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Nikon D5300 photo samples

Nikon ups the ante for image quality in the sub-$1,000 price class.

Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
Lori Grunin
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1 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

Low ISO sensitivity JPEGs

Because the sensor lacks an antialiasing filter, the images retain excellent sharpness even as noise rises. JPEGs look very clean up through ISO 800, and they're still quite good at ISO 1600. (Note: test shots at +0.7 EV.)
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2 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

High ISO sensitivity JPEG

While ISO 3200 shows quite a bit of detail degradation, it's still quite good in well-lit areas, and many of my ISO 6400 shots were quite usable. (Note: test shots at +0.7 EV.)
35829218_SIC6_620-exposure.jpg
3 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

Exposure

Just like the D5200, the matrix metering on the D5300 tends to produce dark exposures.
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4 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

D5300 vs. D5200, ISO tktk

The biggest difference between the D5300 and its predecessor tends to be sharpness rather than noise.
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5 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 100 JPEG

The D5300 produces images with natural-looking sharpness.
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6 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 200 JPEG

The lens and sensor resolve well together.
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7 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 800 JPEG

The dark areas start to clip at ISO 800, but the details remain quite sharp.
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8 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 1600 JPEG

You can see the noise reduction at ISO 1600, but there's little blurring of detail.
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9 of 14

ISO 1600, no noise reduction

This is extremely fine-grained noise for a camera in this class. You can start to see the incipient hot pixels here, however.
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10 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 3200 JPEG

The camera preserves detail very well even at ISO 3200.
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11 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

ISO 6400 JPEG

You can get reasonable 13 inch by 19 inch prints from ISO 6400 images, depending upon the photo content.
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12 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

Bokeh, 18-140mm lens

The lens produces very nice out-of-focus highlight areas.
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13 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

Picture Controls

The default color settings boost the saturation and contrast, but there's no egregious hue shifts.
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14 of 14 Lori Grunin/CNET

Color

I think the D5300 does a very good job of color reproduction.

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