Nikon D300 User Manual

Defy Limitations – the ultimate in Nikon DX-format performance.

All-new 12 .3 ef fective megapixel Nikon DX-format CMOS image

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se nso r with integrat ed A/D con ver ter and the inc reased bit
precision of selectable 14 -bit NEF (RAW) output
Incorporates Nikon's original EXPE ED digital image processing

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concept
Ni kon's orig inal Scene Rec ognition System gr eat ly imp rov es

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autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance performance
New 51-point autofocus system features 15 cross-type sensors that

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maximize the potential of lenses with apertures as small as f/5.6
View nder with 100% frame coverage and large 0.94 magnication

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Rapid 8 fps*1 or 6 fps*2 continuous shooting for up to 10 0 shots

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*1

When u sing AC Ada ptor EH -5a/ EH- 5 or Multi -Powe r Batte ry Pack MB -D10 wi th batt eries ot her than Rec hargeable L i-io n Batte ry EN- EL3 e

*2

When u sing Recha rgeable L i-ion B atter y EN- EL3e

*3

NOR MAL - L ARGE imag e sett ing, using a S anDisk E xtrem e IV Compac tFlash 1 GB card

*4

When s hootin g in Conti nuous- servo A F (C), S hutte r-Prio rity A uto [S] or M anual [M] e xposure m odes, at a sh utter s peed of 1/ 250 s or fa ster

w ith oth er sett ings at def ault
*5

When s hootin g in JPEG, T IFF or 12- bit NE F (RAW ) format s

*3 *4

New Picture Control System for image nishing optimized to match

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individual preferences
Liveview: Tripod shooting mode with Contrast AF and Hand-held

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shooting mode
Self-cleaning Sensor Unit for dust-reduction

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Quick response of 0.13 sec. power-up and 45 ms shutter release time lag

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Magnesium alloy body for light weight and rugged durability

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3-inch LC D wi th 92 0,000-do t resolution and a 17 0˚ ult ra-wide

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viewing angle
Active D-Lighting optimizes tone reproduction in both shadows and

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highlights

*5

More information available Fall 2007.

Nikon Digital SLR Camera D300 Specications

Type of Camera
Effect ive Pixels
Image Sen sor
Image Size ( pixels)
Dust-re duction S ystem
Sensiti vity

File Syst em
Storage S ystem

Storage M edia
Release M odes

White Bal ance

Liveview
LCD Monit or

Playback Fu nction

Delete Fun ction
Video Ou tput
HDMI Out put

Interf ace
Text Input

Lens Mou nt
Compat ible Lense s

Picture A ngle
View nder
Eyepoint
Focusin g Screen
View nder Frame Co verage
View nder Magni cation
Autofoc us

Lens Ser vo

Focus Poin t

AF Area Mo de

Single-lens reex digital camera

12.3 million
CMOS sensor, 23.6 x 15.8 mm; total pixels: 13.1 million; Nikon DX format
4,288 x 2,848 [L], 3,216 x 2,136 [M], 2,144 x 1,424 [S]
Clean image sensor, image dust-off data acquisition (Capture NX required)
ISO 200 to 3200 in steps of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV with additional settings of approx. 0.3, 0.5,

0.7 and 1 EV (ISO 100 equivalent) under ISO 200 and approx. 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1 EV (ISO
6400 equivalent) over ISO 3200
Compliant with DCF 2.0, DPOF and Exif 2.21
NEF 12-bit or 14-bit (uncompressed, lossless compressed or compressed RAW)
TIFF (RGB)
JPEG: JPEG baseline-compliant
CompactFlash (CF) Card (Type I and II, UDMA compliant), Microdrive

1) Single frame [S] mode 2) Continuous low speed [CL] mode: 1 to 7*1 frames per second

3) Continuous high-speed [CH] mode: 8 frames per second*1, 6 frames per second*2

4) Liveview [LV] mode 5) Self-timer [ ] mode 6) Mirror-up [Mup] mode
*1.

When using AC Adaptor EH-5a/EH-5 or Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 with
batteries other than Rechargeable Li-ion Batter y EN-EL3e
*2.

