The AF-P lenses are different in this aspect, and you do not notice when they acquire proper focus compared to older lenses. All lenses are sourced from reputable photographic dealers who have taken the lens in as part-exchange for other goods and come checked and with a six-month warranty. On the other hand, I was shooting with it for two weeks in the Canary Islands and Oman (including in deserts), and I did not observe any dust/sand getting into the lens. Unfortunately the 18-55mm VR handles these situations particularly badly, especially at the telephoto end where almost half the frame can become covered with multi-coloured blotches of flare.

Focusing is very smooth, even in Live View Mode, where AF-S lenses tended to hunt back and forth before nailing the focus. Two Aspherical lens elements achieve superior optical performance, giving your photos and videos rich, vibrant colors, deep contrast, minimal distortion and beautiful soft backgrounds, even in less than ideal conditions.Vibration Reduction (VR) system: Enables more stable handheld shooting and lets you shoot at up to four stops slower. Nikon's "P" series of NIKKOR lenses use a pulse motor (utilizing stepping motors) to focus smoother and quieter than previous drive systems. Overall, this lens’s Vibration Reduction (VR) system works very well; I would judge the advantage as approximately 2 – 4 EVs thanks to VR, depending on your conditions and hand-holding technique. I've never had a problem with any of my plastic-mount lenses breaking in the ten years that I've owned them. We're as guilty as anyone of getting excited about shiny new gear and features, but let's not lose sight of the gear we already have by our side.

This retractable lens is for use exclusively with DX format Nikon digital SLR cameras; SLR film cameras and D3-series, D2-series, D1-series, D700, D300-series, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70-series, D60, D50, D40-series, D7000, D5100, D5000, D3200, D3100, D3000 digital SLR cameras are not supported.Shots considered 'sharp' have no visible blur at the pixel level, and are therefore suitable for viewing or printing at the largest sizes, whereas files with 'mild blur' are only slightly soft, and perfectly usable for all but the most critical applications. I have tested this lens on Nikon DSLR bodies D5300, D7100, Nikon 1 J5 (paired with FT-1 adapter), and D750 – all worked great, except that with D7100 and D750, I was not able to switch off the VR function (see more below). In low-light situations, VR lets the camera use a slower shutter speed* to capture sharp photos—without blur. The lens is just 76 mm long when extended and in use and boasts a retractable lens mechanism that makes it a mere 59. It is the only basic zoom with a constant (and fast) aperture – so this lens might be very appealing to sport/action photographers.

Similarly to the 10-20mm wide-angle version, the lens barrel is shortest in the middle of the zoom range, at about 30mm focal length marker. When the camera is in manual focus mode, focus can be adjusted by rotating the lens focus ring ( 0 Manual Focus). This makes it possible to seamlessly switch to fine manual focusing while looking through the viewfinder. The optical design features 11 elements in eight groups, and an aspherical lens element minimises spherical aberration and other forms of distortion while ensuring high resolution and contrast. In this review, I will explore the performance characteristics of the latest 18-55mm AF-P VR version in detail and compare it to both older iterations of 18-55mm AF-S VR II and other Nikon lenses, such as the Nikon 18-140mm VR.Nikkor 18-55mm AF-P is decently sharp wide open (with a tad softer corner) to very sharp when stopped down to f/8 – f/11 (with adequately sharp corners). Both of these have so little to no corner color fringing that you have to shoot white lawn furniture to see it, and then only on an older camera at the 18mm end. A button on the zoom ring releases the lens along with rotating the zoom ring and the process is reversed to fold it back in. Duologi is a trading name of Specialist Lending Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (register number 774712 ). By "sharp shots" I mean perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness when viewed at 100%, as shot on a D300 by me.