Comparing Canon EOS 40D with Nikon D300

Of course, Nikon didn’t sleep and placed some serious competitive products on the market. First of all, they also have a full-frame DSLR now, the brand-new Nikon D3 with 12.1MP for €4,850. So, Canon isn’t the only provider of FF sensors anymore.

And they placed their Nikon D300 against Canon’s EOS 40D, just as it previously was with Nikon D200 vs. Canon EOS 30D. They equipped the D300 with interesting design parameters. Besides the MP count, it has a higher light sensitivity of up to ISO 6400, whereas Canon only provide up to ISO 3200. Canon also have a little higher crop factor of 1.6, whereas Nikon only have 1.5, what is better.

The Nikon’s viewfinder covers 100% of the lens view, whereas the Canon only covers 95%. But at least Canon have a magnification of 0.95, whereas Nikon only have 0.94, but I doubt this is of relevance.

A major difference is in their 3.0″ TFT-LCDs. The Nikon’s LCD has a resolution of 920,000 pixel, whereas the Canon only has 230,000 pixel.

The D300 has a shooting rate of 6 fps, and the EOS 40D has 6.5 fps, but if one equips the D300 with the optional battery grip, then it raises to 8 fps. And the Nikon manages a burst of 100 JPEG images, whereas the Canon can only do 75.

Nevertheless, the Canon system appears more friendly to me, and I already possessed some of their compact digicams, so the EOS 40D really will be it.