When using Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e
(When shooting in Continuous-servo AF (C), Shutter-Priority Auto [S] or Manual [M]
exposure modes, at a shutter speed of 1/250 s or faster with other settings at default)
Auto (TTL white balance with 1,005-pixel RGB sensor), seven manual modes with ne-tuning,
color temperature setting, white balance bracketing possible (2 to 9 frames in increments 1~3)
Hand-held shooting mode, Tripod shooting mode
3-in., approx. 920,000-dot (VGA), 170-degree wide viewing angle, 100% frame coverage,
low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with brightness adjustment

1) Full frame 2) Thumbnail (4 or 9 segments) 3) Zoom 4) Slideshow 5) RGB histogram
indication 6) Shooting data 7) Highlight point display 8) Auto image rotation
Card format, All photographs delete, Selected photographs delete
NTSC or PAL; simultaneous playback from both the video output and on the LCD monitor available
Supports HDMI version 1.3a; Type A connector is provided as HDMI output terminal;
simultaneous playback from both the HDMI output terminal and on the LCD monitor not available
Hi-Speed USB
Up to 36 characters of alphanumeric text input available with LCD monitor and multi­selector; stored in Exif header
Nikon F Mount with AF coupling and AF contacts

1) DX AF Nikkor: All functions possible

2) D-/G-t ype AF Nikkor (excluding IX Nikkor lenses): All functions possible (excluding PC
Micro-Nikkor)

3) AF Nikkor other than D-/G-type (excluding lenses for F3AF): All functions except
3D-Color Matrix Metering II possible

4) AI-P Nikkor: All functions except Autofocus, 3D-Color Matrix Metering II possible

5) Non-CPU AI Nikkor: Can be used in exposure modes A and M; electronic range nder
can be used if maximum aperture is f/5.6 or faster; Color Matrix Metering and aperture
value display supported if user provides lens data
Equivalent in 35mm [135] format is approx. 1.5 times lens focal length
SLR-type with xed eye-level pentaprism; built-in diopter adjustment (-2.0 to +1.0 m-1)

19.5 mm (-1.0 m-1)
Type-B BriteView Clear Matte screen Mark II with superimposed focus brackets and On-Demand grid lines
Approx. 100% (vertical and horizontal)
Approx. 0.94x with 50mm lens at innity; -1.0 m

•TTL phase detection, 51 focus points (15 cross-type sensors) by Nikon Multi-CAM
3500DX autofocus module; Detection -1 to +19 EV (ISO 100 at 20°C/68°F); AF ne
adjustment possible

•Focal plane contrast [in Liveview (Tripod) mode]
Single-servo AF (S); continuous-servo AF (C); manual (M); predictive focus tracking
automatically activated acc ording to subject status in continuous-servo AF
Single AF point can be selected from 51 or 11 focus points
Liveview (Tripod mode): Contrast AF on a desired point within entire frame

1) Single point AF 2) Dynamic Area AF [9 points, 21 points, 51 points, 51 points
(3D-tracking)] 3) Automatic-ar ea AF

-1

Focus Lo ck

Expos ure Meterin g
System

Expos ure Meterin g
Range
Expos ure Meter Cou pling
Expos ure Modes

Expos ure Compen sation
Auto Exp osure Loc k
Auto Exp osure Brac keting
Picture C ontrol Sys tem
Shutte r

Sync Con tact

Flash Co ntrol

Flash Syn c Mode

Built-i n Speedli ght
Guide num ber

Flash Co mpensati on
Access ory Shoe
Sync Termina l
Creative L ighting
System

Self-ti mer
Depth of Fi eld
Preview
Remote Co ntrol
GPS

Suppor ted
Langua ges
Power Sourc e

Tripod Socke t
Custom Set tings
Dimensio ns (W x H x D)
Weight
Operat ing Environ ment
Suppli ed Access ories
(may diff er by countr y or area)

Main Opt ional
Access ories

© 2007 NIKON CO RPORATION
Compac tFlash an d Ex treme are regis tered trademarks of SanDis k Cor poratio n. Pro ducts and bran d nam es are
tradema rks or registered t rademarks of their r espective com panies.

Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-ser vo AF) or by
pressing AE-L/AF-L button
TTL full-aperture exposure metering using 1005-pixel RGB sensor

1) 3D Color Matrix Metering II (type G and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU
lenses); color matrix metering (non-CPU lenses if user provides lens data; metering performed)

2) Center-weighted: Weight of 75% given to 6, 8, 10, or 13 mm dia. circle in center of frame or
weighting based on average of entire frame (8 mm circle when non-CPU lens is used)



3) Spot: Meters approx. 3 mm dia. circle (about 2.0% of frame) centered on selected

focus point (on center focus point when non-CPU lens is used)

1) 0 to 20 EV (3D Color Matrix or center-weighted metering)

2) 2 to 20 EV (spot metering) (ISO 100, f/1.4 lens, 20˚C)

Combined CPU and AI

1) Programmed Auto [P] with exible program 2) Shutter-Priority Auto [S] 3) Aperture

Priority Auto [A] 4) Manual [M]

5 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV

±

Detected exposure value locked by pressing AE-L/AF-L but ton
Exposure and/or a sh bracketing (2 to 9 exposures in increments of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 or 1 EV)
Four setting options: Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome; each option can be adjusted
Electronically-contr olled vertical-travel focal plane shutter, 1/8,000 to 30 s in steps of
1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV, Bulb
X=1/250 s; ash synchronization at up to 1/320 s (FP) adjustable with Built-in Speedlight
or optional Speedlight (will reduce GN)

1) TTL: TTL ash control by 1,005-pixel RGB sensor

Built-in Speedlight, SB-800, SB-600 or SB-40 0: i-TTL balanced ll-ash and standard
i-TTL ash

2) AA (Auto Aperture-t ype) ash: Available with SB-800 used with CPU lens

3) Non-TTL Auto: Available with Speedlights such as SB-800, 28, 27, and 22S

4) Range-priority manual ash; available with SB-800

1) Front-curtain Sync (normal) 2) Red-eye Reduction

3) Red-eye Reduction with Slow Sync 4) Slow Sync 5) Rear-curtain Sync

Manual pop-up with button release
(ISO 200, m): approx. 17 (manual 18)
(ISO 100 equivalent, m): approx. 12 (manual 13)

-3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV

ISO 518 Standard hot-shoe contact with safety loc k provided
ISO 519 standard terminal
With Speedlights such as SB-800, SB-60 0, SB-400, SB-R200, supports Advanced
Wireless Lighting, Auto FP High-Speed Sync, Flash Color Information Communication,
modeling ash and FV lock
2 to 20 seconds duration
When CPU lens is attached, lens aperture can be stopped down to value selected by
user (A and M mode) or value selected by camera (P and S mode)
Via 10-pin terminal or Wireless Transmitter WT-4 (optional)
NMEA 0183 (Ver. 2.01 and 3.01) interface standard supported with 9-pin D-sub cab le
(optional) and GPS Cable MC-35 (optional)
Chinese (Simplied and Traditional), Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e, Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 (optional) with one
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL4a, EN-EL4 or EN-EL3e or eight R6/AA-size alkaline (LR6), Ni-MH
(HR6), lithium (FR6) batteries, or nickel-manganese ZR6 batteries, AC Adapter EH-5a (optional)
1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
48 settings available
Approx. 147 x 114 x 74 mm (5.8 x 4.5 x 2.9 in.)
Approx. 825 g (1.82 lbs.) without battery, memory card, body cap, or monitor cover
Temperature: 0-40˚C/32-104˚F, Humidity: under 85% (no condensation)
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e, Quick Charger MH-18a, USB Cable UC-E4,
Video Cable EG-D100, Strap AN-D300, LCD monitor cover BM-8, Body cap, Eyepiece
Cap DK-5, Rubber Eyecup DK-23, Software Suite CD-ROM
Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10, Wireless Transmitter WT-4, Magnifying Eyepiece
DK-21M, AC Adapter EH-5a, Capture NX Software, Camera Control Pro 2