Nikon 300 mm f/4 ED IF: A closer look

Sharpness on the Nikon D3 Below, you can see crops from images taken with the Nikon D3 full frame camera. The images have been taken with a cable release and mirror lock-up. The camera was on tripod. Focusing has been done with the aid of live-view (highest magnification, manual focusing). Full image with crop positions: Crops: At 300mm (long distance) Lens sharpness can vary over the whole image in a very strange manner and the crops sometimes just can't show this. Sharpness at left / right edge doesn't mean sharpness in the center or in the outermost corners. That's why I've included some full resolution images: Full resolution sample (at f/4) Full resolution sample (at f/5.6) Full resolution sample (at f/8) Full resolution sample (at f/11) Use a good monitor and open them in Photoshop or any other program with color managment. Open two pictures at the same time and zoom in to 100 %.

Vignetting on the Nikon D3 The following images show a part of the sky at different apertures (images taken on tripod, showing the same part of the sky). Follow the link below to see the amount of vignetting: 300 mm & infinity setting