Nikon Nikkor 55-300mm VR lens soft towards 300mm?

I just bought this lens and noticing that when I'm focused out to 300mm, the photos aren't sharp.  Is this a problem with this lens, or do I need align/adjust this lens?  


I'm using it on a D7000 body

This is true. I owned my 55-300mm VR lens for a year and a half and anything past 200mm is going to be slightly softer. I recently sold my 55-300mm for the 70-300mm. It still faces the issue, except it is not as pronounced. 

I suggest just not going to 300m and trying to go as far as 250-275mm length. It should cut down a little bit of the softness. Also check to make sure that your exposure is acceptable for that focal length. Even with the VR you'll want to shoot with 1/300+ SS in order to try to do everything you can to keep that photo as sharp as possible. 

+1

Lila Gelmann wrote: I just bought this lens and noticing that when I'm focused out to 300mm, the photos aren't sharp.  Is this a problem with this lens, or do I need align/adjust this lens?

It's a kit-type lens. You'll want to set your expectations accordingly.

Majority of the long teles suffer from this softness. It's best to back off full zoom just a wee bit. I almost always back my 80-400 off to about 375 and it seems to be sharper.

Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Joves wrote: Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Well, that explains why I had some trouble getting some shots of the moon tonight. The best shots I got were at f/5.6 at 200mm.

I need one of those Tamrons....

garyrhook wrote:

Joves wrote: Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Well, that explains why I had some trouble getting some shots of the moon tonight. The best shots I got were at f/5.6 at 200mm.

I need one of those Tamrons....

Or maybe a 300 f/4...Sharp as a tack at 300mm.....

effron wrote:

garyrhook wrote:

Joves wrote: Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Well, that explains why I had some trouble getting some shots of the moon tonight. The best shots I got were at f/5.6 at 200mm.

I need one of those Tamrons....

Or maybe a 300 f/4...Sharp as a tack at 300mm.....

I will, of course, have to do my homework thoroughly, but if that was adequate I'd get a TC and use it on what I've got.

I really want something much longer than that.

garyrhook wrote:

effron wrote:

garyrhook wrote:

Joves wrote: Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Well, that explains why I had some trouble getting some shots of the moon tonight. The best shots I got were at f/5.6 at 200mm.

I need one of those Tamrons....

Or maybe a 300 f/4...Sharp as a tack at 300mm.....

I will, of course, have to do my homework thoroughly, but if that was adequate I'd get a TC and use it on what I've got.

I really want something much longer than that.

I often use a TC 1.7 with mine, and with proper technique (tripod a must) and light (speedlight and flash extender helpful) it works pretty well. Effective 500mm, the poor man's super telephoto....

effron wrote:

garyrhook wrote:

effron wrote:

garyrhook wrote:

Joves wrote: Also what f-stops are you using? If you are wide open, and long, then they will be soft every time. With the 80-400 I find that shooting over f/8 sharpens up the images quite well. With the majority of variable f-stop lenses wide open sucks, unless you are looking for soft images. This has always been the case for the most part.

Well, that explains why I had some trouble getting some shots of the moon tonight. The best shots I got were at f/5.6 at 200mm.

I need one of those Tamrons....

Or maybe a 300 f/4...Sharp as a tack at 300mm.....

I will, of course, have to do my homework thoroughly, but if that was adequate I'd get a TC and use it on what I've got.

I really want something much longer than that.

I often use a TC 1.7 with mine, and with proper technique (tripod a must) and light (speedlight and flash extender helpful) it works pretty well. Effective 500mm, the poor man's super telephoto....

and a very nice macro lens with tubes.