Nikon 55-200mm vr any good?

StuartH

StuartH

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A friend of ours son is just getting into digital photography and is on a budget.He has a d5000 and 18-55mm kit lens at the mo but wants more reach.I suggested the 55-200mm having read good things about it and also its bargain price.Any other suggestions for him please or any input from folks that use the nikon 55-200mm vr appreciated.:cool:
 
Yeah its a very good choice and can be picked up for under £150 new. I think i paid £130 for mine in July on ebay. I wasn't particularly happy with my copy and returned it.
 
Yeah amazon have it at 144 new...what was up with your copy mate?..
 
No i meant amazon not ebay. I doubt if was anything wrong i was probably unfairly comparing it to my tamron 17-50 i guess. I bought it instead of the 70-300mm for its compactness and weight more than the money as i didn't want to weigh down my bag with a lens that will not be used a lot. Perhaps i should give it another go.
 
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Yeah I know you meant ebay just saying amazon do it sub £150 as well.:)
Well he only has 18-55 so sure he would be thrilled with the extra reach:cool:
 
StuartH said:
Yeah I know you meant ebay just saying amazon do it sub £150 as well.:)
Well he only has 18-55 so sure he would be thrilled with the extra reach:cool:
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No i meant Amazon as i bought it on amazon i made a mistake when i said ebay!:lol:

Yeah i'm sure he will be perfectly happy.
 
I have the 55-200 VR and I think it`s pretty good for the money, here`s one taken at Scarborough bearing in mind it`s hard up against the 200mm end (ie not the best place to be )and it`s still a bit of a crop. But it`s not too bad for general purpose and the VR works quite well. Just remember that manual focus is as much as a nightmare as on the 18-55.


Jet Ski 1 by Stiggyboy, on Flickr

To be very honest I think I still prefer the pics from the 18-55 although it`s a close run thing.
I think there`s one that goes to 300mm now but I don`t know how much it is and I`ve never tried it, but it might be worth looking at.
 
I have a 55-200 and cannot fault it. I am very happy with the results.
 
I think there`s one that goes to 300mm now but I don`t know how much it is and I`ve never tried it, but it might be worth looking at.
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Its the 55-300 4.5-5.6 VR, I have one and its actually rather good. I used it at a wedding recently on my D200 which I had in the Bag as a back up camera and used it for some grab shots and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw them.

Here's a jpg at iso200 200mm focal length straight from the camera (exif intact) Not too shabby I think you will agree.

 
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Gazamonk said:
Its the 55-300 4.5-5.6 VR, I have one and its actually rather good. I used it at a wedding recently on my D200 which I had in the Bag as a back up camera and used it for some grab shots and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw them.

Here's a jpg at iso200 200mm focal length straight from the camera (exif intact) Not too shabby I think you will agree.

Click to expand...



No this is a lot sharper than mine was wide open at 200mm. I also run tests on the VR on and of and saw no noticeable difference until i got down to 1/50 and i would never shoot that slow anyway so was a little worried it wasn't working to well.
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Thanks for the replies..I have also sent couple of links to flickr groups.TBH I am quite surprised myself at some of the pics this lens produces for the money.
 
Excellent lens. The VR can be a little noisy but don't let that put you off. Build is ok, IQ is excellent for price.
 
Seems ideal tbh and not much else in his budget thats better by looks of things.
 
I used to have it on a trusty old D60 and sold quite a lot I shots (show jumping).
 
Feel free to post up any samples on here as I have also sent him a link to this thread,;)
 
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