Dave: Hi, I'm Dave.

Zak: And I'm Zak. And Dave, that's a very serious-looking camera you've got there.

Dave: This is a serious camera, Zak. This is one of Nikon's newer digital SLRs, the D300.

Zak: Wow, it feels really rugged and solid in my hand.

Dave: Well, it's got a magnesium alloy body for extra ruggedness, and it is also sealed for protection against moisture and dust. And it has that nice, sticky rubberized coating on it to keep that thing in your hand firmly while you're shooting.

Zak: Yeah, I can really feel that. But you know the thing I think is cool right off the bat is this big, bright screen on the back.

Dave: That is a beautiful screen. It's a three-inch high-resolution with a tempered glass coating to keep it from getting scratched. And it even features a live-view mode, so you can look at your pictures as you're shooting them, on the screen instead of through that big, beautiful viewfinder.

Zak: Like a point-and-shoot would.

Dave: Exactly. That's exactly right. And also, inside you'll find that this camera has a 12.3-megapixel CMOS sensor that is very high sensitivity — lets you take some good shots with existing light, under moonlight, candlelight — great for that.

Zak: Yeah, you wouldn't need a flash for that, would you?

Dave: No, exactly. That's one of the nice things about having that high sensitivity. And the sensor features a self-cleaning element that vibrates dust right off of it.

Zak: Very good for when you're changing lenses a lot.

Dave: That's right. Sometimes dust can get in on that image sensor and cause spots to appear on your pictures, which is not what you want.

Zak: Now, I'm always looking for a camera that's fast enough to capture things that are moving quickly — birds, sports. Is this a fast camera?

Dave: This is definitely a great choice for that kind of shooting. This particular camera can shoot six frames per second to catch all that action.

Zak: That is fast.

Dave: Yeah. And you definitely will have nice sharply focused pictures, too, because it offers 51-point autofocus.

Zak: 51 points is a lot.

Dave: It is, exactly. That means that no matter where your subject appears in your frame, you're going to have an autofocus point on it to keep it crisply in focus.

Zak: And compared to other cameras, 51 points is a lot.

Dave: It's significant. Most cameras — digital SLRS typically offer between 3 and 11, so — that's a much, much higher rate of autofocus. Take a look at it.

Zak: Man, this just feels really good. And is that an HDMI port on the side there?

Dave: That is indeed HDMI.

Zak: I've never seen one of those on a camera before.

Dave: It's very unusual for a digital SLR. It lets you plug in your HDMI cable right in the side, and connect it to your high-resolution, high-def TV for putting out a slideshow of your beautiful, crisp pictures in high-definition.

Zak: That's great. That's really great.

Dave: Definitely.

Zak: So what kind of lens does it come with?

Dave: This particular camera comes with an 18-135mm zoom lens. We also carry it and it's available as a body only.

Zak: Okay, if you have lenses at home already —

Dave: Nikon lenses — it has the standard Nikon mount. You can just pop on all your Nikon lenses right on there. Takes a great shot. It's also available with an 18-200mm VR lens, which is vibration reduction, which is great for shooting hand-held telephoto. Keeps your images sharp when your camera's shakin'.

Zak: Leave that tripod at home.

Dave: Absolutely.

Zak: So there it is — the Nikon D300 digital SLR.