thoughts and opnions on this lense? I need something with more zoom. I had a hard time zooming in for great pics at the Zoo this past weekend. Im no professional, just looking for a step up over the stock 18-55 lense. I have a D40 FYI
The Nikkor 55-200 VR AF-S is a great lens for the price. If you want to step it up from the 18-55, its what you would get.
The only practical choices you have with a D40 that will autofocus would be the 55-200 AF-S, and the 55-200 VR AF-S… The VR barely costs more, and does indeed help stabilize things quite a bit.
Go for it.
nice. christmas is coming!
I have it, it’s a great lens. VR is nice, but it’s still no substitute for a tripod in low light. They have it in a factory refurbished deal right now on Adorama for 149… That’s what I got mine for too. If you’re waiting until Christmas time, Nikon just announced a 55-300 VR for the DX format. I think they said that it’ll run 499 though. If you need the extra zoom -probably overkill for zoo photos, but great for nature photography- it might be a good option but nobody has actually reviewed it yet so we don’t know what kind of downsides it has (the 55-200 is pretty good optically). Big name lenses (Nikon, Canon, etc) are good investments, they will hold their value for a long time.
I’ve got the 55-200 VR for my D40 and love it.
To give you an idea what 200mm gets you, this is a shot at 200mm at the polar bear exhibit. Since you were just there you should know the distances involved.
There are definitely times when I wished I had more than 200mm but the next 100mm of zoom gets pretty expensive, plus at the time I bought it was 70-300 and 70 is too close for a lot of stuff. At least with the 55-200 if I want to go from shooting the animals to grabbing a picture of my daughter looking at them I can do it by backing up a little bit and not having to switch lenses. That upcoming 55-300 will be something I’ll probably check out.
I did a bit of googling, but I want to be sure this will auto focus with the D60 before I buy. Is this the right one?
^ Yep, that’s the exact one I have.
The only downfall of if is the f/4-5.6G. It’s not real good in low light even with VR.
Its a great lens for how cheap it is. Any hot glass in that kind of focal length is going to cost many, many time more than $150…
So long as it says AF-S, youre good to go on a D40/60.
Thanks Jay. Thats exactly what I needed to see. I didnt take a pick of the polar bears(wife did) but I know at a max of 55mm, its not where as close as yours. A older guy was there at the same time we were with a older canon. No BS, his lense looked like it was a good 10-12 inches long. Thanks everyone for the comments. Im going to pull the trigger on it.