Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

The short story here is the lens can pack some great image quality, particularly for the cost and size. Small means portable... I had it in my pocket on my last shoot. Stop it down a bit and the sharpness is right there. The negatives (noisy focus, low light, etc) are easily forgiven for the short money. Add VR and it's a 5-star.

We are "new" to the DSLR world, but I have to say that this lens is amazing. Really helps with amateurs and pros with the vibration reduction side. My dad is infamous for blurry pictures. With this VR lens, he finally took GOOD pictures!

Was at a Yankee game in the upper deck and took some great pics fully zoomed of hitters. You would think I was MUCH closer.

Thinking about purchasing another VR lens to accompany this.

love the lens, much less money for quality lens than wholesale...my son-in-law bought an off brand for about the same cost...not near the quality. arrived quickly. thanks.

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.

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