D5300

24.20 Megapixels	Nikon F	APS-C size sensor

Basic Specifications
Full model name:	Nikon D5300
Resolution:	24.20 Megapixels
Sensor size:	APS-C (23.5mm x 15.6mm)
Kit Lens:	7.78x zoom 18-140mm (27-210mm eq.)
Viewfinder:	Optical / LCD
Native ISO:	100 - 12,800
Extended ISO:	100 - 25,600
Shutter:	1/4000 - 30 seconds
Max Aperture:	3.5 (kit lens)
Dimensions:	4.9 x 3.9 x 3.0 in. (125 x 98 x 76 mm)
Weight:	36.5 oz (1,035 g) includes batteries, kit lens
Availability:	10/2013
Manufacturer:	Nikon

D5300 SUMMARY

Despite being an evolutionary upgrade to the D5200, the Nikon D5300 sports a newly developed 24.2MP sensor without an AA filter for enhanced sharpness, and Nikon's latest EXPEED 4 processor for better high ISO handling and 1080/60p HD video. The addition of built-in Wi-Fi and GPS (a first for a Nikon DSLR) makes this compact, mid-range DSLR an excellent choice for upgrading beginners and budding enthusiasts alike.

PROS

Excellent image quality similar to more expensive DSLRs (like the D7100); Great dynamic range; Responsive all-around performer; Excellent Full HD video-shooting quality; Built-in Wi-Fi with remote control and sharing features; Built-in GPS; Compact and lightweight size; 18-140mm kit lens performs well for its type and has a very versatile focus length range.

CONS

AA-filterless sensor makes it more prone to moire; Burst speed slows with highest quality 14-bit RAW images; Live View mode not as good as some competitors; No external headphone jack; GPS receiver not very sensitive.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The Nikon D5300 started shipping in the U.S. in late October 2013, priced at nearly $1,400 in a kit with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, or at around $900 in a kit with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G II VR, or around $800 for body-only. The body is available in black, red or gunmetal grey.

IMAGING RESOURCE RATING

4.5 out of 5.0

Nikon D5300 Optics

The Nikon D5300 is available body-only, or bundled with the new Nikkor AF-S 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR DX lens. Below are the results of our optical tests with the 18-140mm kit lens. The test images shown on most other pages of these test results were taken with very sharp references lenses, so we use this page to explore kit lens performance.

Kit Lens Test Results

Zoom
Above average zoom range with the 18-140mm kit lens, with decent performance.

18mm, f/8	32mm, f/8
140mm, f/8

The Nikon D5300 comes bundled with the new Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G VR (Vibration Reduction) kit lens. This 7.8x zoom lens has a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of about 27-210mm thanks to the D5300's 1.5x "crop factor", offering a lot more telephoto reach than the typical ~3x kit lens.

Sharpness and contrast are fairly good across much of the frame at full wide-angle and f/8, though some corners are soft. Chromatic aberration isn't a significant issue because it's effectively suppressed by the D5300's image processor (see below). Performance at 32mm (48mm eq.) is actually quite good at f/8, with pretty good sharpness and contrast across most of the frame. Full telephoto isn't quite as good at f/8 with slightly soft details, significant blurring in the corners and some visible chromatic aberration, though performance is still decent considering the range.

Macro
A larger-than-average macro area with the kit lens, with good performance in the center. Flash throttles down well.

Macro with 18-140mm Kit Lens 140mm, f/8	Macro with Flash 140mm, f/8

The Nikon D5300 captured a larger-than-average minimum macro area with the 18-140mm kit lens, measuring 3.89 x 2.60 inches (99 x 66 millimeters). Performance is pretty good in the center, just a touch soft, though corners are quite soft despite being stopped down to f/8. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances.) Some vignetting can also be seen in the extreme corners. The Nikon D5300's flash throttled down well at minimum distance, resulting in a well-exposed image with fairly even coverage, and the larger-than-average kit lens did not cast a shadow with the built-in flash.

Geometric Distortion
Higher-than-average distortion with the 18-140mm kit lens.

Barrel distortion is ~1.2% at 18mm

Pincushion distortion is ~0.7% at 140mm

The Nikon D5300's 18-140mm kit lens produces about 1.2 percent barrel distortion at wide angle, which is higher-than-average and quite noticeable in its images. At the telephoto end pincushion distortion is about 0.7 percent, also higher-than-average and noticeable. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Auto Distortion Control
Low geometric distortion when Auto Distortion Control is enabled.

Barrel distortion at 18mm is ~0.5%

Pincushion distortion at 140mm is less than 0.1%

The Nikon D5300 offers an Auto Distortion Control feature to reduce geometric distortion automatically with most recent Nikkor lenses. As you can see it worked quite well with the 18-140mm lens, reducing barrel distortion at wide angle significantly to only about 0.5% and pincushion at telephoto to less than 0.1%, though some of the image is cropped away in the process, particularly at wide angle. Since this option is database driven, it's only available for Nikkor D, E and G-type lenses with certain optics such as Fisheye and Perspective Control lenses excepted. Auto Distortion Control is Off by default.

You can also apply Auto or Manual Distortion Control to JPEGs after the fact, in the Retouch menu. Manual mode works with images from any lens.

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Low to moderately low C.A. in JPEGs, much higher in uncorrected RAW files. Corners are slightly soft to moderately soft.

Maximum Aperture
Wide, f/3.5: Lower right C.A.: Moderately low Softness: Slightly soft	Wide, f/3.5: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp
Tele, f/5.6: Lower right C.A.: Moderate Softness: Soft	Tele, f/5.6: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Slightly soft

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration is moderately low at the full wide angle setting of the Nikon D5300's 18-140mm VR kit lens, suppressed by the D5300's image processor. (See below for crops from uncorrected RAW files.) At full telephoto, levels of chromatic aberration are similar, though somewhat more visible and more magenta/green in color instead of blue/yellow.(This distortion is visible as a slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness. The Nikon D5300's 18-140mm VR kit lens produced slightly soft corners at full wide angle at all 4 corners when wide open, though corner performance is actually pretty good. Softness didn't extend very far into the frame, and the center is sharp. At full telephoto and wide open, corners on the right-hand-side were a little softer than the left, but the lens is softer overall than at wide angle. Still, pretty good performance wide open for its type.

