Hi friends, A well regarded italian magazine published a special issue detailing MTF tests of many Nikon lenses. These tests cover many technical aspects of a lens performance. Sharpness is plotted on a graph having the sharpness factor on the Y axis (centre of frame, edge and average) in a 1-10 scale where 10 is maximum, against f-stops on the X axis. These are the average values at 200 mm f8: 80-200 f2.8 AFD New: 8.2 70-210 f4-5.6 AFD: 7.7 75-300 f4.5-5.6 AF: 7.2 80-200 f4.5-5.6 AFD: 6.8 I am not relating f8 centre/edge of frame values since they are very close to the average for all of these lenses. Take these data for what they are, but I think that the difference between the two 80-200 at the long end is significant even at f8. Hope this is interesting. Riccardo Rome Italy
