I see this Nikon Zoom Normal-Telephoto 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S VR for $249 at B&H and others, but at that price its almost bound to be a piece of junk. I can't find any reviews. Anybody know anything about this guy?
tgieske wrote:
I see this Nikon Zoom Normal-Telephoto 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S VR for $249 at B&H and others, but at that price its almost bound to be a piece of junk.
Not a problem. Just ask B&H to ship it directly to the junkyard. Saves you time as well as money.
More seriously: I don't own the lens, but those who do seem to be very happy with it. For the price, it's unbeatable. Plastic lens mount though, so it may not be up to your professional standards.
I have to tell you....although you'll likely take it with a grain of salt.....I've owned a 70-200 f2.8 L with a Canon setup that as sharp and even as it was throughout the entire image was NOT any sharper nor accurate than this little wonder. I must say if you can buy if for the price you listed you are NUTS not to order it TODAY! There is NO way you won't love it.....and I don't say about about a lot of gear. But with a recent purchase of a D40x for my travel cam. I added one of those to the kit lens (18-55) which has also amazed me. I've not owned lenses that are this sharp at all corners like these two are. I almost can't believe it. I hope for everyone else's sake mine are not a fluke. I don't think they are. But you simply MUST try one.......I think you will also be amazed how they perform........
At that price another option is the used 70-210 F4-5.6, supposed to be sharp. However, the plastic version has 3 stop VR and hopefully the front ring will not spin. I am looking at these as well for a mid range zoom that is sharp,low cost, and not super large.
I remember the late Galen Rowell packing a plastic 80-200 f4-5.6 lens for his mountain hikes. I know of many professionals using the plastic 50mm f1.8.
I know how good on image quality the old 18-55 and 55-200 have been. I have heard good reports on the new VR lens but I cannot make comments on a lens I have not used.
If these lenses are not for professional use they should hold very well. After all, they are not professional lenses. Image quality is more than acceptable; after all we do not enlarge each and every one of our files to 20x30.
If you are interested in the lens you will have to try it yourself. There are not many reports available yet on their quality. In my opinion, I believe you could be happy with it especially because of the VR feature. If optically it is as good as the previous model, it should become very popular.
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.
I purchased one of these a few weeks ago and I think it works great. A good bang for the buck. My wifes 18-135? broke (again) and so I gave her my 18-200vr and I got the 55-200vr as a short term solution. I do like that it is light and doesn't creep & I recognize that if not careful the plastic might fail, but the quality is good!
