How can I get the most out of my kit 55-200mm?

[Free]

Hi All,

I'm just wondering what the sweet spot in this lens is for sharpness, I've been trying to take shots of kids and pets from a little distance but can't get the shots as sharp as I would like.

Any thoughts how to get the most from this lens?

Or will I need to upgrade to get anything decent?

Cheers
Free

[OsmosisStudios]

From testing and other reviews, the usual rules applies: f/8 is your sweet spot for best across-the-frame sharpness.

[kencaleno]

The term, "Sweet-Spot" refers to the combination of zoom focal length and aperture, for the most appropriate image quality. "Sweet-spot" for the 18-55 Nikon kit lenses it's 35mm @ F8- regards, Ken

[sk66]

55-200mm. Sweet spot for a zoom tends to be in the middle of the focal range and stopped down 2-3 stops. so around 100mm f/8.

The rest is technique.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

The term, "Sweet-Spot" refers to the combination of zoom focal length and aperture, for the most appropriate image quality. "Sweet-spot" for the 18-55 Nikon kit lenses it's 35mm @ F8- regards, Ken

True, however most tests conducted have shown that centre sharpness is consistent from good to excellent from wide open to fully-stopped down, regardless of focal length. It does show different kinds of distortion, though: barrel at 55, pincushion at 200 and some vignetting at 55 wide open, but other than that it's pretty good overall. The usual caveat of the lens being slightly iffy at full-zoom stands, of course, but its nowhere near as bad as it could be.

[Free]

Thanks all

I took a least a hundred shots with this one yesterday wondering around the city and as you all mentioned f/8 is definitely the place to be.

I also read a few reviews before I left and they both agreed with OS in that the lens works surprisingly well through the entire length with just a little pin cushioning at the higher end (Now I just gotta Google what the hell that means )

Thanks
Free

[OsmosisStudios]

Pincushion distortion is when the edges of the frame are "sucked in". Barrel distortion is when the edges blow out.

Barrel: think of it like look through a circular tunnel. The edges are curved with the corners being closer in and the middle of an edge being furthest away. Pincushion is the opposite: the corners are correct but the edges are narrower in their middle.