To measure and compare the Nikkor 70-300mm VR’s purple fringing caused by lens chromatic aberrations and sensor blooming, we photographed a high contrast test chart using it and a number of rival lenses set to their shortest and longest focal lengths with the aperture wide open. The crops are taken from the upper left corner of the chart and presented here at 100%.The 70-300mm VR keeps coloured fringing relatively under control, but some will be visible around high contrast areas in the extreme corners – see our outdoor results.

Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR		Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR		Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6		Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
70-300mm at 70mm f4.5		DX 55-200mm at 55mm f4		DX 18-135mm at 18mm f3.5		DX 18-200mm at 18mm f3.5
70-300mm at 300mm f5.6		DX 55-200mm at 200mm f5.6		DX 18-135mm at 135mm f5.6		DX 18-200mm at 200mm f5.6

Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR macro comparison

70-300mm at 300mm f8 Max area of 88x60mm

To measure and compare the Nikkor 70-300mm VR’s macro performance we photographed a chart using it and a number of rival lenses at a focal length and distance which delivered the maximum possible reproduction.

The dark lines are 10mm apart and the result is not cropped. Smaller areas are preferred in this test.

The image left was taken with the Nikkor 70-300mm VR zoomed-into 300mm where it captured an area measuring 88x60mm. This puts it roughly on par with both the DX 55-200mm VR and DX 18-135mm. See our Gallery for a real-life macro example. Now let’s compare the geometric distortion of each lens.

Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR		Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6		Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
DX 55-200mm at 200mm f8 Max area of 92x62mm		DX 18-135mm at 135mm f8 Max area of 98x62mm		DX 18-200mm at 200mm f8 Max area of 104x70mm