Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
by Nikon
|
List Price: Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $168.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
Customer Review: 4.5 Stars, Really: Nice Lens, but...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a reasonably nice lens for the price, and I've gotten some fantastic pictures using it. Some people don't like the "plastic" feel of the lens, but I appreciate the fact that it is so light.
Pros:
-55-200mm is a nice zoom range
-VR is great when it works, and can do wonders with panning
-light weight (light enough to carry around all day as a tourist)
-fairly short, compared to older lenses of this focal length
-lens hood is included
Cons:
-I find the VR sometimes takes time to "lock" onto the image- if it isn't ready, the image will "stutter"
-"plastic feel" if you care about such things
I'd just like to mention that I really like VR: it works most of the time without a problem, and the effect on moving objects when panning is stunning. It's just that once in a while, low contrast or less distinct targets seem to confuse it.
Customer Review: Don't ever want to remove this lens to go back to 18-55
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this lens on my Nikon D40. Truth be told, I wasn't too thrilled with the basic kit that only came with the 18-55 lens. I'd been using my Canon SI3 as my preferred camera for sporting events, travel, and school activities.
I'd had my eye on this lens for a while but just couldn't justify the price until I found a reasonably priced refurbished lens. The icing on the cake for me is that I get incredible compositions with a very modest investment (my lens was half the retail price of a new one at Circuit City). I couldn't be more pleased.
Low lighting and shadows do limit some shots that include action or rapid movement. On the other hand, most lenses and cameras have this limitation. But if your subject is relatively still, you'll have no problem letting in more light at a slower shutter speed to get great photos.
Like any lens, your best shots will be in good daylight or strong indoor lighting. You won't be disappointed.
Because it's a zoom lens, you won't be able to stand too close to your subject. One of the downsides of 55 mm. But I compensate for this by just waiting until my subject is at least 4 feet away so that I can get the best focusing opportunity.
If you take advantage of the fast shutter technology from your camera, you'll greatly appreciate the wonderful results and impressive boket that makes your work look like a trained professional. Nothing takes your breath away more than a photo of your child who is in crisp focus while the background blurs in the distance. It's one of the best features of digital photography that you can simply delete out photos and only keep the very best ones.
You may find that changing to 800 ISO and activating the noise reduction feature in the D40 gives you just what you need - fast shutter speeds that stop the action without degrading the photo.
While it will add some size to your camera, the light weight allows you to hold the kit for as long as you want without wearing you out.
To take advantage of this lens to its fullest, I recommend using a high resolution (quality set to Fine, size set to Large). Avoid throwing out shots via the camera delete function when in playback. Instead - wait until you can download all the photos to your computer and look around for interesting sections of your composition. Then use your photo editing software to crop and keep the unexpected gems you may have missed while trying to make decisions on the viewfinder.
I found interesting facial expressions or live action scenes that would have been deleted. For example, while aiming at a fountain, a small bird was in mid flight with wings extended off center. I just cropped so that the bird was centered in the resulting output and it looks like I had aimed at him all along. Thanks to the high resolution setting, I still had enough pixels available for a good looking printed photo.
This is a very cool, must have accessory for your Nikon. Whether you buy new or refurbished, you won't regret your decision once you've mounted it onto your camera
Customer Review: Good performance... But question yourself first.
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this lens to complement the kit lens (18-55mm) that came with my Nikon D40. After about a month of using this lens, my fondness for it has depleted... let me explain:
The performance of this lens is quite surprising for its low cost. It's relatively sharp, and the colors are quite good. Obviously (since this is a cheap lens) the body of this lens is not rugged and up to pro standards, but average amateur photographers will probably not be disappointed by it. It is sturdier than the 18-55mm kit lens, but not A LOT sturdier. The bokeh (out-of-focus area rendering) that this lens produces is well controlled. It's un-distracting and smooth, but not "stunning."
