Live View for Nikon D300
Nikon D300 Live View: Perhaps triggered by Olympus and Panasonic in the consumer SLR space, “Live View” on DSLRs seems to be becoming a more common feature. With the advent of Nikon’s CMOS sensor, the Nikon D300 now feature Live View modes of its own. Here again though, Nikon D300 has gone the competition one better, by providing what is to our eyes the most useful and usable DSLR Live View mode yet.
What makes Nikon’s Live View mode so uniquely effective are the two options it provides for autofocus operation. The first mode is the one used by everyone else. Because the traditional AF sensors are blocked when you flip up the mirror for Live View mode, you have to drop the mirror to focus, then flip it back for Live View. Canon, Nikon, and Olympus all have this mode.
Their second mode is the real charm, one we’ve been waiting for since the Olympus E-330: Called Live View (Tripood mode), this mode uses contrast detect autofocus, driven from the imaging sensor. Instead of flipping mechanical switches, the Nikon D300 and D3 simply read data off the CMOS image sensor and evaluate how abruptly light to dark (or dark to light) transitions happen on the image plane. Contrast-detect AF isn’t nearly as fast as phase-detect (which is why the shutter response of most digicams is so much slower than most digital SLRs), but at least these new Nikons can focus without interrupting the Live View display. As an added benefit, because it’s working with data coming from the main image sensor, you can move the AF point anywhere you want within the frame area, right out to the extreme edges. We’re very interested in testing this feature. Apparently they really mean that the camera must be mounted on a tripod for it to work well, because the sensor isn’t quite fast enough to handle the camera or subject moving while the AF operation is under way.
The D300 provides up to a 10x zoom in Live View mode, providing excellent focus discrimination when focusing manually. This is pretty key, less than 10x magnification really doesn’t do the trick for getting the focus set right, but at 10x we felt we could pretty well nail the focus every time.
The new Nikons include the ability to control the camera from a computer remotely, and that includes receiving a Live View image from the camera. You can focus, adjust settings, and fire, all from a computer. What’s more, you can do it via cable or WiFi connection, with the optional WiFi adapters. It’s a feature Olympus cameras do not yet have.
Relative links about Nikon D300
Nikon D300 Digital Camera is a Right Choice for You