So I've once again lapsed in my output of blog posts... But now my internship is over for all intents and purposes (is it bad that I wanted to write all intensive purposes?) and all I have is one more session of housekeeping, so hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more often... Well, I promised a review of my 55-200mm zoom and here it is!
I'll be completely honest, I was a little disappointed with it. It's autofocus is a bit slow and takes awhile to figure out what you want. It can be blurry when hand held unless you take extra care to keep completely still. Also, important to keep in mind is that you have to be at least 2 or 3 ft away from the subject for it to work... I kept making the mistake of stepping up really close to whatever I was trying to photograph and becoming extremely frustrated that it wouldn't take the picture! With that said, when it does work, it works very well. The pictures are crisp and the zoom is GREAT! You probably wouldn't need to go to a much higher-end mm, and for the price of $179, I'm not really complaining. Here are some shots I took with it when out by the lake!
These dragonflies were extremely good-natured and didn't mind a strange girl trying to get closer to them. This was the huge benefit of this lens. I realized my issue was that I was trying to use the lens as a macro-lens (a lens which can really magnify the subject from close up) and that instead, I should have focused on the fact that this is a really good zoom and can get close to subjects that might be a bit more antsy were I try to get right next to them.
I think I would recommend this lens with the caveat that you shouldn't expect too much from it. It thrives best in the outdoors and can get some terrific action shots.
I just got a wide-angle, a sigma 11-20mm lens so I'll put that up next! Hope you enjoyed the update =)
