In terms of features, the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II is a bit of a mixed bag. One one hand, it has Vibration Reduction on board – hence the VR abbreviation in the product name –; on the other, it isn't as sophisticated as on some other Nikon lenses. There's an on-off switch on the lens barrel, but there's no choice between active and normal modes. Likewise, the lens has a built-in auto-focus motor that allows AF operation on every Nikon DX camera body, including entry-level offerings like the D3300 or D5200, but – unlike with most other AF-S lenses – focusing is not internal, although manual focusing is possible even when the focus mode selector is set to the 'A' position. The lens has no distance scale and no focus limiter, either. Typically with lenses covering this range, the performance is very good at shorter focal lengths tailing off as the lens is zoomed in. In the case of Nikon's 55-300mm, at 55mm the sharpness in the centre is already excellent from maximum aperture, with the resolution towards the edges of the frame catching up by f/8, which is where the lens gives its peak performance for this focal length. While the 28-300mm works well on both full-frame and cropped sensor cameras, its 28mm focal length is too long for general use on cropped sensor cameras (with an equivalent focal length of 42mm). Therefore, a redesigned version of the lens with a wider field of view makes the 18-300mm VR a more attractive superzoom option for DX users. Again, the sharpness is pretty good overall, but we are already seeing some loss of sharpness at the largest aperture and f/5.6. Stopping down the lens to f/8.0 and f/11.0 produces the best results. Sharpness Test – Nikon 55-300mm @ 105mm Corner Frame

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX AF-S Nikkor Specifications Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX AF-S Nikkor Specifications

This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G DX ED VR lens that was released in June of 2012 along with the Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR lens. Thanks to the popular demand of the 18-200mm and the full-frame Nikon 28-300mm VR lenses, Nikon decided to add another superzoom to the DX line. The Nikkor 300mm f/4E PF ED VR is physically just like the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR, earning it “world’s lightest 300mm full-frame lens” title. Nikon was able to achieve this by using a Phase Fresnel (PF) lens element, which can effectively reduce the need to use complex lens elements for correcting chromatic aberrations and ghosting. Basically, the use of a Phase Fresnel lens element is what allowed Nikon to significantly reduce both the size and weight of the lens.

The Nikon 300mm f/4D comes with a very poorly-made tripod collar and that’s the biggest weakness of this lens. If you are planning to mount this lens on a tripod, I would highly recommend to replace the original lens collar with a more stable version from either Kirk or Really Right Stuff. I have the Kirk collar and it does a much better job in keeping the lens stable, compared to the original Nikon version. The Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II lens has a very narrow focus ring located in front of the – much wider – zoom ring. There are hard stops at both ends of the range, making it easy to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should take note that the 52mm filter thread rotates on focus.

Used Nikon Lenses | Second Hand Nikon Lenses | CameraWorld Used Nikon Lenses | Second Hand Nikon Lenses | CameraWorld

My 2.0x Kenko TC works on both cameras, but it doesn't autofocus, and holding steady enough to get really sharp images at these very long net focal lengths is difficult. I don't use a tripod, but that might help here. As usual with that particular TC, there is definite image degradation over the sharp 1.4x TCIf corner shading is an issue at all, it's when the lens is used at its widest apertures, and then, at 100mm or longer; even then, we note corners that are only 1/3 EV darker than the center. Stopped down, corner shading is negligible. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. Weighing in at approximately 300 grams, the AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200mm f4.5-5.6G is very lightweight for a 3.6x telezoom lens, and as seen in the photos below, complements a smaller DSLR like the Nikon D3300 well. The focus ring feels like a bit of an afterthought, a ribbed rubber ring a quarter-inch wide. The ring offers ninety degrees of focus travel, with hard stops on either end of the spectrum. It's worth noting that there's some slight lens extension during autofocus, with the lens barrel protruding an additional 3/4 inch at 300mm. It's not impossible to achieve accurate manual focus, but it's definitely harder than it needs to be. Clearly, this is a lens that's not intended for anything but autofocusing. That said, autofocus, while dependent on the body, is very accurate.