Corner Shading. Significant corner shading ("vignetting") is visible at both ends of the zoom when wide open, as indicated by the darker corner crops. And because the D5300 is an APS-C model, Nikon offers no lens shading compensation in-camera, unlike their full-frame models.

f/8 Aperture
Wide, f/8: Lower right C.A.: Moderately low Softness: Fairly sharp	Wide, f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp
Tele, f/8: Lower right C.A.: Moderate Softness: Softer	Tele, f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp

F8. Stopped-down to an aperture of f/8, corner performance did improve slightly at wide angle, though at full telephoto, corners actually became softer. Sharpness in the center improved, but the lens is still not tack sharp at full telephoto. Vignetting improved significantly, but it still somewhat visible.

Uncorrected RAWHigher levels of C.A. at wide angle and telephoto in uncorrected RAW files.

In-camera JPEG	Uncorrected RAW
Wide: Upper left C.A.: Moderately low	Wide: Upper left C.A.: High
Tele: Upper left C.A.: Moderate	Tele: Upper left C.A.: High

As you can see from the crops above comparing camera JPEGs to uncorrected RAW files (taken at maximum aperture), levels of lateral chromatic aberration are much higher in uncorrected RAW files at both wide angle and telephoto. Thus, the D5300's processor does a good job suppressing it in JPEGs. Note that Nikon's bundled ViewNX 2 software also automatically suppresses C.A. when converting NEF files, and Adobe Camera Raw can as well via a lens profile.

Overall, decent performance for a kit lens with the 18-140mm's generous zoom range, but enthusiasts will likely want to invest in some premium glass to get the most out of the D5300's 24-megapixel sensor.

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Nikon D5300 Viewfinder

Viewfinder Test Results

Coverage
Slightly better than average coverage from the optical viewfinder. Good accuracy from the LCD in Live View mode.

60mm, Optical	60mm, Live View LCD

The Nikon D5300's optical viewfinder tested at about 96% coverage with our reference Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro lens. This is a bit better than average for a consumer DSLR and exceeds Nikon's specification of 95% for the D5300. In Live View mode, the Nikon D5300's LCD showed about 99% coverage which is good, though we often see 100% coverage in Live View mode.

Nikon D5300 Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy 
Vibrant colors with slightly below average hue accuracy.

ISO Sensitivity
100	200	400
800	1600	3200
6400	12800	25600
In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Mouse over the links to compare ISOs.

Saturation. The Nikon D5300 boosts dark blues quite a bit and also pushes dark green, red and orange by moderate amounts, but slightly undersaturates bright yellow, light green, and some cyans.  Mean saturation is 113.6% or 13.6% oversaturated at base ISO, and remains fairly stable across the ISO range peaking at 115.1% at max ISO. The average for consumer DSLRs is about 10% oversaturated, so the D5300 produces slightly more vibrant colors than most at default settings, but it's easy to customize saturation to match your personal preference. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. The Nikon D5300's produces healthy-looking pinkish Caucasian skin tones when using manual white balance in simulated daylight, while auto white balance produces slightly warm results. A good job when manual white balance is used. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Nikon D5300 shifts cyan toward blue quite a bit, with minor shifts in red toward orange, and light green toward yellow. (The cyan to blue shift is very common among the digital cameras we test; we think it's a deliberate choice by camera engineers to produce better-looking sky colors.) With an average "delta-C" color error at base ISO of 6.24 after correction for saturation, overall hue accuracy is a bit lower than average, but still well within what we'd consider respectable. Hue is "what color" the color is. 

Saturation AdjustmentThe Nikon D5300 has a total of seven saturation levels available, three above and three below the default saturation, plus an Auto setting. This covers a pretty wide range of saturation levels, about as wide a range as you're likely to find photographically relevant, apart from special effects that are arguably better achieved in software. The fine steps between settings mean it's easy to program the camera to just the level of saturation you prefer. Saturation also doesn't impact contrast, which is ideal but not always the case.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The table above shows results with several saturation settings, see the Thumbnails index page for more (look for the files named D5300OUTBSATx.JPG). Click on any thumbnail above to see the full-sized image.

See full set of test images with explanations See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lightingOverly-warm results with Auto and Incandescent white balance settings, but good color with Manual. About average positive exposure compensation required.

Auto White Balance +0.3 EV	Incandescent White Balance +0.3 EV
Manual White Balance +0.3 EV

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was very warm and reddish with the Auto white balance setting. (We'd say unacceptably so, though unfortunately this is common.) The Incandescent setting was also too warm, this time with a yellowish cast. The Manual setting by far produced the most accurate results, if just a touch cool and magenta. The Nikon D5300 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +0.3 EV. Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.

Outdoors, daylightExcellent results under harsh lighting, with good handling of color and contrast, but the D5300 underexposed our "Sunlit" Portrait shots.

Manual White Balance, +1.0 EV	Auto White Balance, Default

Outdoors, the Nikon D5300 performed well in terms of color and contrast, but it underexposed our "Sunlit" Portrait a bit more than most cameras do. The D5300 required +1.0 EV of exposure compensation to keep the mannequin's face fairly bright, while most cameras need about +0.7 EV. That's a bit below average performance. On the plus side, the camera did a very good job of holding onto detail in the highlights and deep shadows. We preferred skintones from the Manual white balance setting as they were a touch pinker than Auto. The Nikon D5300 did a great job exposing our far-field scene with only a few highlights and shadows lost. Colors outdoors are vibrant and quite pleasing.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
Very high resolution, ~2,800 lines of strong detail from JPEGs, a bit higher from ACR processed RAW files.

Strong detail to ~2,750 lines horizontal Camera JPEG	Strong detail to ~2,800 lines vertical Camera JPEG
Strong detail to ~2,800 lines horizontal ACR processed RAW	Strong detail to ~2,850 lines vertical ACR processed RAW

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 2,750 lines per picture height in the horizontal direction, and to about 2,800 lines in the vertical direction. Some may argue for higher numbers, but aliasing artifacts start to interfere with detail at this resolution. Extinction of the pattern didn't occur until around 3,800 lines in both directions. We weren't able to do significantly better with NEF files processed through Adobe Camera Raw with about 50 more lines in both directions, though complete extinction of the pattern was extended up to the 4,000 line limit of our chart. Color moire was more evident in the ACR converted RAW files, however not as high as we'd expect for a camera without an optical low-pass filter. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Sharp images with great detail. Minor edge-enhancement artifacts visible on high-contrast subjects. Moderate noise suppression visible at base ISO.

