Verdict
Pros
- Good performance at 70mm
Cons
- Poor performance at the 300mm end
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £169
The notable thing at first sight is the plastic mount, which personally I have never had trouble with, but I know from anecdotal evidence that others have.
Otherwise the lens’ plastic build feels sturdy enough for amateur usage, and the deep rubber grip on the main zoom barrel is comfortable to use. The manual focus ring is light but the AF motor prevents its use in AF mode. The Nikon lens forgoes Nikon’s top line AF system the Silent Wave Motor (SWM), so this model is slightly slower and somewhat noisier than other Nikon optics. In a quiet room, such as the scholastic oasis that is the WDC sanctum, the lens whirrs and grinds loudly over the gentle keyboard tapping.While not showing the best results from our lab tests, there’s consistently good control of chromatic aberration and at 70mm, excellent resolution, particularly at f/8. The lens does suffer at 300mm though, with frighteningly poor performance which, unfortunately, blows all its good work at 70mm out of the window.
Verdict
Performs best at the shorter end of the range, but deteriorates as you zoom
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Value 8
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Design 9
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Image Quality 8
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Features 8
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
