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

Review Date
December 9, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
vespa55 , Intermediate

Price Paid
$200.00 at Best Buy

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
This is a SLOW lens. In fact, I have had many desirable shots taken with this 'affordable' zoom lens. With a tripod or a really steady aim, the shots taken with this lens can be good. But indoor photography is where I struggled to get great shots out of this lens. I figured that this would be a good compliment to my 18-70mm lens and I have to say that this lens did not work too well with me and/or my shooting style. I'll just wait for the 70-300mm Nikkor with VR. Again, with this budget zoom lens (55-200mm), you get what you pay for.

Strengths
Image quality is great around the 75mm-100mm focal length. Anything beyond 100mm seems to degrade the image quality.

Weaknesses
Lack of VR but then again, you get what you pay for. Slow lens

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Review Date
October 11, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.50 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Camundongo , Intermediate

Price Paid
$0.00

Photography Experience
2-5 years , People

Summary
It's a great lens, much better than more expensive models.

Strengths
very sharp lens,
excellent bokeh,
great color rendition,
nice contrast
fast and quiet focusing
front element does not rotate (using polarizers is possible)
does not extend when focusing
1:3 macro

Weaknesses
plastic mount
extends when zooming in

Similar Products Used
Nikkor 70-300 ED

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Review Date
April 30, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.43 of 5, 7 votes

Reviewed by
Jerry Liao , Intermediate

Price Paid
$0.00 at Beach Camera

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
Purchased this lens as kit one with my D50 couple of months ago. I also bought other Nikon lens, including AF80-200/2.8D and AF105/2.8D micro. For macro photos, I use this 55-200 more frequently, though It is low end zoom. This' plasticky, and it feels not as heavy as my other pro lens. But it's lighter, easy to carry arround, and it focuses faster. And more of that, it's sharp! Photos may speak louder than words. You can see the Tulip pictures I took last week, and also bird shots in the site below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryliao

Strengths
Sharpness
Quick focusing
Ideal zoom range

Weaknesses
all made of plastics. Not a big issue for a D50 owner,I don't have D2, and D50 is in the same matching class.

Similar Products Used
Nikkor AF28-80;
Nikkor AF-S DX 55-200/4-5.6G;
Nikkor AF80-200/2.8D;
Nikkor AF105/2.8D;
Nikkor AF50/1.4D

Customer Service
N/A

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Review Date
December 23, 2005

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 22 votes

Reviewed by
lightlin , Professional

Price Paid
$850.00 at Online

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
Hi,

I'm taking off for some extended travel and thought I'd delve into the Nikon D50 package because it's so light weight and I wouldn't have to worry about film.

I did an exposure test on this lens with an evenly lit (.1 stop variation) test grid. Basically just black lines on a white background. The lens is absolutely horrible! There's a huge hot spot in the center of the lens with fall off towards the outside and the corners. At the same time I tested the 18-55 that came with the D50 package and also tested two other old lenses - a 300 Nikkor-H and a Nikkor 35-105. Every one did great except the 55-200. I contacted Nikon support because I thought I received a lemon but the tech support came back, after I sent him some jpegs, and told me that he did some tests with theirs and it looks basically the same!

I just received an email back from him stating:

(Quote) Dear Robert,

Through the testing that I have done with the exception of the distortion the exposure appears to be normal. The audience the lens is intended for is for entry level amateur photographers that are just starting in photography and cannot afford or are not sure they want to invest in higher quality Nikkor lenses. And with the use of the lens an entry level amateur would not need the uniform exposure of the lens. The only thing that we can do to correct the distortion is to service the lens. I apologize for the inconvenience. (End Quote)


"would not need the uniform exposure of the lens."!!!!!

Yikes!

Strengths
Lightweight

Weaknesses
Poor image exposure!

Customer Service
Nikon Customer service admitted : "Dear Robert, Through the testing that I have done with the exception of the distortion the exposure appears to be normal. The audience the lens is intended for is for entry level amateur photographers that are just starting in photography and cannot afford or are not sure they want to invest in higher quality Nikkor lenses. And with the use of the lens an entry level amateur would not need the uniform exposure of the lens. The only thing that we can do to correct the distortion is to service the lens. I apologize for the inconvenience." Yikes!

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