Digital Photographer - UK (2019-08)

Below

18mm, f8

Sharpness is better

than from both of

the Tamron lenses

here, but uncorrected

distortion and lateral

chromatic aberrations

can be noticeable

Above

A more

manageable Nikon

It’s a more sensible size and

weight than Nikon’s 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6

lens but more basic, with no M/A manual

override-priority autofocus mode, Normal/

Active VR options, or a focus distance scale

Bottom

300mm, f8

Sharpness drops off

from 105mm onwards

and is pretty lacklustre

at the long end. Using

an aperture of f8

optimises sharpness at

this zoom range

Newer, smaller and more travel-

friendly than Nikon’s original 18-

300mm superzoom, it takes a

weight off your mind, or at least

your neck strap

Back in 2005 Nikon’s original AF-S DX

18-200mm VR lens was one of the first

superzooms for APS-C format cameras to

hit the market. A minor refresh followed in

2009 and is still available. It remains a good

choice for performance and quality, but

telephoto reach is limited compared with

most newer superzooms.

Nikon launched its first 18-300mm lens

in 2012. That’s also still available, but it’s not

particularly travel-friendly, being relatively

chunky and tipping the scales at 830g.

Weighing in at 550g, the newer 18-300mm

is a third of an f-stop slower at the long end

of the zoom range but is only about the

same size as the 18-200mm lens – a much

more comfortable proposition if you’ll be

wandering around for a few hours with a

camera hanging from your neck.

The optical design is typically complex

for a superzoom lens. It features 16

elements in 12 groups, including three

aspherical elements and three ED (extra-

low dispersion) elements. The ultrasonic

autofocus system is fast and whisper-quiet.

Unlike in the Sigma 18-300mm and Tamron

18-400mm lenses on test, the focus ring

remains stationary during autofocus and

enables full-time manual override without

the need to switch to manual focus mode.

A weather-seal is fitted to the metal

mounting plate, but other Nikon niceties

are lacking. The A-M focus switch doesn’t

have auto or manual-override priority

options, the 4-stop VR (vibration reduction)

lacks optional Active or Sport modes, and

there’s no focus distance scale. Unusually

for Nikon, no hood is supplied with the lens

so you have to buy this separately, unless

you already own an AF-S DX 16-85mm VR,

which uses the same HB-39 hood.

Sharpness is impressive at short zoom

settings, but from 105mm to 300mm it’s

worse than from any other lens in this group.

In our tests, we had to stop down to f8 to

get even mediocre sharpness towards the

200-300mm zoom range. Barrel distortion

is particularly heavy at 18mm, and lateral

chromatic aberrations are very noticeable

at both ends of the zoom range, unless

corrected in-camera or during image editing.

Nikon

AF-S DX 18-300mm

f/3.5-6.3G ED VR

Price: £669/$699

x2 © Matthew Richards

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