VR working?
 

Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not...

--
Fredrik Sandström

VR working?
 

On Aug 3, 12:14 pm, Fredrik Sandström wrote:
Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not.

I don't know much about VR lenses, but from what I've read they
generally give about a two stop advantage in shutter speed. Normal
rule of thumb would be 1/300s for hand holding at 200 mm; two stops
faster would be 1/75s. Seems that 1/60s and especially 1/30s would be
pushing the capabilities of the VR.

Maybe test at 1/125s, see if there's any difference there.

VR working?
 

"Fredrik Sandström" wrote in message
...
Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not...


Hi, I can't say I've ever tried shooting a burst with stabilization on. I
figure burst would cause too much camera shake.

VR working?
 

Fredrik Sandström wrote:
Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not...

Remember that VR will not stop subject movement, only camera shake. It
should be visibly obvious that the shake is reduced if you switch the VR
on while using the 200mm focal length.

David

VR working?
 

On Aug 3, 12:14 pm, Fredrik Sandström wrote:
Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not...


Lock the camera down reeeel goood to a tripod and do a series of shots
(of a subject with fine and contrasty detail), at different shutter
speeds. These will be in focus, barring factors other than camera
shake. Then replicate the series of shots, but with the camera hand-
held, from the exact same position. Compare. I would think you
should be able to change the lighting level so that you can use the
same aperture for each shot, but I dunno how much a difference
diffraction would make..


HTH.

--
YOP...

VR working?
 

If the lens is working, and turned on, at long focal lengths you should see
less shake through the viewfinder than when the VR is turned off when you
hold the shutter partly depressed. I do, anyway. with the much heavier Nikon
18-200VR. The effect is clearly noticeable and I don't quite have
Parkinson's Disease, yet.
Alternately, if you have a lens of equivalent long focal length, compare
what it looks like through the viewfinder and compare images made with the
same handheld exposure.
It is possible you have a lemon, as the non-VR 55-200 is mechanically and
optically possibly the worst lens Nikon ever made. In truth, optically, the
18-200 isn't a great value either. The price point of the 55-200 VR is such
that manufacturing quality control may not be what it should be. In
calculating cost of manufacture, particularly with the insanely low priced
labor that is available in certain Asian countries that artificially depress
their currency, a manufacturer may decide that it is cheaper to accept a
certain percentage of defective goods than to impose significant quality
control during manufacture. Also the manufacturer knows that consumers who
purchase lenses like this may not have the sophistication to really evaluate
what they have and defects in the product will go unidentified.

Caveat Emptor.

VR working?
 

"Fredrik Sandström" wrote in message
...
Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos. I zoom
to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s with VR on;
some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the VR off and do the
same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp, some are not...

--
Fredrik Sandström


Hi.

I have the Nikon 80 - 400 VR, and the VR certainly stops camera shake at 1
60th, even at the 400mm end. Mind you I have spent many years learning how
to handhold and fire the shutter in a steady way, and never got much shake
with a 200mm.

When the VR is switched to "Always On" it is quite easy to see it working
through the VF, while the camera is moved slowly, the image stays put in
little jerks, as the system locks on.

It may be this is not so obvious on a shorter lens. It may not be all that
effective in burst shooting, perhaps because it is not getting enough time
between shots.

Roy G

VR working?
 

"Fredrik Sandström" wrote in message
...

Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not?

Turn on the VR, hold the shutter release half way down, zoom out to 200mm,
and see how easy it is for you to hand-hold the camera while keeping an
object entirely within one of the focus brackets in the finder.

Now turn off the VR and repeat the experiment.

If the difference isn't obvious, your VR is broken.

VR working?
 

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:14:55 +0300, Fredrik Sandström wrote:

Hmm, this is frustrating... Is there a simple test to verify whether
the VR on my Nikkor 55-200 is working or not? I simply can't see any
difference. When "on" it sometimes makes a little noise that is not
otherwise present, but I can't notice any effect on the photos.

There's no way to be absolutely sure that it's working (other than
statistically) by looking at photos. When I use the 55-200mm VR
lens it's very obvious that it's working. Use the lens with the VR
disabled and set to 200mm, and while holding it as steadily as
possible, you should still see a lot of jitter looking through the
viewfinder. When you slide the switch to turn on the VR, the
jittery movement transforms into a much smoother "glide". This
assumes that you're holding the camera steady enough. If your hands
shake too much, the VR can't really work very well and you may not
notice any difference. But the changed jitter is really obvious.

Also, VR will *not* stop camera movement, it only reduces it. So
if a 200mm lens is used, and most people would get fairly good
results using a 1/500 sec. shutter speed, you should get similar
results from VR if you use slower shutter speeds of 1/125 or 1/60
sec. VR can't work miracles. If for the same shot you use a 1/30
or 1/15 sec. shutter speed, you might end up with enough camera
shake to produce noticeably blurry pictures if you weren't holding
the camera steadily enough.


I zoom to 200mm, and shoot a handheld burst at 1/30s and 1/60s
with VR on; some turn out blurry, some turn out fine. I turn the
VR off and do the same, and it's the same thing: some are sharp,
some are not...

That may have been too slow. The VR should be normally be good
enough to be effective at 1/30 sec., but that still requires that
you hold the camera as steady as you can. Some people can't hold
their cameras steady enough and might need to shoot at 1/125 or
1/250 sec. with the lens at 200mm. I recently took some shots
about 7:00 pm, under not very bright conditions with the lens at
200mm, and the correct exposure using ISO 200 would have been
1/200sec @ f/8. But I used ISO 1600 instead to allow the use of a
faster shutter speed of 1/1600 sec. because of a near constant
shifting wind. I suspect that at that shutter speed I might not
have needed the VR.

What aperture and ISO did you use, and from the low shutter speed,
I'm guessing that your shots may have been taken indoors in much
dimmer light than my outdoor evening shots, and you may have needed
more light or a higher ISO setting to get the shutter speed up to
where the VR could become more effective at 200mm. Unless as you
say, the VR may not be operating properly.

VR working?
 

Thanks for all your replys! There was simply no difference in the
viewfinder, when the VR was turned on or off. So I took the lens back
to the store where they let me try another VR lens, and the difference
was immediately obvious. So the lens was simply defective, and is now
sent to be repaired.

--
Fredrik Sandström