jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

But a sharper lens will give any photographer sharper images.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Nikon top grade lenses are generally better than Tamron, Sigma, or Tokina. There may be a few exceptions such as Sigma's Art Lenses. Nikon has some not so great DX lenses too. But their top end FX lenses are hard to beat. IMO. Third party lenses are still very good. I own one Sigma telephoto lens and I like it. You should try the FX 28-300mm for your camera, D7000. If you can afford it. I do not know if Nikon's DX 18-300mm is sharper than Sigma's 16-300mm. That, you will have to request advice on. Good luck in your choice.

MtnMan Loc: ID

I have the Nikon 28-300 for my D800 and my wife has the 18-300 for her D5300. I also have a D5300 on which I also sometimes use the 28-300. The lenses are equally sharp when used on the D5300. The 28-300 creates sharper images on the D800.

For travel by air and not involving wildlife I leave the D800 at home and take the D5300 with only a Sigma 17-50 f2.8. It is very sharp and weighs somewhat less than either of the above. My wife never takes the 18-300 off of her camera. She takes better pictures than me because she has a natural talent for composition.

MtnMan Loc: ID

If you review the DXOMark test results you will find that in most cases the camera affects lens sharpness more than the lens itself. That is the same lens on different cameras gives different results. Newer sensors with more megapixels give better results.

They don't test for it but VR is also a big factor in sharpness for handheld images.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

I use 2 lenses in that range, the 18-140mm Nikon and the Nikon 55-300mm. The 18-140 is on my camera most of the time but I'll switch over to the 300 when needed. Neither lens is very expensive but both do an excellent job for me. Carrying the extra lens isn't a big deal for me.

CO

The July 2016 (issue 60) of NPhoto (Nikon) magazine did tests of eight different superzoom lenses. Sharpness is one of the things they test. It's probably still on the newsstands. Check if a local bookstore has it. I bought the issue recently. I don't have it here right now so I don't remember all of the lenses tested. LensTip.com does extensive testing of lenses. Image resolution is one of the things the test.

http://www.lenstip.com/405.4-Lens_review-Tamron_16-300_mm_f_3.5-6.3_Di_II_VC_PZD_MACRO_Image_resolution.html

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

If you are unhappy and continue to purchase any all-in-one lens you will continue to be unhappy. I suggest you figure out what focal lengths you use the most and see what lens might meet your needs. The Sigma 24-105 F4 ART lens is very good as is the Nikon 24-120 F4. The Nikon 70-200 F2.8 is also excellent, yet expensive, but there is a F4 version that's pretty much a bargain. My carry around lens includes one of the two already mentioned, the F4 versions, as well as my 24-70 F2.8. The answer is that this is a choice we make and it's a personal choice. Best of luck.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I use Nikon equipment, a D7000, a D800, and a D500. For long distance photos I have a Nikon 70-200mm, a really nice lens, and a Tamron 150-600mm, a good enough lens in exactly the right light but not as sharp as I'd like otherwise, although it does a decent job overall, a good middle-of-the-road lens if you can handle the bulk well. The 150-600mm is heavy, large and long when extended and can be difficult to hand-hold for any long period of time: it's best on a tripod with a sidekick or gimbal head. I recently bought the Nikon 80-400mm. I am in love with this lens, the photos are tack sharp and the lens is superior to the Tamron. It is an easy lens to hand-hold and the sharpness at 400mm is excellent. Also works well in lower light conditions, the lens is 4.5 to 5.6 and I mostly use it at 5.6 as I'm shooting a lot of birds right now. The bokeh is very nice at wide open apertures. I normally use this on the cropped frame D500 so it is the shooting equivalent of 600mm at the long end. My all-around lens is the Nikon 24-120mm and this does a great job in most cases and I would highly recommend it along with the 80-400mm. Good luck.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I'm not surprised that your 28-300mm takes sharper images on your full frame D800. I use to say that DX lenses are only for DX cameras and FX lenses are only for FX cameras. Not anymore. You can use a FX lens on a DX camera with good results. I only own a DX camera. I would love to own a D810. First, I would sell all my DX gear and buy whatever FX lenses I could afford. One by one. Or I could keep my DX lenses and go D500..Not a bad choice either.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

This lens has performed well in sharpness tests. The trouble with having a bigger zoom range than that is that all superzooms are a compromise, and the bigger the zoom range, the bigger the compromise. Fringing is something else that might become an issue with superzooms.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Go with Nikon.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

One of the key reasons to buy a Nikon camera would be to be able to use generally excellent Nikkor lenses. So that would be my first recommendation.

But, I'd also recommend avoiding super wide range zooms. They almost always compromise in some way or another... and one of the key reasons to use a DSLR (instead of, say, a "bridge" or "point-n-shoot") is to be able to interchange lenses for different purposes.

About the widest range zoom that I'd consider is 8X.... such as a Nikkor 18-140mm. Then get a separate telephoto of some sort... such as a 70-300mm (just over 4X) or 70-200 (3X). Overall performance and image quality will nearly always be better than the ultra wide ranging zooms can possibly offer.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I'm not a Ken Rockwell fan and avoid anything he says: I went on a photo tour with him once and that was enough. Yes, a sharper lens can give anyone a sharper image but only if they can focus correctly (knowing how to use all of the focus techniques their camera offers), follow the subject if it's moving, hold the lens steady and on the subject, and have the correct shutter speed set for that particular object. It's generally more than just the lens. But great glass is really a big help once you get all the other stuff down!

marthamcc

Nikon 18-200, last version (VR II) is a good walk around lens, mine does not have creep.

Jim Bob

Man, you crack me up.