Quick review of the new 18-300mm lens compared to the 18-200mm...

[jmringo]

Just found this review of the 18-300mm lens. I visit this site often because of the lens price guide (i'm always looking for deals on ebay.) I like the reviews because they are simple and straight forward. I've exchanged emails with Tim, the guy who runs the site, several times . He's seems like a regular guy with a passion for photography. Someone I can relate to.

http://www.tangentphoto.com/reviews/lenses/nikon18-300mmdxvrlensreview.html

 

[Timo Voivalin]

It seems to be as good as it should be for the size and weight. (Or as bad it should be will some say.) Great move from Nikon two good lenses to choose from 18-200 and 18-300. And 18-300 mm is the uber total one lens solution, if one is going longer than 300 mm then they should use real tele lens.

One thing though, how about focus breathing?

 

[friedbrains]

One thing though, how about focus breathing?

there is a picture in NR that shows it fully extended and is in upright position, so probably nikon fixed it, although i was not really bothered with it when i still own the 18-200 VR2.

 

[Timo Voivalin]

One thing though, how about focus breathing?

there is a picture in NR that shows it fully extended and is in upright position, so probably nikon fixed it, although i was not really bothered with it when i still own the 18-200 VR2.

Focus breathing means You lose some of the focal length when focusing to very near objects. For example with Tamron 18-270 it is probably only 18-200 mm when focusing close. So You will "lose" 70 mm of focal length promised. Which is good to know beforehand buying the lens.

You are talking about "zoom creep".

 

[friedbrains]

One thing though, how about focus breathing?

there is a picture in NR that shows it fully extended and is in upright position, so probably nikon fixed it, although i was not really bothered with it when i still own the 18-200 VR2.

Focus breathing means You lose some of the focal length when focusing to very near objects. For example with Tamron 18-270 it is probably only 18-200 mm when focusing close. So You will "lose" 70 mm of focal length promised. Which is good to know beforehand buying the lens.

You are talking about "zoom creep".

doh! what was i thinking, you are absolutely right!

 

[jmringo]

Just read the addendum of this review which says the lens hits max. aperture of f/5.6 at 68mm. For $1000 I would have thought there would be a little more wiggle room. I was really considering this lens but it looks like I will be staying with my Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 and Nikon 70-300mm VR combo. I don't change lenses too often so the convenience I would get from the 18-300mm isn't worth the loss of image quality, especially on the wide end.

 

[Navmark77]

I'm looking for a solution at the long end so I went quickly to the 300mm portion of the review. My impression is that the reviewer's comments are not consistent with his sample photos at 300mm. If you look at the edges of the branches, the 70-300mm seems significantly softer than the 18-300mm, but he fudged on that in the review.

I hope some additional data comes out soon!