Sharpness Cont... 5

Sharpness at 300mm

The sharpness tests for this review were carried out using a real-world subject rather than a test chart. The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens was attached to a Nikon D7000 body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. We also used an infrared remote release and mirror lock-up to prevent any blurring that may result from camera or mirror movement. Slight tonal changes are due to slight changes in natural light during the session. The 100% crops represent about 1/400th of the total frame area.

The full frame at 300mm

At 300mm, centre sharpness is still quite good wide open though contrast is a bit low. Just like at the 200mm setting, you gain nothing by stopping down, at least in terms of centre sharpness.

The borders are soft and never really sharpen up. That said, f16 is clearly better than the wider aperture settings. To be fair though, corner sharpness is seldom critical when shooting with a 450mm equivalent lens.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22