Sharpness

Sharpness at 55mm

For this test, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR lens was attached to a Nikon D7000 body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure delay mode was activated. Tonal and colour variances across the crops are due to changes in natural light during the session. The 100% crops represent about 1/400th of the total frame area.

The full frame at 55mm

At the shorter end of the zoom range, sharpness is optimised for wide-open performance, at least in the centre. Centre sharpness remains high through to f/8, with f/11 being usable but f/16 and especially f/22 being quite badly affected by diffraction. The borders aren't nearly as sharp as the centre though, and they do not really sharpen up on stopping down, either.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/4.5
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22