Nikon 2216 AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR Lens, Black

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A basic distance scale, marked in feet and meters, appears in a window just in front of the focus ring. While the 28-300mm works well on both full-frame and cropped sensor cameras, its 28mm focal length is too long for general use on cropped sensor cameras (with an equivalent focal length of 42mm). Therefore, a redesigned version of the lens with a wider field of view makes the 18-300mm VR a more attractive superzoom option for DX users. Levels of chromatic aberrations are an issue for this lens towards the edges of the frame, throughout the zoom range. Fringing is at its most prevalent at 300mm towards the edges of the frame, where it exceeds two pixel widths. This level will be clearly visible along high contrast areas towards the edges of the frame. The good news is that it does not rotate on autofocusing, which makes use of polarizing or ND gradient filters a bit easier.

At the 18mm setting, there is noticeable barrel distortion, as demonstrated in the photo above. This turns into pincushion distortion fairly soon (somewhere between 28mm and 35mm). This type of distortion is especially visible at 50mm. A white dot on the outside of the hood aids alignment for mounting, and the hood reverses neatly for storage. Here's the Nikon 18-300mm dwarfing its closest rivals, the Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-5.6 DC Macro OS HSM and Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (both here in Canon mount, and therefore a couple of millimetres longer than their respective Nikon versions). The Tamron and Sigma have shorter zoom ranges and smaller maximum apertures at the telephoto end, and use micro-type ultrasonic focus motors which don't allow full-time manual override. But they do both have built-in optical image stabilization, and are little over half the weight of the Nikon. A-M stands for Auto-Manual Mode. Thanks to a mechanism incorporated in the lens barrel, smooth focusing operation in Manual focus mode is realized in the same way as users have become accustomed to with conventional manual-focus lenses by adding an appropriate torque to the focus ring.His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. Typical of superzoom lenses, barrel distortion at the shortest zoom setting is clearly visible, but it’s rather less extreme than the Tamron 16-300mm. Colour fringing is noticeable, especially at long zoom settings where it’s very similar to the Tamron 16-300mm. Overall, the new Tamron’s huge zoom range doesn’t come at the cost of a greater compromise in image quality compared to other superzooms. Tamron 18-400mm: Lab tests For a superzoom lens, the Nikon is impressively sharp at its shortest focal length but sharpness drops off steadily at longer zoom settings, becoming quite mediocre at 300mm. Corner sharpness is also particularly disappointing at longer focal lengths. Performance is decent for such an extreme zoom lens, especially in the centre of the frame and when stopped down. As far as sharpness is concerned, this lens delivers sharp enough images for general photography and casual users should be chuffed to bits with it. Unfortunately, photographers who insist on the highest levels of optical quality may find this lens a bit too much of a compromise for their needs. If that's the case for you, then a couple of zoom lenses covering shorter ranges will probably be a better choice. Sharpness is measured at the centre and edge of the frame and across the aperture range. Levels of sharpness across the frame are good for a superzoom lens

We test lenses using a mix of both real world sample images and lab tests. Our lab tests are carried out scientifically in controlled conditions using the Imatest testing suite, which consists of custom charts and analysis software that measures resolution in line widths/picture height, a measurement widely used in lens and camera testing. We find the combination of lab and real-word testing works best, as each reveals different qualities and characteristics. The new Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G is a compact, yet versatile all-in-one lens for ideal for travel. Detailed specifications for the lens, along with MTF charts and other useful data can be found in our lens database. NIKON D800E + 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 30mm, ISO 110, 1/200, f/8.0 Lens Construction and Handling Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Despite being a consumer-grade lens, the Nikon 18-300mm is beefed up with plenty of optical technologies from Nikon. The lens sports the second generation VR II (vibration reduction) technology, offering camera shake compensation equivalent to a shutter speed increase of approximately four stops, allowing to shoot at slower shutter speeds without introducing camera shake.Here we show the maximum and minimum apertures reported by the camera at the marked focal lengths. Focal length The 18-300mm is distinctly supersized compared to other DX-format superzooms, and indeed contrives to be larger and heavier than the full frame AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. Its design and construction are both typical mid-range Nikon, with extensive use of high-quality plastics for the lens barrel, and a runner seal around the metal lens mount to help prevent dust and water getting into the camera. The large barrel does mean that the zoom and focus rings are both generously sized. One of the key advantages of the Nikon 18-300mm lens is supposed to be its 9 blade diaphragm, which should result in better-looking round bokeh. In my experience, the number of blades on the latest Nikon lenses does not really matter, since the aperture blades are rounded. I have done some extensive bokeh tests and comparisons and I really could not see major differences between 9 blade and 7 blade rounded diaphragms. Now if you compare old straight aperture lenses with fewer blades to the new rounded ones, the difference is quite evident. In fact, I prefer rounded 7 blade diaphragm to a straight 9 blade one – try to test an older lens and see for yourself. These tests show us the limitations of such lenses, and makes us realize why its often preferable to have several lenses instead. Here you can also see the rubber 'O'-ring that surrounds the mount to protect against dust and moisture getting into the camera.

