Classic Nikon D300 territory: soft light, cool palette

On a recent trip to Norfolk, I forgot to take a camera battery charger and so after my trusty Nikon D300 ran down I was forced to resort to my vintage (well, 2005) Nikon D50 as backup.

Now, I’ve had the D300 for over a year and still feel I’m coming to terms with it. It’s somehow a serious camera and it turns out serious‑looking images; in particular, when it comes to colour it’s at its best with cooler, softer, almost pastel‑like scenes – which it renders with a painterly subtlety. When it comes to attempting warmth, it seems to me to to veer off course and crash into a citrus palette. As I've written before, it’s possible to do something about this. Yet somehow the original character of the sensor seems to come through.

The D50, in contrast, seems to produce punchier, vidid (and not‑so‑serious images). What you see below is straight out of the camera converted from RAW to JPEG using DxO Optics Pro and DxO user Andy_F’s default settings (check out the forums to find Andy’s excellent work on better colour accuracy from RAW conversions). And so if I’m not imagining all this, in some ways (whisper it) I might even prefer the look I can get from the earlier camera …

Bam! The Nikon D50 delivering obvious, saturated colours

The problem first surfaced in Prague, and has happened a couple of times since. The display shows F0 (as shown), the lens becomes fully stopped-down and autofocus stops working. Poking around the web, it seems this is a far from uncommon problem with Nikon D300s (see for example here, here, or here).

Now, the fault is intermittent – it generally happens after a good few minutes or hours of shooting and then mysteriously clears several hours later. So, when it last struck I took the above picture. Today I had a chance to lug the D300 into Cambridge to return it to Jessops. Knowing a bit about the Sale of Goods Act I was expecting to get a new unit, or an equivalent loaner while the D300 was repaired. With a family holiday coming up I don’t want to be without a camera!

Sure enough, the fault refused to show itself at the camera shop. So - lucky I took a picture, I say. There’s no verifying serial number on it they say. Jessops insisted they would have to send the camera away to verify for themselves that it was faulty. And no, they weren’t going to replace it; and no, they don’t ever loan replacement cameras. What about my consumer rights? Jessop’s seem to think it is okay to take the unit away for independent testing before those rights come into play, and that a photograph of the fault isn't sufficient evidence: that is company policy. Needless to say, as somebody who has spent large sums of money with Jessop’s over the years, this “no can do” attitude caused distinct irritation, and I made my displeasure felt before taking my £1,000 of new faulty camera away with me, hoping it won't misbehave too badly on holiday.

What next?

Well, to anybody contemplating buying a Nikon D300, I say – be aware of this potential problem.

To anybody contemplating buying photo equipment from Jessop’s I say – cross your fingers it doesn’t develop an intermittent fault that you can’t prove beyond doubt, otherwise you’re going to find yourself, like me, in an unhappy place.

Meanwhile I have contacted Jessops' Customer Liaison; let's see what they say ...