Nikon D3300 Performance

Good overall performance for an entry-level model.

The Nikon D3300's startup time was good for a consumer DSLR, and switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was also fast.

The Nikon D3300's full autofocus shutter lag when shooting the same target multiple times was a touch slower than average for a consumer DSLR, but not bad for entry-level model. The D3300 required about 0.26 second for full AF using the center focus point. Enabling the flash raised shutter lag only slightly to 0.29 second, reflecting the added delay caused by the metering preflash. Shutter lag increased to about 0.34 second in Auto-area AF mode. Manual focus shutter lag was oddly a little slower than full autofocus (center) at about 0.27 second, and that's somewhat sluggish for a DSLR. When prefocused, shutter lag dropped to 0.081 second which is about average for a consumer DSLR.

As expected, autofocus and shutter lag were much slower in Live View mode. The Nikon D3300 only offers contrast-detect AF in Live View, which took about 1.8 seconds to focus in our tests, which is a bit slow even for Live View. (How fast the lens can adjust focus makes a big difference here.) Prefocused shutter lag was also slower but still reasonable in Live View mode, at about 0.47 second.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were about average for a consumer DSLR, at 0.57 second for Large/Fine JPEGs, 0.60 second for RAW files, and 0.66 second for RAW + L/F JPEG frames.

Continuous mode speed when shooting best quality JPEGs or RAW files (only 12-bit compressed NEF files are supported) was slightly above average considering the class and resolution, at almost 5 frames per second.

Buffer depth in continuous mode was excellent with JPEGs at over 50 L/F JPEG frames with no signs of slowing (Nikon says up to 100 frames), though with RAW files buffer depths were quite shallow at only 7 RAW frames or 5 RAW+L/F JPEG frames, which is typical for an entry-level DSLR. Buffer clearing times were good with a fast card, especially considering the 24-megapixel files, though buffer depths with RAW files were shallow.

The built-in flash took 3.2 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is fair.

Connected to a computer via USB 2.0, download speeds were reasonably fast.

Bottom line, the Nikon D3300's performance was generally good for its class in our tests. Startup was good, as were single shot cycle-times, as well as JPEG and RAW continuous mode performance. Autofocus speeds however were slightly slower than average and buffer depths with RAW files were shallow, but that's not unusual for its class.

Battery Life
Very good battery life for a compact DSLR.

The Nikon D3300 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a dedicated charger. Battery life when using the optical viewfinder is above average for a consumer DSLR, though Nikon does not specify battery life for Live View mode, which will certainly be a lot lower. We recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings, or when using Live View a lot.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))