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Review - Optical Features Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Review - Optical Features

I also tried the lens on my D610 in DX mode. It works perfectly with and without the 1.4x Kenko TC, which also autofocuses perfectly, as it does on the D7100. That surprised me. I knew it would autofocus on the D7100 with the TC, but didn't expect almost identical results with the D610 in DX mode. This suggests, to me, that the lens produces images with excellent contrast across the frame. There are no distance markings on the lens and the focusing ring is also very narrow and awkward to reach, on account of it being so far forward. There is a positive side to this, however, in that fingers are kept clear of the ring in AF mode.The filter thread stayed the same at 77mm, which is great news for those who already own 77mm filters, or want to move up to this lens from the “D” version. The lens mount features a rubber gasket to minimize dust and debris from making it into the camera chamber. The single ring on the lens is made out of plastic and has a rubber layer on top of it for a better grip. The ring has the same smooth feel as on other modern AF-S lenses, allowing one to move past infinity or closest focus point with slightly more resistance. There are three switches on the side of the lens. The first switch is used for moving between Auto / Manual (A/M), Manual / Auto (M/A) and Manual (M) focusing operation. I’m surprised to see how well the lens does at 105mm – all corners look pretty sharp with no difference between the crops. Sharpness Test – Nikon 55-300mm @ 200mm Center Frame A large rubberised zoom ring fills just under half of the outside of the lens, giving plenty of space for a comfortable zoom action. Unfortunately the lens does not focus internally, extending by a couple of centimetres at close distances. The focus ring also rotates during autofocus, and although it is recessed I caught my fingers on it a couple of times during use, so care needs to be taken to ensure fingers aren't snagged during focusing. The quality of bokeh this lens produces is pretty good. It is not as good as what the Nikon 70-300mm VR and other exotic lenses such as the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G can do, but still quite pleasing for a lens like this. Here is a bokeh comparison between the Nikon 55-300 and 28-300: Nikon 55-300mm vs Nikon 28-300mm Bokeh

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

Detailed specifications for the lens, along with MTF charts and other useful data can be found in our lens database. NIKON D750 + 300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 2200, 1/1250, f/4.0 Lens Handling and Build The Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II lens mounted on a Nikon D3300 body, extended to 200mm Fall-off of illumination towards the corners is very well controlled and will not be noticeable in most normal shooting situations. At 55mm and f/4.5 the corners are 0.6stops darker than the images centre and stopping the lens down to f/5.6 results in visibly uniform illumination. At 300mm fall-off increases a little as the corners of the image area are now 0.9stops darker than the image centre, but this will still be hard to detect in normal shooting conditions. Stopping the lens down to f/8 results in visibly uniform illumination at 300mm. However, many photographers fit full-frame telephoto zooms to APS-C cameras, even though they're usually bigger and heavier, because this boosts the effective telephoto reach to 450mm. Launched in September 2010, the Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 55-300mm f/4.5-5. 6G ED VR aims to give you the best of both worlds, combining a compact and lightweight design optimised for APS-C cameras with extra telephoto reach.

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX AF-S Nikkor User Reviews

My first comparison, of course, was with the 70-300. I took dozens of pairs of shots of a distant mountain on a clear day to see where this lens begins to lose resolution relative to the 70-300. At 200mm it's very difficult to see any difference. At 250 the 70-300 is only slightly sharper. At 300, there is a difference, but not really very much. I really like the versatility of this lens – being able to shoot at 55mm all the way to 300mm is very nice, especially for wildlife photography. Unlike the new Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II, this lens is not plagued with a “lens breathing” issue and 300mm on the long side is truly like 300mm, not shorter. Another important thing to note, is that the lens does extend pretty far when zoomed all the way in to 300mm. This is quite normal for this type of a lens and most other consumer zoom lenses also extend out when zoomed in. Zooming in/out was a little jerky and not very smooth on my lens sample, but it probably does get better overtime. The lens does not creep at all and I don’t think it will, even with heavy use in the future. The HB-57 lens hood is specifically engineered for this lens and it snaps on easily – I would leave it mounted on the lens to keep the front element protected against damage and flare/ghosting. NIKON D300 + 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 55mm, ISO 400, 1/250, f/8.0 The build quality of this optic is typical of Nikon's mid to higher end consumer lenses, with the lens barrel constructed from high quality plastics sporting a textured finish. It is put together to fine tolerances and there are no rattles or wobbles anywhere on the lens and the mount is constructed from metal. Again, the center looks very similar to 200mm, with slightly softer image at f/5.6 that gets sharper at f/8.0 and f/11.0. Sharpness Test – Nikon 55-300mm @ 300mm Corner Frame Corners look all the same to me in terms of sharpness, with a slight amount of visible purple fringing in the corners.