SHOULD YOU BUY A NIKON D300? As I’ve said before — notwithstanding my love for mine — the answer is almost certainly “no.” But if you’re looking at getting a Nikon digital SLR, this might not be a bad time to pick up one of the cheaper ones. My secretary is, and she found this discount deal from Nikon. Buy a D40, a D60, or a D80 body-and-lens kit, and one of three lenses — the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED lens, the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens, or the AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 55-200mm IF-ED lens and you’ll get an instant $100 discount. Play your cards right and you’ll have a superb digital SLR with two excellent lenses for less than half the body-only cost of the D300.

UPDATE: Reader Dan K. emails: “Great. Now you say ‘No’ to buying a D300…three days after I put my order in for the D300/18-200VR.” Hey, I’m not saying don’t buy one — they rock. I’m just saying it’s a lot more camera than most people need. If you do buy one, you won’t regret it, save perhaps financially.