The above cropped areas correspond to (from left to right top to bottom); the Nikon AF-S DX 18-135mm IF-ED Zoom, the Nikon AF-S DX 18-55mm ED II, the Nikon AF-S DX 18-70mm IF-ED, and the Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm IF-ED VR Zoom lens.

Although the difference between the four lenses is fairly subtle at this chosen focal length and aperture setting, the AF-S DX 18-135mm and AF-S DX 18-70mm seem to deliver slightly better sharpness overall.

By simply looking at regular sized prints from these sample images we found it difficult to see much difference in sharpness and quality between these lenses.

One thing to note is that the above crops are taken from a section of the image that is covered by the so called "sweet spot" area of the lens, a circular part of the image centered towards the middle within which a lens tends to deliver the best results. The gray circular area shown on the left serves as a basic illustration. Typically a lens will show its weakness (if it exists) more prominently towards the corners. We look at this area next.