Spanning wide-angle to super telephoto, the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR from Nikon is an ideal single-lens solution for photographing in a wide variety of situations. Designed for DX-format cameras, this 27-450mm equivalent zoom features an advanced optical design comprising both aspherical and extra-low dispersion glasses, which help to reduce aberrations and distortions throughout the zoom range for notable clarity and sharpness. A Super Integrated Coating has also been applied to suppress flare and ghosting when working in backlit or harsh lighting conditions. Benefitting the optics is a four stop-effective VR image stabilization system, which minimizes the appearance of camera shake in order to produce sharper handheld imagery. Additionally, a Silent Wave Motor affords quick, quiet autofocus performance.
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- F-Mount Lens/DX Format
- 27-450mm (35mm Equivalent)
- Aperture Range: f/3.5 to f/22
- Three Aspherical and Three ED Elements
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED V... Overview
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED V... Specs
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Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED V... Reviews
Perfect lens for travel and day trips
This lens is perfect for travel when non-ideal time and location constraints often demand a lot of flexibility from a camera. With this lens, I can instantly compose and frame a shot over a very wide range of subject distances. I do not want to be caught with the wrong lens, particularly when a lens change needs to be made on a seacoast with a fine saltwater mist or when traveling on a dusty road. Similarly, flexibility is needed to compose and take a shot of a mountain range from a moving train when a small break in the rail-side trees temporarily opens up. I take many landscape photos with an aperture-controlled f/11 setting to get the best depth of field. The VR camera shake correction is excellent, allowing me to use relatively slow shutter speeds and low ISO values. Much has been made in online reviews about the large distortion and soft focus of this lens. Distortion rarely affects landscapes except for ocean horizons and the occasional bowing tree trunk. Architectural photography is very sensitive to distortion, but I have found that distortion is removed very well with the in-camera corrections of my Nikon D7100. I think that negative reviews of this lens' focus sharpness have been very unfair. In reviewing technological devices, context is very important. One does not expect a Prius to perform as well as a Lamborghini unless the context is downtown traffic. If you rarely plan to make prints larger than 8x10 inches or only view your images on display monitors, you will find the sharpness of this lens to be perfectly fine. The 200mm and 300mm focal lengths have the softest performance, but I tend to use them only for shooting scenes such as a sunset where interesting patterns of clouds and atmospheric distortion present no challenge to the sharpness of the image. Do not expect the long focal lengths to provide a macro photography substitute. The small nearest focus distance of 0.48m for all focal lengths is useful, but depth-of-field can be sub-millimeter at all f/#s. Even, so, sometimes you get lucky. I have not found any review that includes human visual acuity as part of focus sharpness arguments. Consumer printing is done with 300x300 dpi resolution, which corresponds to 1200 lines per vertical on an 8x10 print. This resolution is compatible with the normal visual acuity limit of 0.2 mm viewed from 25 cm. Anything sharper on the print cannot be seen by a human at the standard view distance of 25 cm. Consequently, the 1500 lines per vertical resolution of the lens, considered mediocre by the expert reviewers, appears perfectly sharp on the print. Similar arguments apply to high resolution display screens, such as the Apple Studio display where acuity limits resolution to about 720 lines per vertical height. Corner sharpness of this lens certainly is weaker -- a necessary compromise, but I have not been disappointed by any images that I have taken that were ruined by soft corner focus. Inadequate depth-of-field, which is pure physics and not bad lens design, is almost always more detrimental than soft focus in the shots that I have taken. Moreover, many photographers purposely blur and darken background corners in post processing so that the corners do not detract from the subject of the photo. Context is also important when one judges the quality of a photograph. How many people marvel at an Ansel Adams print by inspecting for corner sharpness? To paraphrase Ansel Adams, “sharpness enables a good photograph; it does not determine it”.
Amazing versatile lens
This is a great all in one lens for various types of photography. It allows me to get really close up images and images from long distance. The quality of this lens is amazing and the pictures always come out clear and detailed.