Sharpness at 100mm

For this review, the sharpness test is carried out by photographing a real-world sample, rather than a test chart. The AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR was mounted on a Nikon D850, which was in-turn mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure delay was activated to prevent camera-shake. Any changes in tone you might see across the crops are due to natural light changes during the shooting session.

The full frame at 100mm

At 100mm, the widest aperture available is f/4.8. The centre sharpness is good at this aperture, but is particularly sharp between f/8 and f/16. At f/22 it’s noticeably soft, while at f/32 and f/34 it’s even softer. At the edges, the sharpest results can be seen between f/8 and f/16.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/4.8
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22
f/32
f/34