I recently got a D300s for shooting pictures of my 3-year old. Previously, I used a Nikon D70, a 6-megapixel DSLR. I honestly think that the D70 is a fine camera and takes beautiful pictures if you use good lenses with it, but I got the D300s because it is much faster at focussing (51 focus sensors vs. 5 focus sensors), and can snap pictures at 7 frames per second (versus 4 frames per second for the D70). So now I feel I'm getting great pictures of my fast-moving daughter that I probably would have missed with my older camera. As for the quality of the pictures themselves, I don't notice any significant improvement from the D70, which already produced excellent pictures as long as things were moving slowly enough for it to lock focus.

The bottom line is this: If you're often dealing with fast-moving subjects, then the very fast focus and the machine-gun like 7 frames per second capability of the D300s will maximize your chances of getting good shots. The reason to get this camera is for its SPEED. That's what you're paying extra for when you buy this camera over a lower-priced Nikon SLR. If, on the other hand, you don't need the high speed (e.g., landscape and scenery pictures), then get a D40 or D90 and use the money you save on a good lens. Get more detail about Nikon D300s 12MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only).