Andy, if you don't mind I'll add my thoughts and expand upon your review.
I'm using the D300 almost exclusively now, for both my sporting shots and my landscapes. I'll cover both separately below:
Action/Sports
I have yet to alter the colour of any of my cycling images, every single shot is perfect right out of the camera. I use both Aperture priority (AP) and Shutter priority (SP) modes, depending on what effect I'm wanting.
AP
Attached is a picture taken using AP (V718-1) and you can see it is pin sharp, the camera locked on and the results are awesome - the best I have ever seen (and I've used my colleagues MKIII). To be honest setting a high shutter speed to stop the action is too easy with this camera - you are talking about a 100% success rate of pictures in focus.
SP
OK so a more difficult test is to set the camera to SP. Much more skill is needed here to pan and keep your subject in focus, but the D300 locks on and keeps focus like a guided missile. The attached photo (YRC Hilly 41) was taken on one of our local hilly courses. Here the rider was doing 40+ mph down a fast hill (my tutor chose this spot to test my technique!) at a shutter speed of 1/160th and this is quite possibly one of the most difficult shots for me to get as a cycling photographer - but I'm finding I use this method most of the time now.
Landscapes
Quite honestly I'm gobsmacked with this camera for landscapes and that was not what I bought it for. The colours are just superb even before you start to edit and the range it handles (Andy - you must explore the Active D-Lighting, it is truly an incredible tool when you learn when/how to use it - which I'm still doing) has to be experienced. Where I used to take multiple exposures with my D80 to ensure I did not blow out a sky, I'm setting the D300 up to capture what I want in one shot. See the attached photo (View from Curbar Edge) which has not been touched yet - it is straight out of the D300. Now tell me honestly of any other camera (apart from the D3!) that could have handled this scene without blowing out. The sunlight was strong (see the flare) and almost into the lens, yet it handled it superbly.
OK so what are the downsides?
Well I'm still not convinced with the Program mode (P), which I now never use. From the example above taken in AP mode, you can clearly see it handles difficult scenes very well. I wish I had thought to switch it to P mode, but I'm pretty certain it would not have produced a good image. I will test this more and report back, but for now I do not trust the 'all automatic' P mode.
Bottom line - my own personal opinion.
My next purchase (though not for a while) will be the D3. I will then own the best two DSLR cameras out there.
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