We just got our Nikon D300s, and it’s looking good. I’ve taken a few beauty shots for you, and shot some video with the camera as well. First impressions are good, but that’s to be expected as it’s based on the the excellent D300 body. We’ll be comparing the D300s to a D300 in our full review to help you decide if you want to upgrade or not.
The physical camera is different in some subtle ways. There’s a dedicated live view button, a quiet shutter mode, and the door to the memory card hatch has been changed. Nikon also switched the control rocker switch to the style used in the D3 and D5000, and it’s a definite improvement.
Internally, things have been upgraded as well. The camera has a faster CPU, which allows for quicker auto focus. I have noticed that the 16-85mm lens that Nikon sent with the camera does seem faster, however I haven’t had a chance to test it on my D300 yet to get an accurate idea. The D300s does feel snappier then the D300. I’m not sure if that’s something that quantifiable or not, but I’ll let you know when I do the proper review.
For now, I went out and shot some 720p video for you, and I am impressed with that feature. There are a couple of things that I have notice about the video mode though, you will want to either be on a tripod, or have the VR set to “active”, and the auto-focus noise is really noticeable.
For now, here’s a gallery of the camera itself, and a sample video at the top of this post. If there is anything in particular you’d like me to check out or compare to the original D300, put it in the comments. I will be watching and try to answer for you.