Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
by Nikon
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: NikonModel: 2156
Product features:
- Ultra-compact 3x zoom lens made exclusively for use with Nikon Digital SLR models
- 55-200mm focal length
- f4-5.6 maximum aperture
- Super Integrated Coating minimizes ghosting and flare
- Silent Wave Motor
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
Customer Review: Great little lens.
Summary: 5 Stars
I borrowed this lens from my sister and used it on my D300 for about a week. I am an advanced amateur photographer that shoots strictly for enjoyment-no $$$ in it for me. With a few nice lenses-85mm 1.4D, 300 f/4 EDIF-AF, 60 2.8D macro, and Sigma 150 2.8 macro-I have experience with quality glass.
With the introduction of the 55-200 VR, this lens has lost much popularity. You can probably find a good deal on a used one now. If you can do without VR and want a good telephoto zoom on a tight budget, this will fit the bill.
The performance of the 55-200 impressed me. As far as sharpness is concerned, it is sharp even at wide open aperture. At 200mm and f/5.6, it can just about hang with the big boys(most zooms perform weakest at longest focal length and widest f stop). Contrast was not quite as good as pro lenses, but I'm splitting hairs. And nowdays, you can adjust contrast in editing software or in the camera, so it's not really an issue. I can't speak for chromatic abberation performance because the D300 automatically corrects for it.
About vignetting, or dark corners, yes it's there at wide open aperture at various focal lengths. The real question is-is it bad? If shooting a white wall, yes it's bad. In the real world-it's not bad. In many shots I took it's not even noticeable. In the sky is included in the image the 2 upper corners with the sky will reveal it. But it's such an easy fix in editing software. To give an example, see my photos posted here at this review. They're birds and squirrels with the caption "shot at 200mm f/5.6 Arthur Storey Park Houston, TX". I don't see any dark corners and they were not corrected for it.
Autofocus speed-yes it's a bit slow. That's a common complaint with this lens. If you're serious about shooting action and motorsports, you'd probably be better off with a different lens. But for most situations, it's adequate. And manual focus is a bit difficult thanks to a wafer thin focus ring. But it's not as bad as I thought when I first saw the lens. The 55-200 is an AF-S lens. That means it has a silent wave focus motor built into the lens(and yes it's autofocus compatible with the D40, D40x, and D60). But one gripe is you can't manually override focus by grabbing the ring and turning. On almost all the other Nikkor AF-S lenses, you can do that. But with the 55-200, you have to flip a switch on the lens to get to manual focus.
It's a bit cheap when it comes to build quality. With lots of rugged use, it probably wouldn't last too long. But for the casual photographer is should be fine for years to come. It's one of the few lenses with a plastic mount instead of metal. If you change lenses alot like I do, the mount may wear down over time. But it looks like there's just 3 screws holding it in place-probably easy to swap out.
The lens grows considerably when zoomed in to 200mm. But at 55mm, it is very compact and does not take up much space at all in the camera bag. It's super light weight. It balances better on the smaller camera bodies like the D40 or D60. On a D300, the setup is a little "back" heavy. It has a 52mm filter thread. That used to be a very common Nikon lens size, so if you have filters from the old days, they may fit. And 52mm filters are inexpensive and widely available.
Some say the slow max aperture makes it hard to throw backgrounds out of focus. Just get creative. The longer the focal length, the less depth of field. So instead of taking a portrait at 55 or 70mm, take a few steps back and zoom to 135 or 200. Of course you may not be able to do this indoors in a small room, but outdoors it has potential to get creative images. And be sure the background is far behind your subject to blur it even more. And speaking of out of focus areas, the bokeh of this lens is decent. Not the smoothest, but it's not "choppy" either. Yes the slow max aperture limits you in handheld low light photography with out flash. But these days, camera bodies give good results at high ISOs. In the film days, if you had a 5.6 lens and some 400 or 800 "fast" film, you were very limited. Also if you do alot of low light shooting you need to invest in some glass that's better suited for it.
Ok to sum this up, the lens has it's drawbacks, but great images can be had with it-your skills have alot to do with it. In some reviews, this lens gets bashed-don't let that scare you away from it. Were they expecting 70-200 2.8 VR performance for 1/8 of the cost??? At this price point, it's one heck of a value! I just ordered the 70-300 VR lens. But if I didn't need 300mm so much I would have considered the VR version of this lens-much smaller and alot less $$$ than the 70-300.
Description of Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom LensAccessories
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