Sharpness at 50mm

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/3.5-6.3G VR lens was attached to a Nikon D7000 body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. 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 50mm

Sharpness in the centre of the frame is very good even wide open, but contrast is a bit low. This improves greatly upon stopping down to f/8.

Corner sharpness is also surprisingly good at f/4.8 – much better than the  AF-S Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR – and reaches excellent levels at f/8.

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