^ In response to that, lately I really do think quality glass and gear makes you a better photographer. Under the right circumstances. When you find yourself struggling to produce what you know you can because of your gear, it's time to upgrade. Thats where I'm at with video gear. My two cents.

But Jon, I want to remind you that I love your processing. I still can't figure out how you do it. Every now and then I try to replicate it just to get some more PP knowledge and it's never quite the same. But in terms of PP'ing, out of all the photographers I follow, yours is still in my top favorite.

 

Oh, and I vote that you keep the D90 lol. Even though I made the switch to Canon and I'm very happy about that, I wish I kept my D90 as a primary photography body. There was just something about it. Why not keep it as a backup and upgrade to a second body when you can?

 

I think gear allows you to produce a higher quality result, or an image maybe you can only get with a certain niche lens. For example, tilt shift, macro, or fisheye. But giving someone more skill or a more artistic eye I don't think it can do. I have hundreds of Flickr pages bookmarked with people using previous generations of gear, or even a 1 body 1 lens setup. Yet their ability to produce a photograph, not a snapshot, is on par with someone using the latest and greatest gear.

Thanks man. I'm still trying to get better at it. My goal is to always make the PP match the photo. Hence the reason I edited the ones above like I did. The one of the plane ended up looking like a double exposure would on film, so I edited them as such. I know shooting through glass is usually a photography no-no, but I'm not one to follow rules when it comes to artistic subjects.

 

I would probably keep the D300 as the second body since it's magnesium frame, weather sealed, and shares the layout of the FX bodies. It's just a D90 with extras lol.

 

So, what is the D90 missing? Just the increase in FPS and SS? If that is indeed what you need then there shouldn't be a question on if you need to upgrade bodies or not. If you don't need it then you don't need to upgrade bodies. It really is that simple.

I needed the extra MP for cropping my macros so I upgraded to the D7000 from the D90. I wanted the increased ISO and DR but I didn't need it.

See what I'm getting at?

 

The question is more of should I trade a lens for it, not whether I need it. The other option is sell the D90 and buy the D300 and keep my lens. That's what I'm leaning towards at the moment.

 

Do it. Anyway to swing a D300s?

 

I'd like one just because it's newer, but it's a $300 price difference because of the video feature which I don't need. And the D300 I'm looking at only has a 4500 shutter count.

 

There's more to it than video. There's many tweaks on the software side and to the sensor.

 

D300:
Shutter Release Modes
Continuous low-speed [CL] mode; 1-7 frames per second
Continuous high-speed [CH] mode; 8 frames per second

Continuous Shooting Options
DX-format
CH: Up to 6 frames per second
CL: Up to 5 frames per second

Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution
6 frames per second

Fastest Shutter Speed
1/8000 sec.

D300s:
Shutter Release Modes
Continuous low-speed [CL] mode; 1-7 frames per second
Continuous high-speed [CH] mode; 8 frames per second

Continuous Shooting Options
DX-format
CH: Up to 7 frames per second
CL: Up to 6 frames per second

Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution
7 frames per second

Fastest Shutter Speed
1/8000 sec.

D7000:
Shutter Release Modes
Continuous low-speed [CL] mode; 1-5 frames per second
Continuous high-speed [CH] mode; 6 frames per second

Continuous Shooting Options
DX-format
CH: Up to 6 frames per second
CL: Up to 5 frames per second

Top Continuous Shooting Speed at full resolution
6 frames per second
(**** guidelines)

Fastest Shutter Speed
1/8000 sec.


And that's all from Nikonusa.com so if you can swing a D300s you'll get one more frame per second. IMO, the D7000 is a much better camera than the D300. If money is an issue, I'm sure the D300 is going to be cheaper than the D7000.

 

The question is are the improvements worth the extra cost. Most are minor. The D300s is nearly 1/3 stop better in noise handling which is a plus. Body wise, the only thing that I see as a benefit is the dual card slots. The D300s also has a higher standard fps, but gripped they both will shoot at 8fps.

 

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Nikon-D300-1...igital_Cameras

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Nikon-D300S-...igital_Cameras

Doesn't seem like there's too much of a price difference between the two, but I guess you're looking local?

Oh, and what glass do you currently have?

 

I can get a like new D7000 for about $900. About the same as a D300s. But I really like the build of the D300(s) since it shares the control layout of the D700 and feels better. I need to see how the AF systems stack up, one being 51pt and the other 39pt. Tracking capability is also important.

 

I can't speak for the D300 AF system but the D7000 on 9 pt AF-C @ Single Point is farking awesome at tracking. If you don't have the D7k setup right for what you're shooting, it is not going to perform.

 

Yeah I'm dealing locally. The D300 I mentioned is listed for $725. I have the 18-105, 35G, 50G, 50D, and 80-200.

 

D300 or D7000 is going to be an upgrade from the D90. I would do it then save up for a used Nikon 70-200 VR1.

 

Looking at DxOMark, the D90 outperforms the D300s. It has better color depth, dynamic range, and low ISO performance. But the D7k outperforms both by a significant margin.

 

Yup. The blacks in the D7000 are gorgeous compared to the D90. There is a more than noticable difference in those three items and noise handling in the D7000 files. I shot about 25,000 frames with my D90 before I sold it. I'm almost 10,000 deep in my D7000. I enjoy the D7000 files much more than the D90 files.

 

Found a Tamron 70-300 macro on CL for $100, it's already sold though. anyone have a suggestion on a nikon macro lens 80mm or longer, under $150, doesn't need motor, does need to AF on my d300s. Don't really care about quality too much as I'm just looking for a cheap self birthday present and want to try playing with marco before spending real money on it.

 

Why not get a set of Kenko AF tubes (or look local for a used set) to start off with? You can use them on any Nikon lens. If you like the affect, then invest in some macro glass.