Excellent companion piece to 18-55mm kit lens

I bought this lens to increase the zoom power available to my Nikon D40 dSLR camera and to accompany the 18-55mm kit lens. It's a natural to want to buy this accessory as you develop more skill in photography. The lens will bring subjects, that are not easily approached, closer up. I've used it to photograph birds


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such as hummingbirds with very good results, but it will tackle other subjects and conditions with equal results(albeit, macro will require digital zoom since lens will focus only at distances beyond 3 feet).

With dSLR, you can always digitally 'zoom' but your resolution is compromised along with values that are only available with optical zoom.

The lens comes with a lens cover for front and back, a cloth lens bag and lens hood.

The lens is easily exchangeable with the Nikon D40 and should work with any Nikon camera with the CPU contacts on the body. It works with Nikon's DX formatted sensors. The biggest drawback here is the time it takes to exchange lenses and the possible(inevitable?) introduction of dust attracted to the sensor.

One of the most popular features of this lens is the Vibration Reduction.

The Nikon Nikkor 55-200mm has Vibration Reduction so you can take pictures down to 3 stops or more without requiring a tripod to steady the camera. 'Vibration Reduction' is Nikon's term for the image stabilization term other manufacturers use. In many cases, VR will allow you to take sharper pictures without a tripod as you approach 200mm. VR won't help subject motion or exposures longer than a few seconds. It can be helpful in low light situations though. VR can be turned off to save on battery power or in situation where you might not want the stabilization.

This lens doesn't have a M/A selection. That is to say, you cannot go into the Manual mode by focusing the lenses focus ring. It only has M and A selections via switch to change modes. So you either have to be set for manual or auto focus before you shoot. The distinction is that you cannot easily or quickly enter manual mode to catch the shot if you find the lens is 'hunting' in auto. This can be frustration, but with experience and knowledge of your equipment you'll avoid this problem.

The construction is plastic of course. The base where the lens makes contact with camera's body is plastic, not metal. This is a 'kit' lens and is not professional by anyone's standards. I doubt if it would stand up to a drop test very well. I bought a one year extended warranty from Ritz in just this case as they will replace/repair the lens if dropped(no questions asked). Nikon/Nikkor offers one year limited part/service, and an additional 4years if you send in the Extended Warranty card in the box.

Focusing the lens is smooth without significant 'bunching' at any point. The lens doesn't feel cheap to me, but I've never held a real professional lens or even something between the kit style lenses and professional like the 18-200mm VR.

The images taken with this lens are outstanding considering the price point. This is achieved because of the Nikkor quality glass lenses. The lens is made up of 15 elements in 11 groups. Nikon uses ED or extra low dispersion glass for one piece. ED helps with chromatic aberration or 'purple fringing.' It seems to work well because I didn't notice much, if any, with this lens. There will be barrel distortion near 55 mm, so you'll want to stay away from that end or be prepared to make a trip to Photoshop.

Image quality is just as much dependent on the camera as the lens, but the 55-200mm doesn't detract anything from what I've taken with the 18-50mm. If anything, it produce more pleasant bokeh than the 18-55mm although the quality of this effect is lost at longer lengths. Subjects with this lens are sharp enough, but as with the 18-55 you will probably have to some adjustment in the camera(or image editing software) to get those really sharp pictures.

This lens is fairly heavy and bulky compared to the kit lens(11.8oz.), but really makes the camera look professional with it attached.

I recommend this lens as a companion to the 18-55mm kit lens, if you already own it, but a better idea would be to buy a body only model like the D40x or D70 and purchase the superior 18-200mm VR.

I like to use 18-55mm more than the 55-200mm VR because I can focus closer to the subject, but the 55-200 is great for sports(not necessarily action), landscape and animals that don't allow close up work.

The 55-200 will not focus closer than 3.6 feet to subject which isn't idea for macro shooting, but the 55-200mm VR is also excellent for portraits with a nice bokeh(out of focus areas). This lens is sharp and focuses fast. I found that it rarely hunted and if it did, it was my fault because I didn't adjust the controls on the camera to adjust for the scene. Or, it may be a scene where I should use manual focus.

Note: This lens will run upwards from $200 USD and will be a bargain for that price at that. Be wary of anything less than $200.00USD because it may be the 55-200 without VR(Vibration Reduction) or grey market which Nikon won't cover under warranty. Vibration Reduction is indicated by a red VR near the base of the barrel and will have a slightly longer barrel compared to the model without VR. Buy the lens with VR because the technology will improve your photography.

Pros:
-Exceptional value
-Complements the kit lens (18-55mm) perfect
-Uses Nikon Vibration Reduction(VR) technology
-Manual(M) and Auto(A) modes
-Very good quality Nikkor lens group
-lighter than most lenses of this class

Cons:
-requires changing lens for to 18-55 for close up which is time consuming and introduces the chance of dust to sensor
-kit quality lens(not professional)Buy an extended warranty, if available
-no M/A option to override AUTO via focus ring.
- reports of slight distortion and chromatic aberration(didn't notice vignetting)

What the letters on the lens mean:

VR-Vibration Reduction built into lens(not camera) to steady shots allowing photographs to be taken 3 steps slower without traditional tripod.

DX-Proprietary format used on Nikon dSLR sensors describing the field of view. This differs from film SLR so a DX lens cannot be used on a film SLR.

A-AUTO mode for lens syncs with mode on the camera and sends information such as focus and exposure to camera's CPU, so it(the camera) can make what it choses to be the best settings.

M-Manual setting will release (unlock) the focus ring so you can focus the lens rather than let the camera 'hunt' for subject. This is preferred and necessary in some situations to 'get the shot.'

M/A-Some Nikkor lenses have this setting instead of just Manual The advantage of this lens is that the lens will go into manual mode by simply adjusting focus ring. The 55-200mm doesn't have a M/A mode

SWMSilent Wave Motor is the new type of lens developed by Nikon whereas the motor that focuses the lens is built into the lens rather the camera's body. The advantage being that the camera body is now smaller and lighter weight. Some early dSLR adopters have a problem with this design as many of their lenses lose function with camera's (i.e., D40) that use SWM.

G or GIIThese lenses(types) don't have traditional aperture ring requiring aperture to be set by camera.

AF-S-indicates a lens with the silent wave motor for fast focusing.

IF-Internal Focusing was developed by Nikon for faster focusing.

ED-Nikon's own Extra low Dispersion glass controls chromatic aberration.

If you see a II (2) next to any designation is means it's Nikon next generation upgrade to that feature(i.e., VRII or GII). Sort of light a software/ firmware update for hardware.

Note: I rated this lens above average, but on a scale of ten it would be somewhere between a 6.5-7 or a nine for the enthusiast because of image quality and value.

Additional Specifications:

Filter attachment size: 52mm