Hello all,

i have been thinking about where to post this , in camera or in lenses,i hope this is ok.
Well, after years of happily having used my D70 i finally took the plonge and bought myself a D300. After lots of reading, learning , picture taking, comparing,
i'm having a bit of a problem. For me, the pictures i took with the D70/18-200VR combination seem sharper then the pictures coming out of the D300/18-200VR.
Of course i use RAW in both cameras, and use the same amount of USM on the pictures.
I have been reading/searching for this, getting answers as : the D300 is known for its "softness", pictures of a 12 mp pixel camera are on the same crop (100%) softer then a 6 mp camera, ...
So i decided to ask the question here, what do you think about this?

Greetings

Luc

Hi Luc,

I use the D200 with the 18-200 most of times so I cannot help but please check the very informative site of www.kenrockwell.com with full reports of both cameras and the 18-200.

Luck,

Sergio

Maybe you can find your answer there : http://alturl.com/i7gm

Absolutely not! I'm using the D300, have used D200, and before that the D100 which should compare to the D70. I don't have the 18-200 though.
The pictures out of the D100 might appear sharper on the screen, but the reality is that they are rather "harsh". The thruth might be that the D300 might reveal the lacking quality of the optics more than a 6Mpixel camera. And the higher resolution will also reveal any camera shake or movement of objects more than the lower resolution ones.
You might also check http://www.naturfotograf.com He use to rate the different lenses on the different Nikons

I rented the 18-200 VR because of all the hype about it. It was at best a disappointment. Now, keep in mind I have been shooting with Nikon primes for some time now and they are VERY good lenses, very sharp. I am afraid the D300 has gotten a reputation it does not deserve because so many are using it with a very "consumer grade" lens. The only advantage to a lens like that is the convenience of the focal length combined with the VR. If you are serious about image quality sell that lens as fast as you can and buy some sharp primes. The Nikon AF-D primes are VERY, VERY good lenses, the older manual focus AI and AI-S primes are in some cases GREAT lenses. There are abundant reviews that will guide you if you choose to go down that road, including, but no limited to Ken Rockwell and Thom Hogan and Bjørn Rørslett.

Hi Luc,

Please consider that the D70 has an old sensor type and the D300 is a semi professional camera. Your lens is good for the D70 but for the D300 you need some more to get out the whole range of what the camera can do! This 18-200 VR is just a cheap solution for non professional cameras and on your D300 you should buy high quality lens and not this kind of. I throw my 18-200 away as I got my D200!!!!!
The lens is so worse and has all we do not like! Fringes, horrible distortion, diffraction, vignette and a low band of aperture use! Please do not compare two pictures from two absolute different cameras with such a low quality lens!

And please switch off that VR when you make such test!

Robert