David Pogue was lucky enough to at least use and play with this lens, even if he hasn't been able to buy one. Me? Still on the lookout for the lens to be widely available. I cannot justify paying a premium for the lens, especially since I already own a 70-300 lens, albeit not a VR model. I can dream, can't I? Maybe by this summer, demand will meet up with supply.
“Nikon Zoom-Nikkor - Zoom lens - 18 mm - 200 mm - f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S DX VR - Nikon F” (Nikon)
The Magic Behind the ‘Superzoom’ Lens - Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog
...But I’ve been working with Nikon’s 18-200 millimeter “superzoom” VR lens, which fits any of its digitals: the D40, D50, D70, D80, D200, and so on. And I can’t stop babbling about it.First of all, that “18-200″ business means that this single lens can capture everything from wide-angle scenery photos to 11X zoomed-in telephoto shots. And that means that a lot of people can leave it on the camera all the time, greatly reducing the amount of gear you have to haul around and virtually eliminating the chance of getting dust on the camera’s sensor when you change lenses. (That finally happened to me on a recent trip to Europe, and the resulting shadowy dot, in the same spot on every photo, became a thorn in my side.).
But the bigger news is the ”VR“ part. It stands for vibration reduction, also known as image stabilization or anti-shake. What it means is a huge reduction in blurry shots.
Ordinarily, when you take a photo in dim conditions, the shutter has to remain open longer to absorb enough light. During that time, the tiniest movement of your hands gets translated into image blur.
Blur is a problem when you’re zoomed in, too, because zooming in magnifies the effect of every little jitter.
Nikon says that the VR on this lens lets people take sharp pictures ”at shutter speeds as many as 4 stops slower than they ordinarily could shoot.“ But I’d put it more bluntly. I’d say that this VR is—what’s the technical term?—magic.
Tags: Nikon, /Photography
