Nikon D300 vs D90

I know we have a few photographers around here, so hopefully someone can help.

Magpie is shooting a wedding in three weeks or so, and she's decided that this is an excuse to finally retire her old Nikon D40 in favour of something a little more upscale. We've narrowed down the options to two, but she's torn and unfortunately I'm too much of a camera dummy to be much use.

As far as we're able to determine, we've got two options, both of which are around $700:

1) We can get a new Nikon D90. This one comes with a 2 year warranty, which is nice. It appears to be a clear step up from her D40, but not as nice as:

2) a used Nikon D300. This one is at the lower end of the "professional" scale according to Wikipedia, and seems to have a better sensor/shutter over the D90. It doesn't shoot video but she doesn't care about that. It seems that we can get a used one with ~35 000 actuations for the same price as the D90, but of course this doesn't come with a warranty. It also uses Compact Flash instead of SD, which means that we would need to buy new memory cards, but that's a pretty minor concern. I've got plenty of uses for SD cards, and shopping around it seems like I can get CF cards for pretty reasonable prices.

So, TFP photographers, what would you suggest? Or is there another option that I'm missing? Our absolute top end in terms of budget is about $1000, but less is better.

 

My $0.02 from an old hand in photography and camera salesmanship:

If you're going to be shooting weddings for money, go with the semi-pro vs. the other camera. The D300 performs better in the metering and focus points departments. This will avoid running into limitaions/problems in certain shooting situations where you only have one chance to get what you need ("need" as in: people are paying you).

I'd say it's better to go with used hardware than with new hardware that isn't as good.

If it were a hobby camera, I'd think differently. But if you're doing pro work, go with the better option.

Nikons are built like tanks (at least they were when I sold them). Don't be put off by used equipment. Just be sure to inspect it carefully and give it appropriate test drives.

 

Thanks, guys. We ended up with the D300. We got what I believe to be an excellent deal on it, with the grip/battery pack accessory and a high speed CF memory card for $850, and it has less than 15 000 actuations on it. The final decision was that she'd be better served by the D300 for the type of shooting she's going to be doing. The D300 has a faster burst rate, larger buffer, better metering and more focus points. I brought it home for her today and she's having a blast with it so far.

As far as age goes, the D300 was replaced by the D300S. As far as I can tell the only major difference between the two is that the D300S shoots HD video. As that's not a feature we're interested in, there's no real advantage to the newer model over the older one.

On a related note, I have now inherited her D40. Looks like I'll be learning how photography works.

 

Will she be using the D40 as her backup camera on pro shoots, or is it all yours?

 

I haven't asked. Either way is fine by me -- if she needs it as a backup, well, either I'll be with her or I can just manage without it for a day. I suspect I'm going to fall into the very amateur hobbyist category anyway; it's fun to play around with cameras, especially when your spouse has all the fancy stuff, but I don't think I have any great talent for it.