Although there are many cameras with newer "bells and whistles" I think the D300 is still superb for manual or studio use. Most of my shooting is in-studio with studio strobes. In manual, the D300 has a specific control wheel for F-stop and a separate one for shutterspeed. You don't have to go into menus or touch two different controls to adjust either one. Setting the white balance is also extremely fast and convenient and unlike some other cameras you don't have to go into menus.

The design philosophy is interesting. The D300 is in between snapshooter cameras and the all-out pro cameras. It's called a pro-sumer sometimes. The designers seem to have optimized it for professional use in manual mode, and it shines in that mode, especially in the studio.