After staring at the final Check Out Page for about 2 hours on Amazon.com - I finally got the courage to press the Pay Now button and ordered the Nikon D-300!!! It was the scariest thing I did this week. I kept thinking up excuses not to buy it. Things like: do I have enough money, is the camera really that good, am I a good enough photographer, should I buy my children food? With the screen still asking me if I want to pay now, I called Aaron for a final pep talk and he helped me with the final reason too BUY it - and I did! I have never had any problems purchasing items from Amazon but I was a bit suspicious that the company they are using to supply the camera is a company based in New York (aren’t they all?) called Cameta Camera. They had really good reviews and I could not find anything really negative about them online. It was between them and Ritz Camera. I can’t believe all the negative comments about Ritz. I even called them to make sure that they actually had the D-300 in stock. The operator did confirm that they did have them in stock but when I asked if I could take it back to my local Ritz Camera in the mall if I had any problems he said no because they are run by different companies. UMHHH Very interesting!
I hope that it’s not going to be too overwhelming learning this camera coming from a D70s. I found some tutorials at the Nikon site that I plan on checking out so I can be prepared. I also ordered the battery grip that fits the D-300 for $260. I know that this camera is a battery hog and heck…it looks pretty cool on the camera!I still have not purchased my tripod…….but with an ISO of 6500 maybe I won’t need one right away!
My 10 year old daughter Rowan was in a fun run today at school. I was very proud of her. She ran 28 laps. I sponsored her for $3 a lap figuring she’d run 2 laps! Oops….she is killin me! I went with her to cheer her on but after she hit lap 15 I was a little less enthusiastic about her running. I told her its o.k. to walk…now is a good time to go to the bathroom…just kidding. I am extremely proud of her. Here are some pictures from the day.
5 Comments
You are going to love this camera, I can’t wait to hear about your using it. Once you start using a vertical grip, you’ll never go back. Enjoy it!
I see that you took the plunge to get the D300. I have been wanting to get the D300 eversince my friend at work got on but can’t muster up the funds to get one. I am going to see what happens at PMA 2008 to see if an upgrade is coming out for the D80 and if yes, see what the new features are and price point to evaluate if an upgrade is needed. We shall see.
I can’t complain though as I am going to Boston to do some photography tomorrow with friends and hitting a couple of camera stores where I am going to purchase some new equipment.
Enjoy and looking forward to your reviews of the D300 as well as photos. I know that you will love the high noise feature as the pictures are unbelivable at 3200 ISO. Crisp and sharp.
I went throught he same emotional response in November when I bought mine from B&H. You won’t regret it, you’ll come to love it very quickly! Two things that you will really love that very few people talk about are the 51-point AF (there’s always a focus point where you want to compose) is really fast and accurate, and the 14-bit RAW files have amazing color saturation! I will look forward to seeing your pix and your assessment of your new toy — er tool. Once I started shooting with it I never looked back and I was coming from a D200.
Good luck with your new gear. Looking forward to some new post with it.
Felt the same $$$$ concerns when I bought my Canon 5D. You will find that the higher end gear does perform better. Just make sure you buy the best glass you can afford. I found that to be the greatness contributor to better images. ( However, personally as it relates to me more skill would help :))
Just curious as to why you selected Amazon over B&H to make the purchase ?
Thanks for all the encouragement and well wishes….I can’t wait to start using it. I decided not to get the battery grip until after I have gotten used to the camera. Plus it’s not just the money for the grip but the extra cost of the batteries that go with it. I just spent 1,799 for the camera….and need to save every last bit of $$$$
@Peter - B&H Photo did not have it in stock. They weren”t even taking orders.