I had been planning to buy a second DSLR body when the D300 came out late last year. At the time I was using a Nikon D200 and was very happy with the quality and versatility of that camera. I decided to put off my purchase and see how the new D300 was received by both amateur and professional photographers. After reading many reviews I decided to go for the D300 and I couldn't be happier.
I shoot in a wide variety of situations, from indoor and outdoor sporting events, wildlife photography,fine art images, to portraits and advertising. So the ability to shoot fast and under varied lighting conditions was of considerable importance to me. I was happy with the abilities of the D200 when paired up with fast lenses. But fast lenses tend to be expensive lenses and although I do have a couple of great fast lenses, I primarily use a 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens just for its versatility. With the High ISO/Low Noise capability of the New D300, I gain about 2 stops over the D200. What that ultimately means is I can shoot without a flash in more situations and maximize the flashes capability when I do use it.
Another feature of the D300 is Active D-Lighting. This feature allows you to preserve the details in high contrast images such as those with a bright sky and a darker foreground by expanding the dynamic rang of the image.This saves you from spending lots of extra time making adjustments to each image later in post processing at home.
I have now shot about 10,000 images with the D300 and I find the build quality to be solid as a rock. The camera is a bit on the heavy side, but not so much so as to be uncomfortable. The large LCD display is much brighter an easier to see than that of the D200 and the addition of 'Live View", the ability to see through the lens on the LCD screen, makes composition and focusing in awkward positions much easier.
Overall, although the D200 and D300 share many great features and look very similar, the D300 is a much more serious Pro-sumer camera which is very well suited for the rigors and wide ranging needs of both the Amateur and Professional Photographer.