Very good definition of high-contrast elements, with only minor evidence of edge enhancement.	Subtle detail: Hair Noise suppression tends to blur detail in areas of subtle contrast, though detail remains strong in the darker parts of the model's hair here.

Sharpness. The Nikon D5300 produces images that are crisp and sharp when coupled with a sharp lens as used in the above left crop. Some very minor edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the halos around the border and text, but default sharpening looks to be a very good compromise between crispness and sharpening artifacts. Some aliasing artifacts such as moiré patterns are visible in our test shots, but that's not a surprise given the camera has no optical low-pass filter. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some mild to moderate noise suppression, as the darker and lower-contrast areas of the model's hair show significant smudging where individual strands of hair merge. Still, a pretty good performance here considering the resolution and target market. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGsAs noted above, the Nikon D5300 does a great job at capturing lots of fine detail in its JPEGs, but more detail can often be obtained from carefully processing RAW files, while at the same time reducing sharpening artifacts. Let's have a look at base ISO:

Base ISO (100)
Camera JPEG, defaults	RAW via Adobe Camera Raw

In the table above, we compare an in-camera JPEG taken at base ISO using default noise reduction and sharpening (on the left) to the matching RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 8.3 (right) using default noise reduction with some strong but tight unsharp masking applied in Photoshop (200%, radius of 0.3 pixels, and a threshold of 0).

As is frequently the case, the demosaicing in Adobe Camera Raw and sharpening in Photoshop deliver finer detail than the camera, with fewer sharpening artifacts. Looking closely at the images, ACR extracts more detail that wasn't present in the camera JPEG, especially in the red-leaf swatch. The RAW conversion was able to resolve the individual threads, while the camera's JPEG engine tended to blur them away as if noise. Both show moiré patterns in the cloth, though the D5300's default processing does mask it somewhat (which is perhaps a reason why the red-leaf swatch is a little softer than we're used to seeing from a Nikon DSLR). The D5300 did do a very good job at reducing noise while maintaining excellent detail in most other areas of our target. Still, for maximum detail (and flexibility), using a good RAW converter does yield better results than in-camera JPEGs, as is usually the case.

ISO & Noise Performance
Good detail versus noise handling up to ISO 3,200.

High ISO Noise Reduction = Normal (Default)
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200
ISO 6,400	ISO 12,800	ISO 25,600

Noise levels are fairly low at ISOs 100 through 800, though some detail is lost to noise reduction and an increase in a very fine noise "grain" can be seen as ISO increases. Chroma noise is exceptionally well-controlled , even in the shadows. At ISO 1,600 noise levels increase with a touch more blurring in fine details and more visible grain, but detail retention is still very good. ISO 3,200 shows a larger step in luminance noise, but the noise grain pattern is still pretty tight and film-like, while chroma noise remains remarkably low. As you'd expect, ISO 6,400 is noisier and softer due to stronger noise reduction efforts, but chroma noise is still under control. At ISO 12,800 image quality continues to degrade fairly progressively, with much strong luminance noise, though chroma is still relatively low. ISO 25,600 finally shows some strong chroma noise in the form of purple and yellow blotches, while luminance noise eradicates most fine detail.

Still, excellent high ISO noise performance for an APS-C sensor, especially considering the 24-megapixel resolution. See our Print Quality analysis section below for recommended print sizes at each ISO.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4, usually using one of three very sharp reference lenses (70mm Sigma f/2.8 macro for most cameras, 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor macro for Nikon bodies without a drive motor, and Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 for Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds bodies). To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we're shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. We know this; if you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don't need to email and tell us. :-) The focus target position will have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range, and low light tests
Very good detail in both highlights and shadows, very high resolution. Good low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness.

+0.3 EV	+0.7 EV	+1.0 EV

Sunlight:
Apart from the underexposure issue, the Nikon D5300 handled the deliberately harsh lighting in the test above very well. Though contrast is a little high, shadow and highlight detail are both very good. The +1.0 EV exposure was best here, producing a bright face without blowing out many highlights. Despite the bright appearance, there are actually very few clipped highlights in the mannequins's white shirt. Some shadows are pretty dark, but remain fairly clean except for a slight yellow cast in very deep tones. The camera's contrast adjustment also did a good job of decreasing overall contrast without also affecting color saturation. (See below.) Still, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

Contrast AdjustmentWe really like it when a camera gives us the ability to adjust contrast and saturation to our liking. It's even better when those adjustments cover a useful range, in steps small enough to allow for precise tweaks. Just as with its saturation adjustment, the Nikon D5300's contrast setting offers seven levels, plus an Auto setting.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, +1.0 EV	Contrast set to lowest, 0 EV

At its lowest contrast setting, the D5300 did a very good job of preserving highlight detail and bringing out shadow detail. Highlight detail was improved, but the contrast setting had a larger impact on opening up the shadows. The lower contrast setting opened-up shadows in our far-field shot as well, without making the image too flat looking. Overall, very good results here.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The series of shots above shows results with several different contrast adjustment settings, showing the minimum step size around the default, as well as both extremes. While you can see the extremes, it's hard to really evaluate contrast on small thumbnails like these, click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image.

Nikon's contrast adjustment is that it has very little effect on saturation. Contrast and saturation are actually fairly closely coupled, it's a good trick to be able to vary one with out the other changing as well. As usual, Nikon did a very good job here.

Active D-Lighting
Active D-Lighting attempts to preserve detail in both highlights and shadows in high-contrast situations, while maintaining moderate levels of contrast. The series of shots below show the effect of the various Active D-Lighting settings available on the Nikon D5300 on our high-contrast "Sunlit" Portrait scene. Note that Active D-Lighting is different from the touch-up menu's D-Lighting, as it is performed during image capture instead of after. (It does affect only JPEG images though, Nikon very properly doesn't apply tonal adjustments like this to RAW file data. NEF files, however, are tagged so that Nikon software can automatically apply the effect when converted.)

