Nikkor DX 55-200mm VR tested with Nikon D80 full review Cameralabs corner sharpness results

More results : Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR corner sharpness comparison

To measure and compare the corner sharpness of the Nikkor DX 55-200mm VR, we photographed the Enhanced Digital Camera Resolution Chart with it and a number of rival lenses at their shortest and longest focal lengths using a D80 at various aperture settings. The D80 was set to Aperture Priority, Large Fine JPEG mode and the Optimise Image parameter set to Normal.

The crops are taken from the lower left corner of the chart and presented here at 100%. The crops which show a slightly larger area of the chart are due to minimum focusing distances forcing us to shoot from a little further away. No crops have been resized.

Zoomed-out to its shortest focal length, the DX 55-200mm VR delivers fairly respectable results in the corners with no apparent coloured fringing and only slight softening when the aperture is wide open. In contrast, the pricier 70-300mm exhibits visible fringing at all apertures in this part of the test, although it should be noted this chart is photographed at relatively close distance, so be sure to also compare our real-life results with the lenses focused on more distant subjects

Zoomed-into its longest focal length, the DX 55-200mm VR suffers from a little softness in the corners at all apertures, and vignetting when the aperture is wide open. In real-life results we often found the DX 55-200mm VR was noticeably softer and suffering from greater fringing in the extreme corners when zoomed-in compared to the 70-300mm VR - but again the latter is a pricier lens which is also designed for use on full-frame bodies, so it should do well on Nikon's cropped frame DX-format DSLRs. Now let's see how the lenses perform in terms of fringing and macro.

Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR	Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR	Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6	Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

DX 55-200mm at 55mm f4	70-300mm at 70mm f4.5	DX 18-135mm at 18mm f3.5	DX 18-200mm at 18mm f3.5


DX 55-200mm at 55mm f5.6	70-300mm at 70mm f5.6	DX 18-135mm at 18mm f5.6	DX 18-200mm at 18mm f5.6


DX 55-200mm at 55mm f8	70-300mm at 70mm f8	DX 18-135mm at 18mm f8	DX 18-200mm at 18mm f8


DX 55-200mm at 55mm f16	70-300mm at 70mm f16	DX 18-135mm at 18mm f16	DX 18-200mm at 18mm f16

Nikkor DX 55-200mm f/4-5.6 VR	Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR	Nikkor DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6	Nikkor DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

DX 55-200mm at 200mm f5.6	70-300mm at 300mm f5.6	DX 18-135mm at 135mm f5.6	DX 18-200mm at 200mm f5.6


DX 55-200mm at 200mm f8	70-300mm at 300mm f8	DX 18-135mm at 135mm f8	DX 18-200mm at 200mm f8


DX 55-200mm at 200mm f16	70-300mm at 300mm f16	DX 18-135mm at 135mm f16	DX 18-200mm at 200mm f16

Nikkor DX 55-200mm VR lens results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

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