with arena lighting.
- d10 MB-D10 battery type: FR6 - I keep a battery tray loaded with AA lithiums as a long-term backup power source.
- e1 Flash sync speed: 1/250 (Auto FP) - Gives me maximum flash flexibility.
- e2 Flash shutter speed: 1/30 - If I’m shooting flash I will likely have a VR lens mounted (18-200).
- e7 Bracketing order: under/meter/over - It only makes sense…
- f1 Multi-selector center button
- Shooting: Select center focus point - Especially with so many to choose from, I need to get back on center quickly!
- Playback: Show histograms - I like my cameras to behave consistently with one another.
- f3 Photo info/playback: On - See above.
- f4 Assign FUNC. button: FV lock (button press) - Consistently use function button for this function.
- f9 No memory card: Lock - Yes, I’ve shot games with no card (or no film) in the camera, so I always set this function!
Active D-Lighting on the Nikon D300
Last modified on 2008-01-14 04:15:12 GMT. 6 comments. Top.
I’ve been a big fan of Nikon’s D-Lighting technology, favoring it over Adobe’s Shadow/Highlight adjustment for more bringing out more natural-looking shadow detail. With the D3 and D300, Nikon introduces a new technology called “Active D-Lighting,” which uses a new, on-the-fly approach to achieve a similar result. How well does it work?
In a word, great.
Active D-Lighting: None on left, “Normal” on right
These shots, both of VMI’s Travis Holmes, were taken on the same night, on the same area of the court, albeit with different D300/lens combinations (the photo on left was shot with a Sigma 18-50/f2.8 HSM at 50mm, 1/400 @ f2.8, ISO 800; the photo on right with AF-Nikkor 85/f1.8D, 1/400 @ f1.8, ISO 400).
Nikon recommends setting Active D-Lighting to “Low” for high ISO images, and “High” for low ISO shots. Here’s a comparison of the three settings, as well as Active D-Lighting turned “off,” with variations from the originally recorded setting of “Normal” made through Capture NX v1.3.
Clockwise from top left: Off, Low, High, Normal
These results compare favorably to improvements made in post-processing with the software-based D-Lighting adjustment in Nikon Capture:
D-Lighting: Off on left, strength “20″ on right
The value of the Active D-Lighting, of course, is that it is accomplished in-camera, and requires no additional post-processing. This is great for my D300 workflow, as I have found that the out-of-camera images generally require no post-processing and I have begun to eliminate that step for the bulk of my images.
Clicking on each of the thumbnails above will bring you to a slightly larger (700 pixels high) version of each image. If anyone feels the need to see the full-sized images, email me and I will send them to you.
Best CF Cards for Nikon D300
Last modified on 2008-09-12 14:11:02 GMT. 7 comments. Top.
Nikon’s D300 was the first production DSLR to offer support for the higher transfer rates of UDMA-enabled Compact Flash cards. While these cards — beginning with the San Disk Extreme IV series introduced in 2006 — have offered exceptionally high card-to-computer transfer rates (in an appropriate reader), only now are photographers able to take advantage of the incredible write speeds these cards offer with the D300 (also with the Nikon D3 and the Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III). The results of my informal tests of more than a dozen cards are in, and the winner is…
Updated 9/12/2008: Apacer’s Steno IV 4GB card claims speeds of 300x while SanDisk’s upgraded Extreme III 4GB boasts 30 MB/sec (205x) read/write speeds.
Updated 8/23/2008: BiWin’s $50 16GB UDMA card has claimed speeds of 150x (write) and 300x (read).
Updated 6/18/2008: Ridata introduces their 266x Supreme CF card, which improves their standing to marginal performance.
Updated 5/11/2008: The Transcend 300x UDMA CF card performs well in all phases of testing. Transcend’s third UDMA card finally delivers!
Updated 4/5/2008: A reader with ties to the CF card industry reminded me of some fundamental truths about non-real-world ‘tests’ that should probably be reiterated here. (In fact, those of you who were familiar with my earlier discussion of CF cards on the ‘old’ site will remember I specifically avoided the word ‘test’ in talking about these observations.)
Few laboratory measurements equate to real-world performance. No photographer judges success by how many megabytes per second his CF card will read or write; success is getting the image on the card when you need it. Consequently, I’ve developed a new testing regimen as well as a new ‘grading scale’ approach for JPG write speeds. Simply speaking, I measure how many images a card can handle at 8 fps in a single burst before slowing down due to a full buffer. I conducted measurements at both JPG-Fine and JPG-Normal, which give a camera-measured buffer of 26 and 37 frames, respectively. Combining multiple measurements with a scale weighted toward JPG-Fine performance, I evaluate the tested cards as follows.
Grade: A (90+)
- SanDisk Extreme IV (8GB): 108
- SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition (4GB): 104
- SanDisk Extreme IV (2GB): 100
Grade: B (80-89)
- Lexar Pro UDMA (4GB): 89
- Transcend 300x UDMA (4GB): 89
- SanDisk Extreme III 30 MB/sec (4GB): 86
- ATP Pro Max II UDMA (4GB): 84
- PNY Optima Pro UDMA (2GB): 82
- PNY Optima Pro UDMA (4GB): 82
Grade: C (70-79)
- Pretec 333x (2GB): 74
Grade: D (60-69)
- Kingston 266x Ultimate (2GB): 64
- Transcend 266x (2GB): 63
- Ridata 266x Supreme (4GB): 62
- Apacer Steno IV 300x (4GB): 62
- BiWin 16GB 150-300x (16GB): 60
- A-DATA Turbo 266x (4GB): 60
- Delkin CF PRO UDMA (2GB): 60
Grade: F (below 60)
- Hoodman RAW 280x (2GB): 59
- Ridata 233x Lightning (4GB): 55
- Pretec 233x (4GB): 52
- Transcend 133x (2GB): 51
For comparison, some non-UDMA cards tested included the Transcend 120x (2GB) with a score of 64, the Kingston Elite Pro 133x (4GB) which scored 53, and the A-DATA Speedy (2GB) which limped in with a score of 50.
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