"Sunlit" Portrait Active D-Lighting (0 EV)
	ADL Settings: Auto (Default) Off Low Normal High Extra High

Mouse over the links to see how the various levels of Active D-Lighting affects our "Sunlit" Portrait shot at default exposure. Click on a link to get to the full-res image. (Active D-Lighting's effect can be a little subtle in shots like those above, so we decided to use a mouse-over to better show how each setting compares to Off.)

When Active D-Lighting is enabled (Auto is the default), the camera usually exposes for the highlights in an attempt to preserve them, then adjusts the tone curve to bring the midtones and shadows back up to produce an image that doesn't look underexposed. In this case, the default exposure without Active D-Lighting was underexposed and didn't have any blown highlights to preserve, so this is not the best example, although you can still see that highlights are being toned-down while shadows boosted. To see how Active D-Lighting works without underexposure in this shot, see the examples from our Nikon D7000 review.

See below for how Active D-Lighting worked on our Far-field shot.

Far-field Active D-Lighting (0 EV)
Off	Auto	Low
Normal	High	Extra High

Here are the results with our Far-field shot. The D5300's Active D-Lighting worked a bit better here, as the default exposure wasn't underexposed like it was for its "Sunlit" Portrait scene. As you can see, Active D-Lighting brought up shadow detail while holding on to more of the highlights, though the difference between different strengths can be subtle.

HDR Mode
The D5300 offers an in-camera high-dynamic-range imaging function, something we've seen in several prior models as well as from most competitors. When enabled, the D5300 captures two images with one push of the shutter button -- one underexposed and one overexposed -- and combines them in-camera to produce a high-dynamic-range JPEG. (RAW format is not supported.) The Nikon D5300 seems to perform micro-alignment of the two images so the user manual warns of possible cropping but Nikon recommends the use of a tripod, so it can likely only correct for very small amounts of camera movement between shots. Obviously moving subjects should also be avoided.

"Sunlit" Portrait HDR (0 EV)
	HDR Settings: Off (Default) Low Normal High Extra High Auto

Unlike some Nikons which allow you to set the exposure differential between the two images from 1, 2 or 3 EV, and also adjust the amount of "smoothing" that is applied to the boundaries between the two images with selections of Low, Medium and High, the D5300 takes a simpler approach offering just four strengths in addition to Auto. Mouse over the links above to see how various levels of HDR affects our "Sunlit" Portrait shot and click on a link to get to the full-res image.

Again, because of the underexposure issue, these aren't very good examples, but you can still see higher levels make quite a difference to the overall exposure by opening up shadow detail but they can lead to artificial looking shadows around bright objects or halos and glowing around dark ones.

Far-field HDR (0 EV)
Off	Low	Normal
High	Extra High	Auto

Here are the same HDR settings with our Far-field shot. Again, some settings do a good job of taming hot highlights while bringing up some of the shadows and deeper midtones, while stronger settings cause a lot of glowing and halos. You can also see ghosting in the flag and leaves from movement between the exposures caused by wind. Still, it's a useful feature for capturing static scenes with dynamic range that exceeds the sensor for those not willing to use manual HDR techniques (bracketing exposure and then combining images in post-processing).

Face Detection
Off Aperture-priority 0 EV	Live View with Face-priority AF 0 EV	Portrait Auto mode 0 EV

Here, we can see the effect of the Nikon D5300's face detection enabled in Live View mode, as well as full Auto mode which selected Portrait Scene mode. As you can see from the shots above, Face-priority AF mode improved exposure compared to Aperture-priority alone, by using a slower shutter speed of 1/50s versus 1/80, though contrast is still quite high. Portrait Scene mode also improved exposure versus Aperture-priority at f/8, but it also reduced overall contrast and lightened shadows by employing Active D-Lighting, though it boosted ISO sensitivity to 280. In addition, Portrait mode selected a wider aperture of f/5.6 for better subject isolation, and a faster shutter speed of 1/250s to avoid subject motion blur.

Dynamic Range Analysis (RAW mode)While we once performed our own dynamic range measurements based on in-camera JPEGs as well as converted RAW images (when the camera was supported by Adobe Camera Raw), we've switched to using DxO Labs' results from their DxOMark website. As technology advanced, the dynamic range of modern high-end cameras in some cases exceeded the range of the Stouffer T4110 density scale that we used for our own measurements. DxO's approach based on RAW data before demosaicing is also more revealing, because it measures the fundamental dynamic range of the sensor, irrespective of whatever processing is applied to JPEGs, or to RAW data by off-the-shelf conversion software.

In the following, we use DxO's "Print" dynamic range results, which are scaled based on camera resolution. As the name suggests, this scaling corresponds to the situation in which you print at a given size, regardless of how many megapixels the camera might have. (In other words, if you've decided to make a 13x19 inch print, that's the size you're printing, whether the camera's resolution is 16 or 300 megapixels.) For the technically-minded, you can find a discussion of the reasoning behind this here on the DxOMark website. Also note that DxO Labs uses a signal-to-noise (SNR) threshold of 1 when defining the lower boundary of acceptable luminance noise in their dynamic range measurements, which corresponds to the "Low Quality" threshold of the Imatest software we used to use for this measurement.

Here, we're comparing the Nikon D5300's dynamic range to the Canon T5i (700D) and the Sony A58. As you can see from the above graph (click for a larger image), the D5300's dynamic range is about 1.4 EV higher than the Sony A58 at base ISO (13.86 vs 12.47), and a whopping 2.7 stops higher than the T5i's at its ISO 100 setting (13.86 vs 11.17). It is however important to note that the actual sensitivity from the Nikon and especially the Sony are significantly less than the ISO 100 settings, which means the T5i is at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of noise. Still, the difference is significant at lower ISOs. At ISOs 400 and above the Sony and Canon are about even, but the Nikon manages to best them both all the way to maximum ISO, although the advantage isn't nearly as great as at lower ISOs. Still, excellent results for the Nikon D5300. Click here to visit the DxOMark page for the Nikon D5300 for more of their test results and additional comparisons.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16fc No NR
ISO 100	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	30 s f2.8	30 s f2.8
ISO 200	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	15 s f2.8
ISO 400	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	8 s f2.8
ISO 800	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	4 s f2.8
ISO 1600	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8
ISO 6400	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8
ISO 12800	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125 s f2.8	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8

Low Light. The Nikon D5300 performed well on the low-light test, capturing usable images at the lowest light level (1/16 foot-candle) with the lowest sensitivity setting (ISO 100). As you'd expect, noise increases as ISO goes up and light levels go down, but remains well controlled and fine-grained to ISOs as high as 6,400. We did not detect any significant issues with hot pixels or banding (pattern noise), and only minor heat blooming can be seen emanating from the bottom edge at the highest ISOs.

