Sharpness at 300mm

Our sharpness tests are carried out by photographing a real-world subject rather than a test chart. The Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR was attached to a Nikon Z9 camera, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. Self-timer mode was activated to steady the camera completely. Any slight tonal changes you may see across the crops are a result of slight changes in natural light during the shooting session.

The full frame at 300mm

Centre sharpness is outstanding from wide-open at f/6 all the way through to f/16, with f/22 being slightly affected by diffraction and f/32 even more so.

The edges are almost as sharp as the centre, with the best results again obtained from f/6 through to f/16.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22
f/32
f/36