The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of 2000 lpph.

Set to Large Fine JPEG mode, Standard Picture Style, and fitted with a Nikkor DX 17-55mm f2.8 lens at f8, the Nikon D300 resolved 2250 and 2300 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively. This is a small but measureable improvement over the 2200 lpph scored by the D200 in our tests, although to be fair they were taken with a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. We will test the D300 again with the same lens in the future and report back.

The D300’s scores here rank it above the 10 Megapixel Canon EOS 40D, although as we illustrated in our Sony A700 outdoor resolution page, this doesn’t necessarily translate into that much greater detail in real-life subjects. Speaking of the Sony A700, it delivered slightly better results than the D300 with its default settings and fitted with the DT 16-80mm lens. We should also note the D300’s JPEG studio resolution results are only fractionally better than the D80 as seen in our 10 Megapixel group test, so anyone thinking of upgrading for a significant boost in resolving power should think again.

The D300 can record greater detail than seen in its default JPEGs below, but you’ll need to shoot in RAW to unlock it. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see RAW resolution results. To see how the D300 performs in terms of noise levels against the Sony A700 and Canon 5D, check out our Nikon D300 noise results.