Nikon D300 Review

Overall Rating

Wonderful camera. Great features. Fast focusing and shooting. Just one (not so) minor flaw:

Can't use RAW mode if your software is below Photoshop 5.0. Can't use RAW mode if your software is Photoshop 6.0 unless you can get 6.0 to run. In short, can't use RAW mode.

If you're going to shell out 1,300 quid on a camera, chances are you'll be at least a semi-professional, if not a pro. And so you'll be using Adobe Photoshop and running the camera in RAW mode, rather than cheap and cheerful jpg mode (and hey, if all you want are jpegs then this may be your dream camera).

It's a great pity then that Nikon forgot to ask Adobe to release a RAW plugin for this camera before they released the kit. Oh, Adobe have done a plug-in for the LATEST version of Photoshop, but it may come as a surprise to Nikon that when I traded in my D200 for a D300 I wasn't expecting to have to buy a complete photo editing suite and a new computer to make it run. I would be happy to upgrade to the latest Photoshop, if only I could make it run on my 18 month old computer. This, by the way, I suspect has less to do with computing power and more to do with Adobe?s well documented broken security features.

The current net wisdom is to throw away the advantages of shooting in raw and convert the files to DNG format, but Adobe's DNG plug in is not a richly featured as the RAW plugin. No point in shooting RAW if you can?t take advantage of it.

You may think that this is an Adobe problem, but Adobe didn't change the RAW format - Nikon did. Backward compatibility is one of the oldest rules in the world. Nikon did good to introduce better technology, but they should have thought out the delivery.

So, if like me you expect to be able to USE the pictures that you take with your camera then don?t buy a D300 unless you also a) Buy a very new computer and b) Install the latest version of Adobe Photoshop and spend a few weeks making their anti-piracy software work and c) spend a grand or so on a training course because the new Photoshop is so unlike the old one.

If however, you want to impress your friends with a very cool paperweight or some of the world's most expensive jpegs, then this is the camera for you.

Members' Comments onzombie371's Review

• qu451m0d0 on 2nd Apr 2008

  Can't help disagreeing. The RAW issue you mention IS an Adobe issue. Backward compatibility is fine and Nikon have taken that to extremes with the lens mount (how many times have Canon changed the lens mount? Or Pentax? Or Olympus).
  The RAW file changes are necessary to introduce additional features. Its unreasonable to expect that you will be able to use old software to manipulate new RAW files. Its like expecting an old printer or scanner driver to work with your new printer or scanner.
  Perhaps it isn't Nikon you should be criticising but Adobe for not releasing an updated ACR download quickly enough?

• maildy on 4th Jul 2008

  I'm interested in the Camera not issues with Ver 5.x PS! . . . I use a Mac so all the Windows winging is irrelevant to me. Get a Mac, take pictures, do your stuff and take more pictures :)

• curlykale on 10th Aug 2008

  I disagree with this review because...The fault is with Adobe and not Nikon. This is a semi-pro camera and it should be expected that anyone shooting in raw should keep their software reasonably up to date.

• brian102 on 13th Jun 2009

  Thought this was a review of the D300 not Adobe!
  Not a fan of Adobe software - ok maybe it ' s the most use unfriendly software ever - but that ' s not really the point of the review! Wrting in June 2009 using Photoshop CS3, RAW is absolutely fine!