Nikon Af-s Nikkor 28-300mm F/35-56g Ed Vr Lens Review

The Nikon AF-Due south Nikkor 28-300mm f/iii.5-5.6G ED VR ($ane,049.95 direct)($1,199.00 at Amazon Canada) is a zoom lens with an impressive 10.7x range, designed for use with total-frame Nikon cameras. Information technology doesn't manage the fixed aperture of the company'southward pro-level zooms, but if you're looking for a fairly compact all-in-one zoom for travel or hiking, information technology'south an appealing choice. The lens leaves very little to want in terms of sharpness, but distortion is an issue throughout its range. That's not singular for a zoom of this range, especially 1 that manages to be fairly compact and cover a 24 x 36mm epitome sensor.

The 28-300mm measures four.5 past three.iii inches (HD), but does extend when zoomed. It's a bit heavy at one.8 pounds, and its big front chemical element requires 77mm filters. A reversible lens hood is included. There are a couple of control switches on the barrel: I toggles the Vibration Reduction organisation, the other switches betwixt manual and autofocus. The transmission focus ring is located toward the base of the lens, closer to the mount than to the forepart element, and is rather narrow. The zoom ring is larger, and is placed just behind the forepart element. The minimum focus is 1.half dozen feet throughout the zoom range, which gives the lens a pretty decent one:3 macro magnification at 300mm.

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I used Imatest to check the sharpness and distortion characteristics of the lens at multiple points throughout its zoom range. All tests were performed using the total-frame Nikon D800($ane,199.00 at Amazon Canada). At 28mm f/3.5 it's impressively precipitous, scoring two,226 lines per picture show height on a center-weighted test, improve than the 1,800 lines we require to call a photo precipitous. At that place's a piddling bit of softness at the edges; they show 1,523 lines at f/3.5. Just stopping down to f/5.vi increases the overall score to 3,143 lines and edges top 2,000 lines. At 28mm there is 4.5 percentage barrel baloney, which causes direct lines to bow outward, giving images a near fisheye look. Information technology's something that you tin can right using the built-in profile for the lens in Lightroom, or transmission distortion correction in other workflow applications.

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At 50mm the maximum aperture is f/iv.5, and the lens even so manages ii,321 lines on the center-weighted test. But edges are noticeably blurry, scoring but one,129 lines. Stopping downwardly to f/5.six brings the overall score up to 3,083 lines, and improves edges to a more reasonable ane,652 lines. At f/8 the center-weighted score improves marginally (three,126 lines), but the edges improve more dramatically to 1,938 lines. Distortion switches from barrel to pincushion, which causes lines to curve inward. There'due south 2.five per centum, which is noticeable in field conditions, but not quite equally extreme as the butt distortion at 28mm.

By the time y'all become to 105mm the maximum discontinuity is f/five.iii. The centre-weighted performance holds up—2,700 lines. Edges are noticeably soft (1,354 lines), but improve dramatically at f/8. Here the center-weighted score is three,191 lines, and edges resolve ii,166 lines. There'southward 2.8 pincushion distortion here.

The 200mm setting is the maximum at which our lab allows us to measure distortion using our SFRPlus test chart. The lens shows 2.4 pct pincushion, just about the same every bit information technology did at 50mm and 105mm. The maximum aperture is f/5.half-dozen, and again we see a good center-weighted score (2,795 lines), but edges that fall a little shy of one,500 lines. At f/8 the score improves to 3,031 lines, and edges are a respectable 1,730 lines. Results are nigh identical at 300mm.

The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/three.5-v.6G ED VR isn't an optically perfect, wide-aperture lens that doubles as a workhorse for pros and a dream lens for enthusiasts. But information technology is a pretty decent zoom for those times when y'all've got enough lite to feed its f/3.five-5.6 discontinuity and don't desire to bargain with carrying a couple of f/2.8 zooms or a few primes to cover the range, or if you merely don't want to change lenses in the filed. Its macro capability is surprisingly good, and narrowing the aperture simply a bit delivers impressive sharpness, even at the edges. Distortion is the lens's bugaboo, so be prepared to live with it or to practice some work in Lightroom or the workflow application of your choice in club to minimize its effects. Full-frame Nikon shooters don't accept a lot in the style of options of lenses with this range, but it's good to know that this one is a decent performer with a toll that's non unreasonable.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/three.v-5.6G ED VR

Cons

The Bottom Line

The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/iii.5-5.6G ED VR is a sharp, compact walkaround lens, but it shows quite a lot of distortion throughout its zoom range.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/nikon-af-s-nikkor-28-300mm-f35-56g-ed-vr

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