At this point, you're probably thinking to yourself that this seems like a great lens for the price. It is... However, after only about a month of use, I have returned this lens, and bought the 70-200mm VR f/2.8 Nikkor. Why? Because I realized quite quickly that this lens (the 55-200mm VR) does not allow me to get many of the shots that I desire. The biggest issue with this lens is that the focus is very slow, and it tends to hunt a lot (meaning that it doesn't always get the focus on the first try). The other issue that *I HAVE* with this lens is its aperture. With a maximum aperture of f/5.6 at 200mm, it is quite difficult to get good shots on cloudy days, or indoors. This is the reason for the title of this review ("question yourself first").
Who are you as a photographer? Can you afford to take your time with 99% of your shots? Is most your photography of still life? Do you just want a lens that gives you more range, and don't care about the other details? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this lens might be the one for you. As I stated earlier, the performance is quite good for the price, and I personally have no major concerns with the optical quality.
If you answered "no" to the above questions, I advise you to reconsider your options before purchasing this lens. Do you need fast shutter speeds, fast focus, and the best of the best build quality for your photography? Then you may want to look into the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens instead.
Unfortunately, I didn't ask myself those questions before I made my purchase, and I was stuck with a lens that didn't satisfy the job. I missed too many shots due to slow focusing and slow shutter speeds, and that's why I bought the 70-200.
Now, the f/5.6 (versus f/2.8) aperture of this lens is a known limitation, so that is NOT why I gave it 4 stars out of 5. I gave it 4 stars because of the slow focusing, and usefulness (or lack thereof) of the VR (vibration reduction) system. So how about a direct comparison of this lens vs. the 70-200mm? Sure!
55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR AF-S Nikkor:
- Good optics. Good colors. Fair bokeh.
- Maximum f/5.6 aperture at 200mm (slow shutter speeds in poor light)
- Slow, slow, slow focus.. You'd expect better from an AF-S lens
- Not very useful VR system (it does sort-of work, and you will see it working, but it's not revolutionary)
- Average build quality. Roughly equivalent to the 18-55mm kit lens.
- Minimum Focus Distance: 3.6 ft. (1.1m).
- Price: approximately $200
70-200mm f/2.8 VR AF-S Nikkor:
- Extremely good optics. Beautiful colors. Beautiful bokeh.
- Maximum constant f/2.8 aperture through the zoom range (relatively usable shutter speeds in poor light)
- Insanely fast focus
- Excellent VR system. This lens is much, much heavier than the 55-200mm lens, yet I see LESS camera shake when using this one, because the VR system is much better.
- Amazing build quality. Solid as a rock, and heavy as a brick! (or maybe a few bricks...)
- Minimum Focus Distance: 5 ft. (1.5m). This is the only thing that I dislike about this lens.... I can't get as close to my subject as I can with the 55-200mm lens.
- Price: approximately $1650 (from a reputable dealer like B&H)
Concluding thoughts: Obviously, you get much greater quality, for a much higher price. Analyze yourself and decide if the extra quality is worth the high price for your photography. If you shoot action, or you just shoot everything (like me) the 70-200mm lens might be worth it (for me, it is). If you don't need lightning fast performance for your photography, then the 55-200mm lens should have sufficient quality to meet the majority of your needs.
I hope that this review has aided you in making a purchasing decision. If I was a foolish reviewer, I would have given this lens a rating of 1 out of 5 stars, because it's virtually useless to me now. However, I gave it a rating of 4 stars because that is what I feel it's worth in terms of the price to performance ratio (for an average shooter).
Good luck with your photography!
Customer Review: Satisfied customer
Summary: 4 Stars
The lens worked as described. I've not had the opportunity to get more use out of it yet. However, if the results as currently experienced are what I can expect, I will not be disappointed. The lens is great, the vendor honorable what more can one ask for. Customer Review: Noisy focus and VR
Summary: 4 Stars
The silent wave motor (SWM) focus system is not very silent; however, it achieves very sharp focus in good light. In dim light, the SWM struggles, and sometime does not achieve focus. Has anyone else noticed a noisy SWM in this lens, or is mine defective?
The vibration reduction (VR) system is affective. It works very well in this lens; however, it is noisy. The noise resembles a clamping sound when the VR starts at the beginning of a shot. It produces a clunk when it releases after taking a shot. The image in the viewfinder also jerks at the end of the shot, which the instructions seem to indicate is normal. Has anyone else noticed this?