The lens uses Nikon's F mount. It's designed for DX format SLRs - on FX cameras, DX crop mode will be engaged automatically. It can also be used on Nikon 1 System mirrorless cameras via the F mount adapter, giving a 50-800mm equivalent range, with autofocus and stabilization. In addition to being lighter, the new lens is also considerably shorter than the old one – zoomed out, the 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR is only 99mm long, whereas its older brother is 120mm. The 18-300mm's size is emphasized on the compact D3200 we used for this review, and its weight makes for a relatively unbalanced combination f/3.5-5.6 VR DX zoom Nikkor versus 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 VR DX zoom Nikkor Nikon has two 18-300mm DX zooms. How do they compare, and which is right for you? Nikon’s 18-300mm DX lenses. Left: 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 AFS G DX. Right: 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6 AFS G DX lens As with most superzooms, there’s barrel distortion at the shortest focal length and pincushion at most other zoom settings. However, even when uncorrected, distortions are significantly lower than in many other superzoom lenses. VerdictAF-S NIKKOR lenses feature Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor (SWM). This technology converts “traveling waves” into rotational energy to focus the optics. This enables high-speed autofocusing that's extremely accurate and super quiet. With the lens attached to a D7000, auto-focus is somewhat slower and more “hesitant” than on the AF-S Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. It's still noticeably faster than the AF-S 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DX telezoom, though. Thankfully the filter thread does not rotate on focus, making it that much easier to use graduated neutral density filters and polarisers. Manual focus enthusiasts should take note that the focus ring is rather narrow and located close to the lens mount. Distortion Again, nothing to be excited about. For these kinds of wildlife shots, I would rather shoot with my favorite Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S. It is significantly sharper even with the TC-14E and it produces absolutely beautiful bokeh. Vignetting

For a lens covering such a huge zoom range, this lens is relatively compact and lightweight, only weighing 550g. In fact, size-wise, it is no larger or heavier than Nikons' 18-200mm lenses, which makes it a much better candidate as a walkabout than the previous 18-300mm lens. It feels right at home on the Nikon D7100 body used for testing, and will make a good companion for Nikon's smaller, entry level bodies as well. As is the case with Nikon's other consumer-grade lenses, high quality plastics have been used for much of the lens' construction and a rubber gasket surrounds the metal lens mount, to help prevent the ingress of dust and moisture into the camera body.I made a brief comparison of images captured with both lenses across the focal length range, and the difference in optical quality was indeed noticeable. At every focal length I tested, the f/5.6 version of this lens was clearly sharper and had better contrast and bokeh than the f/6.3 version. This difference was particularly noticeable at the longer focal lengths. 1:1 crops of images captured at 300mm with the Nikon 18-300mm lenses. At top: 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6. Below: 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3. The obvious question then, is how well do these two lenses compare in terms of optical performance? I mounted both lenses on my Nikon D850 to try them out, as I don’t currently own a DX Nikon DSLR. At the 300mm end, the angle of view narrows to 5° 20', which is equivalent to that of a 450mm lens on a 35mm camera body (at least when focused at infinity). These issues can be easily corrected in Photoshop or Lightroom, now that the lens is fully supported by Adobe. Focus Breathing The lens's angle of view widens dramatically on focusing from infinity to 0.45m, especially at the telephoto end. This is a common trait with superzooms, and the Nikon 18-200mm, Sigma 18-250mm and Tamron 18-270mm behave in just the same way. The result is that when the lens is focused to 2m, the 300mm telephoto end has an effective focal length that looks much closer to 200mm. In context, it's worth bearing in mind that long telephotos generally tend to used more for distant subjects, in which case the lens naturally behaves as a 'true' 300mm (as you can see from the comparison above). Meanwhile at short distances you merely have to move a little bit closer to compensate. Lens body elements