Nikon 1 Nikkor VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 Review

November 10, 2011 | Zoltan Arva-Toth |

Buy a 1 Nikkor 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 VR Standard Zoom Lens

Sharpness

Sharpness at 30mm

The sharpness tests for this review were carried out with the Nikon 1 Nikkor 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 VR lens attached to a Nikon 1 V1 camera body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. The self-timer was activated to avoid any blurring from depressing the shutter release. Tonal and colour variances across the crops are due to changes in natural light during the session. The 100% crops represent about 1/250th of the total frame area.

The full frame at 30mm

At the 30mm zoom setting, the centre is sharpest at f/4, just a notch down from wide open. The f/5.6 setting is not far behind and f/8 is still acceptable but diffraction starts to visibly degrade the image. By f/11 the effect of diffraction is very obvious, and f/16 is best avoided.

The extreme edges are somewhat soft, with sharpness and contrast being best at f/8.