Color balance is good at higher light levels with Auto white balance, just slightly cool, though there's a strong shift towards magenta at lower light levels.

The camera's phase-detection autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to between 1/8 and 1/16 foot-candle (about 1/11 fc) unassisted with an f/2.8 lens. That's pretty good for its class. And the Nikon D5300 was able to autofocus in complete darkness with the AF assist enabled. Surprisingly, in Live View mode the camera's contrast-detect autofocus was able to focus down to the same light level as its phase-detect system, which is excellent.

Keep in mind that the longer shutter speeds here demand the use of a tripod to prevent any blurring from camera movement. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Digital SLRs like the Nikon D5300 do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects.

Output Quality

Print Quality
Very good 30 x 40 inch prints at ISO 100; a nice 13 x 19 at ISO 1600; a good 5 x 7 at ISO 12,800.

ISO

100 prints are very nice at 30 x 40 inches, with terrific color reproduction and nice detail for such a large print. Wall display prints are possible up to 36 x 48 inches.

ISO 200 makes an excellent 24 x 36 inch print with very crisp detail and color.

ISO 400 images look very good at 20 x 30 inches, and 24 x 36 inch prints have only a minor trace of noise and are usable for all but the most critical of applications.

ISO 800 prints are good at 16 x 20 inches, and the D5300 does a nice job of controlling noise levels for such a large print at this ISO. In addition, subtle contrast detail is really good in our difficult red swatch, something enthusiast and professional grade Nikons tend to shine at.

ISO 1600 produces a very good 13 x 19 inch print, the first ISO that is a size larger than its predecessor, the D5200.

ISO 3200 prints begin to show a slight decline in detail in the red fabric area, but 11 x 14s still look quite good, again a size larger than the D5200.

ISO 6400 is the third ISO where the D5300 outshines its predecessor, besting it by a print size and producing a good 8 x 10 inch print.

ISO 12,800 yields a good 5 x 7, once again besting the D5200 by a print size.

ISO 25,600 does not yield a good print and is best avoided except for less critical applications.

The Nikon D5300 follows in the excellent footsteps of the D5200, producing large prints for its price range and doing a great job with fine detail and color. As compared to many APS-C cameras we have seen recently, the D5300 does a nice job of controlling noise, and when it does appear it tends to look more like film grain than many other cameras' default processing in this class, which can often look more like splotches than grain in flatter areas. It actually bests the D5200 by a print size at ISOs 1600 through 12,800, and almost passes the test at the extended setting of 25,600. Well done, Nikon, for an affordable DSLR that prints this nicely straight out of the camera.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute forprinting a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro9000 Mark II studio printer, and on the Canon Pixma MP610 here in the office. (See the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II review for details on that model.)

Nikon D5300 Flash

Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
Uneven coverage and inconsistent flash performance with the kit lens. Our standard portrait shots required less than average exposure compensation.

18mm	140mm
Normal Flash +0.3 EV	Slow-Sync Flash Default

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was rather uneven at wide angle (18mm), with very dark corners. The lens also cast a shadow at the bottom of our test frame. Coverage at telephoto (140mm) was better despite being very dim, though still somewhat uneven. (Some of the corner shading is due to the lens itself, though.) For our Indoor Portrait scene test, the Nikon D5300's flash required only +0.3 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get bright results with our Nikkor 60mm lens at f/4, which is a bit better than average for DSLRs we've tested. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode at 1/15 second produced bright results without any compensation, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the ambient room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/60 sec f5.6 ISO 200

ISO 200 Range. With the kit lens at wide angle, the Nikon D5300's flash exposures started out dim at 6 feet, got a little brighter at 7 and 8 feet, then became dimmer again. Our flash range series remained underexposed at all distances we test. At the telephoto end, flash intensity started out a bit dim at 6 feet and also remained dimmer than ideal, while varying quite a bit as well. These are odd results, and we wouldn't be surprised if a firmware update is pending to fix this behavior.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
105mm@f/5.6
9.8 feet ISO 200

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Nikon D5300's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 12 meters (39 feet) in Auto mode at ISO 100. That translates to about 9.8 feet at f/5.6 at ISO 200. In the shot above at those settings the D5300 appears to perform to Nikon's specification, producing a bright exposure at the rated distance. It's interesting that this shot is well-exposed at 105mm, while the shot at 10 feet in our range series at full telephoto using the same aperture is underexposed. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.

Nikon D5300 High ISO Noise Reduction

The Nikon D5300's four noise-reduction settings ("High, "Normal", "Low" and "Off") provide good flexibility in choosing how you want to make the trade-off between subject detail and noise levels. The Nikon D5300 user manual doesn't say when High ISO NR kicks in, so we've included crops from the base ISO on up in the tables below. The manual does however say that the "Off" still applies noise reduction "as required", though at a lower strength than the "Low" setting.

See for yourself how the Nikon D5300's "Normal" and "Off" High ISO NR settings compare to RAW without noise reduction under daylight-balanced lighting. (Note that these RAW images have no sharpening applied, so they look softer than camera JPEGs at low ISOs.) Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image.

High ISO Noise Reduction Comparison Daylight-balanced illumination
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 2 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 4 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 8 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 6 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 3 2 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 6 4 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	"Normal"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 2 5 6 0 0

The Nikon D5300's "Normal" High ISO NR setting provides a good tradeoff between noise and detail at lower ISOs to our eye, but we'd probably shoot with lower settings at higher ISOs and reduce noise ourselves in post-processing (or just shoot RAW). At higher ISOs, we can see the "Off" setting still performs noise reduction, but leaves much more chroma noise which helps with better definition in our red-leaf swatch. Nikons usually perform very well with that difficult subject, but the D5300's more effective default chroma noise reduction does cause stronger blurring in the red-leaf swatch than what we're used to seeing from Nikon. Still, we're sure many target users will appreciate the reduced chroma noise in their high ISO JPEGs

Nikon D5300 Performance

Timing and Performance

Good to slightly slower than average speed for its class.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	~0.5 second	Time it takes for camera to turn on and take a shot.
Play to Record, first shot	~0.3 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Buffer clearing time	1 second * after 20 L/F JPEGs	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't shut down until the buffer is cleared.
	3 seconds * after 4 14-bit RAW frames
	3 seconds * after 4 14-bit RAW + L/F JPEG frames
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I SDHC memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times.

