Nikon 55-200 mm F/4 5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR SLR Camera Lens w/ Vibration Reduction

...

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

Nikon 55-200 mm F/4 5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR SLR Camera Lens w/ Vibration Reduction

...

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!

Nikon 55-200 mm F/4 5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR SLR Camera Lens w/ Vibration Reduction

...

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!