What is the Nikon D5300?
Nikon has announced its latest DSLR in the shape of the Nikon D5300. The announcement comes just under a year after the launch of the Nikon D5200 – a camera which it doesn’t replace but instead sits just above in Nikon’s mid-range DSLR line-up. We attended the official announcement of the D5300 yesterday and were able to take a closer look at the camera to see what innovation the latest DSLR brings to a packed market.
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Although the D5300 shares the same resolution as the D5200, Nikon were at pains to state that the 24.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor is in fact newly developed. It’s also worth noting that, much like its D7100 bigger brother, the D5300 does away with an anti-alias filter.
What this means is that the camera should deliver much better sharpness, although moiré could be an issue in certain shooting situations.
One of the features that the D5300 inherits from the D5200 is the model’s 39-point Multi-CAM 4800DX focusing system, somewhat unsurprisingly when you consider just how successful it was in the D5200.
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Where other manufacturers – most notably Canon – have recently sought to improve their live view AF performance with hybrid AF systems, the D5300 retains the sole use of contrast detect and thus could lag behind. In our opinion this is certainly an area for improvement and thus a feature that disappoints.
One area of improvement is the model’s processor, as the D5300 becomes the first Nikon DSLR to feature the new EXPEED 4 unit. As a result, Nikon promises better AWB control and improved performance across the ISO range.
Another attractive new feature is the addition of built-in Wi-fi connectivity. Previous models, such as the Nikon D3200 and D5200, necessitated an optional Wi-fi accessory that incurred an extra cost, although now the D5300 offers native Wi-fi connectivity.
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Wi-fi has now become an as-standard feature of digital cameras, and as a result it’s certainly welcome that the D5300 supports wireless transfer of images and remote shooting.
Although the vari-angle screen on the rear of the camera remains, the size increases to 3.2in. Unfortunately it is still lacking in touchscreen functionality, something that like Wi-fi functionality has become an as-standard feature across the majority of new digital cameras, certainly at this level.
First Impressions
On the whole, there’s just enough about the D5300 for it to be labelled a suitable upgrade on the Nikon D5200, the camera above which it will sit in Nikon’s DSLR line-up.
That being said, in recent times we’ve seen a lot of innovation in the market and with the D5300 it’s fair to say that Nikon is certainly playing it safer.
There are certain areas, such as live view AF performance and the lack of a touchscreen, that might disappoint the target market, although we won’t know for certain until we get our hands on a full review unit.
The Nikon D5300 is due on sale mid-November with a body-only price of £729, and a kit price of £829 with the 18-55mm VR lens
Next, read our Panasonic Lumix GM1 hands-on, the new, super-portable micro-third-thirds camera.
