Nikon 55-200mm VR lens Review

In this review, I am going to talk about the Nikon 55-200mm VR lens which I recently purchased for my D60 dSLR from Amazon.

First thing you will notice when you buy this lens, it is little bigger than the basic lens kit you get with D60 (18-55mm), however it is much powerful with whopping 11x zoom. It is a high quality and features include the image stabilization feature which is called VR (vibration Reduction) system and also has a Silent wave motor (SWM). That means a lens that suits great visuals with less noise, with less blurs for those shaky hands which comes in when you use the zoom to the full length.

The range of zoom is magnificent. It enables you to take those amazing outdoor photos. If you are interested in taking stunning pictures of valleys, mountains, rivers and almost all great outdoors this is the lens you would want to buy. And this versatile lens comes at a cheap price than the rest of the lenses. I brought it for £160; you may find the price around that range on Amazon.co.uk or similar websites.

Image quality stays almost the same even with the lens in full zoom. However a word of advise, try to keep your hands as much stable as you can. Sometimes you may get a little blurred if you don’t keep hands steady while clicking. Images at all levels are crystal clear and crisp if you keep the camera steady. J

Autofocus for the lens just makes life for amateur photographers like me so much easy. And I bet for all photographers from all walks of life, this is not an investment that you would want to miss. Be it a fast moving car, or a bird or an athlete focusing will never be a problem. And if you are not comfortable with “Manual” mode, the “Auto” mode is just what the doctor would advice for budding enthusiasts.

Only problem with it is that you have to carry two lenses now, but its not much of a hassle. The 18-200mm VR lens is also available in the market which means 2 in 1 lens, however the price is around £600 which again is too much compared to this lens.

Finally I recommend this telephoto lens highly because its feature packed with VR and SWM and Autofocus and easily interchangeable, and costs just around £160. So go for it folks.

Happy Clicking !!

My first Digital SLR camera

The entry level DSLR from Nikon, which I have, Nikon D60, is the most versatile camera I have ever had so far. Struggling with point and shoot cameras and wondering why there is red-eye, why the images are so blurred, why can’t I create those professional photos with precise exposure and clarity, had so many doubts that I thought may be I don’t have an eye for photography. But thanks to Amazon, I found a camera in my budget of below £500 and which had all the professional touch that a starter like me was looking for.

Nikon D60 has impressive 10.2 megapixel resolution, its easy to use, not too bulky to handle. With Auto and Manual mode it made my life easy with the transition from point and shoot cameras to the dSLR world. The intuitive menu systems, user friendly options, instant start up time, small and light body, it was camera that I could take anywhere with me.

D60 has been seen an upgrade from the previous D40X. With 2.5 inch LCD screen, although no live view support, is too good for viewing your photographs, editing them within the camera, changing settings of the camera through the user friendly menu.

With only 3 auto focus points, it works very well with the kind of photography I am doing, its more than enough. Untill someone wants to take high speed photography then they should look for cameras with 9 auto focus points or more as supported by the newer and high end cameras, which cost no less than £600.

With self cleaning lens, and Vibration Reduction in built the basic lens 18-55mm lens fits the bill for most of the photos for starters. However you may want to buy an additional lens of 55-200mm which costs much less than the 18-200mm which costs more than the price of the camera itself.

With entry level enthusiasts there is always a question, how much zoom the camera supports. Let me tell you zoom for dSLRs depend upon the lens you have, so with 18-55mm lens you would struggle to get zoom and would curse your luck, but no need for panic as there is a lens 55-200mm that gives almost 11x zoom which is more than sufficient for most of us. And with a VR feature, do not fear for the blurred images anymore. Whether you buy a Nikon original lens or Nikon fit lenses like Tamron, you should look for the one with VR, since as starters when we don’t have camera stands with us, vibration reduction comes in handy for the shaky hands which sometimes result in blurred images.

With an impressive ISO 1600, I have taken thousands of photographs with this little beast that astonish myself that is it all just the camera or its me who has some skills J. Images are always crisp and crystal clear in day light, and even at night when you chose to keep your hands stable, they come out to the perfection, without having to touch the settings from Auto to Manual. Just imagine how much you can do more with the manual mode, where you are allowed to control almost anything to your liking. Image formats supported as jpeg, and RAW, which are stunning as always with brand Nikon that I trust now.

It’s an idea camera for compact camera owners who want an upgrade, and an entry into dSLR photography. My suggestion would be to add a lens to the basic kit, 55-200mm VR lens, or the 18-200mm VR lens (most expensive one), or the new 55-300mm VR lens just launched last year.

With newer versions of entry level cameras like Nikon D3000 or the newer D3100 within the same budget, you have great gadgets. For people with some extra spending I would suggest to buy D80 or the newer D90 which is semi-pro cameras at great prices.

In my next post I would like to comment more on the Nikon 55-200mm VR lens that is creating magic for me with stunning photographs, visuals that I could never imagine, images that compete in professional competitions and earn you some money or that mental satisfaction you need, if you know what I mean.

All the best and Happy Clicking !!!