The Nikon D5300's startup time was good for a consumer DSLR, and switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was also fast. Buffer clearing times were good with a fast card, especially considering the 24-megapixel files, though buffer depths with 14-bit RAW files were shallow.

Shutter Response (Lag Time), Optical Viewfinder
Full Autofocus Single Area AF (Center AF point)	0.292 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. (All AF timing measured with Nikkor AF-S 60mm f/2.8G Macro lens).
Full Autofocus Single Area AF, Flash enabled	0.418 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, Auto Flash enabled.
Full Autofocus Auto Area AF	0.424 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.
Manual focus	0.226 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "pre-focused."
Pre-focused	0.080 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Shutter Response (Lag Time), Live View mode
Full Autofocus Live View Single-servo AF	1.33 seconds	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.
Pre-focused Live View	0.418 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Nikon D5300's full autofocus shutter lag when shooting the same target multiple times was a little slower than average for a consumer DSLR. The D5300 required about 0.29 second for full AF using the center focus point. Enabling the flash raised shutter lag to 0.42 second, reflecting the added delay caused by the metering preflash. Shutter lag increased to about 0.42 second in Auto-area AF mode which is a bit on the slow side for a DSLR. Manual focus shutter lag was faster than full autofocus at about 0.23 second, but that's still a touch slow for a DSLR. When prefocused, shutter lag dropped to 0.080 second which is about average for a consumer DSLR.

As expected, autofocus and shutter lag were much slower in Live View mode. The Nikon D5300 only offers contrast-detect AF in Live View, which took about 1.3 seconds to focus in our tests. (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 0.42 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.

Cycle Time (shot-to-shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	0.58 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 1 second to clear.
Single Shot mode 14-bit RAW	0.60 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 3 seconds to clear.
Single Shot mode 14-bit RAW + L/F JPEG	0.63 second	Time per shot, averaged over 8 shots, 3 seconds to clear.
Early shutter penalty?	No (Yes with Flash)	Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous modeLarge Fine JPEG	0.20 second (4.99 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 1 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots with no signs of slowing down.
Continuous mode 12-bit RAW	0.20 second 5.07 frames per second); 8 frames total; 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 8 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.28 second or 3.58fps when buffer is full.
Continuous mode 12-bit RAW + L/FJPEG	0.20 second 5.05 frames per second); 6 frames total; 5 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 6 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.72 second or 1.39fps when buffer is full.
Continuous mode 14-bit RAW	0.25 second (3.95 frames per second); 4 frames total; 3 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 4 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.60 second or 1.67fps when buffer is full.
Continuous mode 14-bit RAW + L/FJPEG	0.25 second (3.95 frames per second); 4 frames total; 3 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 4 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.81 second or 1.23fps when buffer is full.
Flash recycling	4.2 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I SDHC memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and other settings such as Advanced D-Lighting or NR can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were about average for a consumer DSLR, at 0.58 second for Large/Fine JPEGs, 0.60 second for 14-bit RAW files, and 0.63 second for 14-bit RAW + L/F JPEG frames.

Continuous mode speed when shooting best quality JPEGs was slightly above average considering the class and resolution, at almost 5 frames per second. When shooting 14-bit RAW files, frame rate dropped to just below 4 frames per second in our tests however Nikon says switching to 12-bit allows speeds similar to JPEGs (5fps). And indeed in our tests, the D5300 managed just over 5 fps when shooting 12-bit RAW or RAW+JPEG files.

Buffer depth in continuous mode was excellent with JPEGs at over 20 L/F JPEG frames with no signs of slowing (Nikon says up to 100 frames), though with 14-bit RAW files buffer depths were quite shallow at only 4 RAW frames or 4 RAW+L/F JPEG frames. Buffer capacity with 12-bit RAW files improved to 8 RAW frames and 6 RAW+L/F JPEG frames.

The built-in flash took 4.2 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is a touch slow for a DSLR.

Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	16,230 KBytes/sec	Typical Values:Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

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

Bottom line, the Nikon D5300's performance was generally good to a little below average in our tests. Startup was good, as were single shot cycle-times, as well as JPEG and 12-bit RAW continuous mode performance. Autofocus speeds however were slightly slower than average, and burst performance with 14-bit RAW files was mediocre. Buffer depths with RAW files were shallow (particularly in 14-bit mode), but that's not unusual for its class.

Battery

Battery Life
About average battery life for a lithium-ion powered consumer DSLR.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Optical Viewfinder, (CIPA standard)	600

The Nikon D5300 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a dedicated charger. Battery life when using the optical viewfinder is about 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))

Nikon D5300 Image Quality Comparison

The crops below compare the Nikon D5300 to the Nikon D5200, Canon T5i, Nikon D7100, Samsung NX300 and Sony A58.

Note that these images are best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction. Each camera was shot with one of our very sharp reference prime lenses.

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D5200 at Base ISO

Nikon D5300 at ISO 100	Nikon D5200 at ISO 100
Although not strikingly different, the updated 24.2MP sensor on the D5300 helps produce more fine detail than the 24.1MP sensor of the D5200, thanks primarily to the removal of the optical low-pass filter. The D5300 does excellent in all three comparison areas, though it does show hints of moiré in the red-leaf fabric which the D5200 does not. Detail in the red-leaf fabric is also a bit softer than the D5200, likely due to stronger default chroma noise reduction.

Nikon D5300 versus Canon T5i at Base ISO

Nikon D5300 at ISO 100	Canon T5i at ISO 100
The T5i does well here with lots of fine, sharp detail. However, the D5300's noticeable advantage in resolution and crispness of fine detail makes it the clear winner in this comparison.

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D7100 at Base ISO

Nikon D5300 at ISO 100	Nikon D7100 at ISO 100
Head-to-head with two of Nikon's 24MP OLPF-less APS-C cameras! Both cameras produce very similar images here at ISO 100, with the first two crop comparisons looking nearly identical. However, although both do great with the pink fabric, the D7100 pulls ahead with slightly better detail in the red fabric. Both cameras only show hints of moiré, with the D7100 showing perhaps a touch more.

