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Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR shortest focal length uniformity comparison
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70-300mm at 70mm f4.5
Mean corner fall-off: 92.4% |
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To measure and compare the Nikkor 70-300mm VR's vignetting and light fall-off we photographed a white target with a
highly diffused custom filter using it and a number of rival lenses.
The lenses were tested at their
widest focal lengths with the aperture wide open in
Aperture Priority mode.
The images were analysed with Imatest and the full
areas presented here at a reduced resolution. Bigger percentages are better. |
The image above was taken with the Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 70mm f4.5.
Here the light falls off in the corners to an average of 92.4% of the centre
measurement, which is comfortably far superior to the other lenses presented here. The benefit of buying a lens corrected for a full-frame body is clear here, as the light fall-off at 70mm on a cropped DX-format body like the D80 is essentially invisible - a great result here for the 70-300mm VR. Note: the scores for the DX 18-135mm and DX 18-200mm are also included here for completeness, but can't be fairly compared to the two telephoto zooms due to their much wider short focal lengths. The more relevant comparison is below when all four are zoomed-in.
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Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR |
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Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 |
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Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR |
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DX 55-200mm at 55mm f4
Mean corner fall-off: 66.1% |
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DX 18-135mm at 18mm f3.5
Mean corner fall-off: 50.2% |
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DX 18-200mm at 18mm f3.5
Mean corner fall-off: 62.2% |
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR longest focal length uniformity comparison
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70-300mm at 300mm f5.6
Mean corner fall-off: 84.2% |
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To measure and compare the Nikkor 70-300mm VR's vignetting and light fall-off we photographed a white target with a
highly diffused custom filter using it and a number of rival lenses.
The lenses were tested at their
widest focal lengths with the aperture wide open in
Aperture Priority mode.
The images were analysed with Imatest and the full
areas presented here at a reduced resolution. Bigger percentages are better. |
The image above was taken with the Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm f5.6.
Here the light falls off in the corners to an average of 84.2% of the centre
measurement, which again is measurably superior to the other lenses on test here. It's fair to say you're not going to notice a great deal of light fall-off when using the 70-300mm VR on a DX format DSLR like the D80, although again that's because it's corrected for a larger format frame. That's enough for our studio tests, so let's check out some real-life results in our 70-300mm VR Gallery.
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Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR |
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Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 |
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Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR |
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DX 55-200mm at 200mm f5.6
Mean corner fall-off: 60.1% |
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DX 18-135mm at 135mm f5.6
Mean corner fall-off: 58.5% |
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DX 18-200mm at 200mm f5.6
Mean corner fall-off: 73.4% |
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