Camera Labs

I just received my 18 200mm VR lens and found out that the VR only comes into play in low light situations? If I were to take a picture on a bright sunny day zoomed to 200mm the "VR" would not come into play even though the lens was set to "M/A" "VR ON" "NORMAL" and not always "ON" like the Canon lenses are. Is there a lighting chart that shows when the "VR" comes into play?
In the notes on using the VR it says ..."If you set the AF start (AF-ON)button to ON on the camera, vibration reduction will not operate"?... The only "AF" button I have on my D80 is one that is either set at AF-A, AF-C or AF-S How would one set that to OFF or ON? If that is the button they are referring to? The only other one is the switch on the side that is either set to AF or M. Unless they are referring to the AE-L/AF-L? So I don't really know what they mean by that statement? I would appreciate very much your input, thanks kindly.

Congrats for your fantastic new lens!
Let me assure you, VR works at every light.
Set VR to "on" and enjoy. You can see the effect in the viewfinder - test it at 200mm!
It is only that at low-light situations VR becomes more valuable, because the camera then shoots at longer times, which makes it more probable that you would loose a picture due to shake.
But if you you select aperture mode, close the aperture to let's say 16 or 22 to increase depth of field, even in full sun you will probably encounter speeds of 1/30 or below. And VR is invaluable in those situations...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thanks tombomba2 for your reply. When I was in the Camera store talking to them about this they allowed me to take a couple of pictures in the very bright store and even the little shake I gave the camera the picture was blurry and that is when they told me that it was too bright for the VR to kick in, that it's not like the Canon which the IS is on all the time, so that is why I was asking the question, as well as the statement in the lens instruction sheet about the AF ON button on the D80 body?

Hi EJSFOTO, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

Which Nikon body are you using?

I believe the reference to AF-On in the manual may only be for Nikon bodies which have an AF-On feature - so it may not apply to your particular body. I also have a feeling you can configure the AE Lock button in a custom menu on some Nikon bodies so that it activates the AF. So maybe there's some conflict there depending on how yours is set up.

But Thomas is right - if a VR lens is switched ON, then it should stabilise as soon as you half-press the shutter release button, regardless of the light levels - bright or dark.

I certainly know when I've tested the 18-200mm that it stabilises all of the time under dark and bright conditions when I half-press the shutter, so I'm not sure what your camera store is referring to...

Is it possible for you to try the lens on a different Nikon body to see what it does?

Gordon

Hi Gordon,
Thanks for your reply. I posed the questions to Nikon and they gave me the straight goods on both questions, see the following. ....>

AF-ON is a feature on the camera where you set a button to Focus the camera rather then the shutter release button. When this feature is activated the Shutter release button well only snap the picture, and the only way to get the camera to Autofocus is to hold in the AF-ON button. When you have the camera setup to focus using this method VR well not activate while holding in the AF-ON button. It will however activate after you release it and half depress the shutter release button.

Secondly the statement about bright light and internal speedlight is not true. If VR is set to ON then it will work.

The above answers both my questions, thanks to everyone for your input.

Best Regards,
Earl

Oh, that's tricky!
When that happens to you in a camera store, I suspect that they were really not willing or capable of selling you the Nikon. To mess up that way on one of the most important features of the best Ultra-Zoom around
You did the right thing of buying the camera/lens anyway!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses