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

Great piece of equipment, the 200mm is just what we needed for close up shots at the speedway, while being a safe distance away I would give the lens 5 stars but i was a touch un-impressed with amazon's speed of delivery for a product of this much quality and cost.

rock
mullinville ks

I love this lens so much that I just keep it on my Nikon D40 all of the time.

I have some very fast professional zoom lenses that may edge this out a bit, but even the smallest outweighs this versatile piece of equipment. When I want to travel light and don't need to stop a lot of action, but keep a steady camera, hand-held or on a monopod, this is a great alternative. Because it is relatively slow, it doesn't stop motion any better than a similar non-VR lens. The advantage is in terms of camera shake.

For that, I love this lens! When I purchased my D80, I also purchased the 18-135 zoom, which is the least reliable Nikon lens I've ever used, and I have used many. It has a raft of issues, which the 55-200 totally eclipses. The lens is sharp, nicely contrasty at all apertures. I haven't discerned any noticeable vignetting and some of my results, taking hand-held shots at the zoo have been spectacular!

I, being a photographer who wants everything possible at once, wish it were a bit faster. In low light, there are some focusing issues and I've had to manually focus many times. With a polarizer, it is far less frustrating to manually focus at all times.

I've played with it at the zoo and in an historic cemetery. I will be putting it to professional use the Summer, as I backpack in the mountains. This lens will lighten my load and hopefully eliminate the need to carry really heavy equipment in order to obtain high quality results.

I purchased a Coolpix 8800 a few years ago, and while it is flawed in some ways, the VR feature impressed me. I can guarantee that although other VR lenses are more expensive, I will be purchasing only that technology in the future.

My next DLR will be a D300, which offers a few more features, including a self-cleaning CCD over the D80. However, if you want a wonderful pro-sumer combination, buy a D80, vertical base, the 55-200 lens and a better short-range zoom than the 18-135 and you will have tools to take on almost any situation! Nikon outdid itself with quality and value with this lens!

The perfect complement to the 18-55mm kit lens that comes with the D40 etc--for those on a budget. I find myself swapping between the two lenses more than I expected, and so would much rather have the single 18-200mm VR lens; but for $400 less, this pair works great!

Great quality lens that fill my needs for a reasonably priced zoom lens and the VR is just an extra goody. The only thing I don't like is the fact I have to change lens to get closeup shots. Overall a great lens.