Only one month after purchasing my Nikon D40, and one week after picking up a Nikon 55-200 VR zoom lens, I was at Ritz Camera Center again this weekend upgrading to a shiny new Nikon D300 body. In so many ways the professional Nikon D300 is overkill for the photos I take. After all I have just started down the road of amateur photography, and am still very much a beginner. In the end the reason I decided to upgrade from the portable D40 to the versatile D300 so soon had little to do with the camera’s outward professional appearance or impressive features and more to do with the D300’s larger viewfinder, and compatibility with the manual prime lenses I love.