The Nikon DX 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S VR lens, to give its full title is essentially a tele - zoom kit lens  aimed at the newer AF-S only Nikon DSLR cameras like the Nikon D3000 and D5000.  AF-S lenses have a built in focus motor, the DX in the name means it’s not meant for full frame cameras or film and VR means it has Nikon’s optical image stabilisation system. The lens has a 52mm filter mount and comes with the HB37 lens hood.

Construction is not to what I’d consider normal Nikon standards and is similar to most kit lenses in that it’s all plastic, including the lens mount and has none of the smooth feeling of quality you might expect of anything with Nikon’s name on it.  The zooming action has an even resistance to it, but is slightly sticky, and the manual focus ring is of a sort that appeared on Nikon’s first AF lenses but was soon abandoned when Nikon realised that, despite the arrival of autofocus, many Nikon users still wanted to be able to focus manually. The problem is that the ring is tiny and in the wrong place - right at the front of the lens where, if you’re using a hood or filter holder, it’s almost impossible to use. This lens feels very much built to a price, and although it’s cheap in comparison to many Nikon lenses, it still costs over £ 200 in the UK, so I wouldn’t exactly call it a bargain.  So how does it perform?

Test Results