Noticeably better than D200

I agree with Sailingshot about the significant improvement of the D300 over the D200. I have owned a D70 and a D200. The D300 is the first DSLR that I have owned that takes pictures in the Program (Automatic) mode that make you say WOW! I have been disappointed with my previous DSLRs, including the D200, in that in the auto mode my wife's $250 Kodak point and shoot took shots that looked better to me. Her cameras colors were richer and focus was sharper. True you can tweak and adjust DSLR camera settings to match the point and shoot, but for several times more money I want great shots right out of the box.

My first reaction to the first shot on the D300 was WOW! Rich vibrant colors, fast perfect focus. It was not a subtle thing that you had to stare at a while to notice. People had been telling me that my focus was not as sharp as I desired because I needed to get a better lens. Not so. With the same 18-200mm zoom that I used on the D200 I finally was getting tack sharp pictures with great detail. I rarely miss a shot under all kinds of varying conditions. I am sorry but even my D200 cannot touch this camera.

Other reviews nicely cover some of the other pluses of the D300 but for me the bottom line is that finally I am getting pictures that look like they came from an expensive camera without having to master a complex array of controls and modes. If you are really happy with your D70, D80, D40, or D200, stand pat. If you are wondering whether a D300 will make a noticeable improvement, the answer is definitely yes.

At last I can get out of the camera body upgrade mode and spend my money on useful accessories.

By the way, I came within a hair of buying a Canon 40D before the D300 came out. I felt that I was getting better shots in auto than with the D200. I held off because I found that it would sometimes get confused and not focus on a scene that seemed like it should be able to focus. Also Canon has a few quirks that are annoying if you are used to a Nikon, like not being able to delete a foto with two quick pushes of the delete button or reset to default settings by holding down two easily accessible buttons. The Canon shutter was very loud and clunky. The Nikon felt better in my hands and seemed to have smoother operation of its controls. I did like that fact that Canon had a compressed RAW mode that gave you the benefits of RAW without taking up so much space.

I wish that Nikon would have included some scene modes to make it simple to switch to Landscape, Night Scene, etc. Yes you can figure all of this out, and yes pros sneer at such nonsense but many people like myself that are relatively casual photographers that want excellent photos are being drawn into this segment of the market. Pros can just ignore these conveniences.