Nikon D5300 versus Samsung NX300 at Base ISO

Nikon D5300 at ISO 100	Samsung NX300 at ISO 100
Both cameras show impressive detail with the mosaic crop at ISO 100. The most striking difference is with the red fabric, with which the NX300 really struggles compared to the D5300. Both do well with the pink fabric, however.

Nikon D5300 versus Sony A58 at Base ISO

Nikon D5300 at ISO 100	Sony A58 at ISO 100
As in the previous comparison, both cameras show impressive fine detail in the mosaic tiles. The bottle crops also show crisp, noise-free detail, and both cameras also do very well with the fabric crop. However, the new AA-filter-less sensor of the D5300 just edges out the A58 by starting to show individual threads of the red fabric.

Most digital SLRs and CSCs will produce an excellent ISO 100 shot, so we like to push them and see what they can do compared to other cameras at ISO 1600, 3200, and 6400. Recent advances in sensor technology have made ISO 1600 look a lot more like ISO 100, but there are still cameras whose quality starts to fall apart at this setting. We also choose 1600 because we like to be able to shoot at least at this level when indoors and at night.

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D5200 at ISO 1600

Nikon D5300 at ISO 1600	Nikon D5200 at ISO 1600
Both the bottle and mosaic crops show fairly similar results here at ISO 1600, though the D5300 manages to out-resolve the D5200 with fine detail in the mosaic area. Interestingly, the D5200 manages to produce a better, more detailed image of the fabric swatches compared to the D5300.

Nikon D5300 versus Canon T5i at ISO 1600

Nikon D5300 at ISO 1600	Canon T5i at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, noise is well-controlled from both the D5300 and T5i, as you can see in the bottle crop comparison. Also, apart from the difference in resolution, both cameras do very well with fine detail in the mosaic crop. The biggest difference is with the fabric, with which the D5300 excels as compared to the T5i.

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D7100 at ISO 1600

Nikon D5300 at ISO 1600	Nikon D7100 at ISO 1600
Like we saw with the ISO 100 comparison, here at 1600 both cameras display similar results in the bottle and mosaic crops. The D7100, however, does noticeably better at handling the red fabric swatch.

Nikon D5300 versus Samsung NX300 at ISO 1600

Nikon D5300 at ISO 1600	Samsung NX300 at ISO 1600
The Samsung NX300's default noise reduction is more heavy-handed than the D5300's, but it does well removing grain from the shadows while still keeping good detail. Both cameras do well with fine detail in the mosaic, but the Nikon is the winner in the red fabric.

Nikon D5300 versus Sony A58 at ISO 1600

Nikon D5300 at ISO 1600	Sony A58 at ISO 1600
Both cameras do well with noise at ISO 1600, but the A58 is a bit cleaner in the shadows in comparison. Fine detail also looks sharper though more "processed" from the A58 in the mosaic crop, and the Sony handles noise in the red fabric better than the D5300, albeit with slightly less detail. However, the pink fabric in the A58 looks a bit distorted from noise reduction, whereas the D5300 handles that area better.

Today's ISO 3200 is yesterday's ISO 1600 (well, almost), so below are the same crops at ISO 3200.

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D5200 at ISO 3200

Nikon D5300 at ISO 3200	Nikon D5200 at ISO 3200
Very similar noise in the shadows, but the D5300 has the clear advantage with fine detail in the mosaic crop. Yet the D5200 produces a more discernible leaf pattern in the red fabric.

Nikon D5300 versus Canon T5i at ISO 3200

Nikon D5300 at ISO 3200	Canon T5i at ISO 3200
Similarly low levels of noise, but the D5300 does better with fine detail in the mosaic as well as the red fabric (though the leaf pattern is difficult to discern in both images).

Nikon D5300 versus Nikon D7100 at ISO 3200

Nikon D5300 at ISO 3200	Nikon D7100 at ISO 3200
Tough comparison here at ISO 3200. There's ever-so-slightly more chroma noise in the D7100 bottle crop, but in the mosaic both cameras show a similarly high level of fine detail. The biggest difference is the noticeably better handling of the red fabric by the D7100.

Nikon D5300 versus Samsung NX300 at ISO 3200

Nikon D5300 at ISO 3200	Samsung NX300 at ISO 3200
It's clear here at ISO 3200 that the NX300 applies much stronger noise reduction by default, though it does a good job of maintaining high-contrast detail. The fine mosaic pattern detail looks more clearly defined in the D5300 image, however. The red fabric is most telling, though, with the D5300 retaining much more detail.

Nikon D5300 versus Sony A58 at ISO 3200

Nikon D5300 at ISO 3200	Sony A58 at ISO 3200
The D5300 shows a bit more shadow noise at ISO 3200 in the bottle crop comparison, but noise reduction distorts and mottles the fine mosaic pattern in the A58 image. The A58, on the other hand, arguably does better at handling the red fabric swatch.

Detail: Nikon D5300 vs. Nikon D5200, Canon T5i, Nikon D7100, Samsung NX300 and Sony A58

Nikon D5300 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Nikon D5200 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Canon T5i ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Nikon D7100 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Samsung NX300 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Sony A58 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400
Detail comparison. Apart from slight exposure differences, the cameras do very well with high-contrast fine detail at base ISO, with the D5300 taking the crown not only with the crisp black lettering, but also the clean, sharp red lettering as well. As the ISO rises, the D5300 handles higher ISOs very well -- similar to the D7100 -- and improves over the D5200's performance.

Nikon D5300 Print Quality Analysis

Very good 30 x 40 inch prints at ISO 100; a nice 13 x 19 at ISO 1600; a good 5 x 7 at ISO 12,800.

ISO 100 prints are very nice at 30 x 40 inches, with terrific color reproduction and nice detail for such a large print. Wall display prints are possible up to 36 x 48 inches.

ISO 200 makes an excellent 24 x 36 inch print with very crisp detail and color.

ISO 400 images look very good at 20 x 30 inches, and 24 x 36 inch prints have only a minor trace of noise and are usable for all but the most critical of applications.

ISO 800 prints are good at 16 x 20 inches, and the D5300 does a nice job of controlling noise levels for such a large print at this ISO. In addition, subtle contrast detail is really good in our difficult red swatch, something enthusiast and professional grade Nikons tend to shine at.

