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Lens review

Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR

24 February 2015
Arkadiusz Olech

7. Coma, astigmatism and bokeh

The coma is the most acute at the shortest focal length where it is very visible. Its slight influence can be also noticed at 50-100 mm focal lengths but already at 200-300 mm it becomes negligible. Here the newer lens seems to fare a bit worse than its predecessor but the differences aren’t big.

Nikon D7000, 18 mm, f/3.5, center Nikon D7000, 18 mm, f/3.5, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 50 mm, f/4.8, center Nikon D7000, 50 mm, f/4.8, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/5.6, center Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/5.6, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 200 mm, f/6.3, center Nikon D7000, 200 mm, f/6.3, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 300 mm, f/6.3, center Nikon D7000, 300 mm, f/6.3, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh


The astigmatism level, understood as an average difference between vertical and horizontal MTF50 values, is nonidentical at shorter and longer focal lengths. In the 18-50 mm range its value reaches 11% so it can be called medium. At longer focal lengths that aberration decreases to low levels amounting to 4%.


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The appearance of defocused images is certainly not perfect but it would be difficult to complain a lot – after all you deal with a megazoom here. Defocused light circles show some slightly accentuated onion rings structure and after stopping down the aperture the light rim around the edge becomes a bit more bothersome. What’s more, the new model features some mechanical vignetting effect because rings in the corners are more truncated than in the case of its predecessor.

Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/5.6, center Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/5.6, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/8.0, center Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/8.0, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh
Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/11.0, center Nikon D7000, 100 mm, f/11.0, corner
Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh