Nikon D300 vs Canon XSi

Nikon D300 advantages over Canon XSi

• Larger sensor
  APS-C vs APS-C
  More sensor area. Bigger is (generally) better.
• Fast startup
  ~0.30 vs 0.4 sec
  Faster startup lets you catch the moment
• More dynamic range

  More dynamic range

  Cameras with more dynamic range allow you to take photos with dramatic differences in highlight and shadow areas while retaining detail in both.

  Think of a brilliant sunset on a rocky beach: Bright sunset in the background, with dark rocks in the foreground. High dynamic range means more of the extremes will be faithfully reproduced.

  Dynamic range test data courtesy of DxO Mark.

  D300 test data on DxO Mark XSi test data on DxO Mark
  12.0 vs 10.8 evs
  Retain detail in highlight and shadows
• Longer stills battery life
  More info

  Longer stills battery life

  Cameras with longer battery life can take more photos before exhausting their batteries.

  Special note: The measurement standard for battery life stipulates that if a camera has an internal flash, it must be used for 50% of photos taken. For this reason, comparisons of one camera with an internal flash to another without will not be comparable

  1000 vs 500 shots
  Capture more photos
• Top deck display
  Yes vs No
  Check settings with a screen on top of the camera
• Pentaprism viewfinder
  Pentaprism vs Pentamirror
  Much better viewfinder picture fidelity
• HDMI out
  HDMI out vs None
  Use HDMI output to monitor or review video
• More dots on screen
  922k vs 230k dots
  Can mean greater resolution or a brighter screen
• More viewfinder magnification
  0.63x vs 0.54x
  Get a bigger view of the scene through the eye-level viewfinder
• Faster JPEG shooting
  6.1 fps vs 3.5 fps
  Faster JPEG shooting (burst mode)
• Faster shutter
  1/8000 vs 1/4000 sec
  Shoot wide open in bright light
• Higher extended ISO
  6400 vs 1600 ISO
  Higher extended ISO can give more low-light flexibility