Sharpness at 200mm

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 200mm

At 200mm the centre is quite sharp wide open at f/6.3, but you can still make significant gains by stopping down to f/8.

The edges are somewhat soft – but still decent – at f/6.3, with peak sharpness achieved at f11.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/6.3
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22
f/32