Sharpness at 135mm

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 135mm

At 135mm, the widest aperture available is f/5. Centre sharpest at this aperture is reasonably good, but it gets sharper at f/5.6. The sharpest results can be seen between f/8 and f/16. From f/22 softness is visible, being particularly soft at f/36. At the edge, f/5 is a little soft, with the sharpest results visible between f/8 and f/16.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/5
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22
f/32
f/36