ISO 1600 produces a very good 13 x 19 inch print, the first ISO that is a size larger than its predecessor, the D5200.

ISO 3200 prints begin to show a slight decline in detail in the red fabric area, but 11 x 14s still look quite good, again a size larger than the D5200.

ISO 6400 is the third ISO where the D5300 outshines its predecessor, besting it by a print size and producing a good 8 x 10 inch print.

ISO 12,800 yields a good 5 x 7, once again besting the D5200 by a print size.

ISO 25,600 does not yield a good print and is best avoided except for less critical applications.

The Nikon D5300 follows in the excellent footsteps of the D5200, producing large prints for its price range and doing a great job with fine detail and color. As compared to many APS-C cameras we have seen recently, the D5300 does a nice job of controlling noise, and when it does appear it tends to look more like film grain than many other cameras' default processing in this class, which can often look more like splotches than grain in flatter areas. It actually bests the D5200 by a print size at ISOs 1600 through 12,800, and almost passes the test at the extended setting of 25,600. Well done, Nikon, for an affordable DSLR that prints this nicely straight out of the camera.

Nikon D5300 Conclusion

Pro:

Cons:

Excellent image quality and resolution (similar to D7100) thanks to AA-filterless 24-megapixel, APS-C CMOS sensor and EXPEED 4 processor 39-point AF system with 9 cross-type sensors Compact and portable but fairly robust camera build with a comfy handgrip Longer than average zoom kit lens, with decent performance for its type Virtually no shutter lag when you pre-focus Fast start-up and shot-to-shot speeds Decent 5 fps burst speed (when shooting JPEGs or 12-bit RAW) Generous JPEG buffer lets you keep shooting in burst mode Improved resolution and high ISO performance compared to predecessor Excellent available light camera; very usable images at ISO 3,200 (and even higher in certain cases) Large, hi-res articulated 3.2-inch LCD is bright with crisp details Higher viewfinder magnification than predecessor Vibrant colors Excellent dynamic range (in RAW) In-camera CA correction and optional distortion correction Fast download speeds Straightforward controls are easy to use and ergonomically placed Logical and clear menu and button layout for quick navigation In-camera HDR mode Built-in interval timer like Nikon's higher-end DSLRs Very good full 1080/60p HD video quality with full-time AF Built-in stereo microphone 3.5mm external microphone jack Clean HDMI output signal Built-in Wi-Fi features include image sharing and remote control shooting with a smart device, bolstered by a new Wi-Fi interface that's one of the best we've seen on a camera Built-in GPS for geotagging Wired and wireless remote support Improved battery life

Penta-mirror viewfinder not as big and bright as full pentaprism OVF Glossy LCD is prone to glare and reflections; can be hard to read in bright sunlight Built-in HDR mode only uses 2 exposures; High and Extra High HDR modes can produce strange halo effect Built-in stereo mics very susceptible to handling noises and wind (though there is a wind filter option) No headphone jack for monitoring sound levels during video recording Higher than average geometric distortion from the 18-140mm kit lens Macro performance from 18-140mm kit lens is not great Auto and Incandescent white balance settings too warm in tungsten lighting Inconsistent flash exposures with the kit lens Burst mode slows down with 14-bit RAW files, with shallow buffer depths Lack of AA filter means more susceptible to aliasing artifacts than predecessor Live View has slow AF and laggy magnification mode No video recording option with Wi-Fi remote app Can't change exposure settings via the Wi-Fi companion app or with camera when viewing live feed with the app GPS receiver doesn't seem as sensitive as most

At first glance the Nikon D5300 may look just like the D5200, but there are some decidedly big upgrades under the hood that make it an even more attractive option for more serious beginner photographers and budding enthusiasts as well. One of the major upgrades comes in the form of a new, high-resolution 24.2MP sensor without an optical low-pass filter, putting it on par with the resolving power of the D7100. Nikon's also squeezed in their latest EXPEED 4 image processor for not only improved JPEG image quality and battery life, but also better video recording capabilities as well -- now up to 1080/60p Full HD video. The D5300 is also the first Nikon DSLR to feature built-in Wi-Fi connectivity (no more WU-1a/b dongle) and GPS.

While the design of the D5300 looks fairly straightforward for a consumer-oriented DSLR, the camera nevertheless is very comfortable in the hand with a nice, solid feel thanks to the use of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. Nikon's also managed to cram in a larger, 3.2-inch hi-res LCD, while still making the D5300 a few cubic centimeters smaller than its predecessor. The screen is bright and crisp to read in good lighting with the same 3:2 aspect ratio as still images, but the glossy outer surface can be prone to glare and reflections.

In terms of image quality and performance, the D5300 is a solid performer for its class of camera. Not only does it have great image quality, but the improved resolution and better high ISO performance makes it a clear winner over the D5200. RAW images also have excellent dynamic range, though uncorrected RAW files can display noticeable CA, distortion and vignetting produced by the 18-140mm kit lens (some of which the camera corrects in its JPEG processing). Still, the 18-140mm lens offers a lot more reach than the typical kit lens, and offers decent optical performance for its type.

There are some downsides, however, but none that are too severe. One thing to watch out for is moiré and other aliasing artifacts. With the lack of an optical low-pass filter, the D5300 can produce crisper and sharper fine detail than the D5200, but at the risk of more moiré and aliasing. The D5300 does a pretty good job at suppressing moiré in JPEGs in most cases, though. Also, continuous burst shooting gets bogged down with highest quality 14-bit RAW files, and the buffer fills quite quickly as well. Other quibbles include slow Live View AF, limited Wi-Fi remote control capabilities, and a GPS receiver that can struggle with satellite reception when you're not out in the clear.

However, all in all, the D5300 is another solid consumer DSLR from the folks at Nikon. With comfortable ergonomics, good performance and excellent image quality, plus nice higher-end bonuses like built-in Wi-Fi, GPS and 1080/60p video with clean HDMI output, the Nikon D5300 is a first-rate choice for photographers looking to upgrade from a compact camera or a more entry-level DSLR, as well as those more enthusiast-oriented photographers who want higher-resolution photos, better high ISO performance and high quality Full HD video. Given its high image quality and added features, the Nikon D5300 is a sure-fire winner of a Dave's Pick.