18-55mm VR & 55-200mm VR

[EchoingWhisper]

I now have 18-55mm VR & 55-200mm VR.

I am kinda worried.

My 55-200mm VR's zoom ring was kinda tight when I first got it, but it is really loose now (I use it quite a lot, and my itchy hands keep turning it), if you swing hard enough, it might zoom by itself. You could actually push and pull the front element to zoom.

My 18-55mm VR on the other hand is even more worrying. A few days ago, I tried to take my UV filter out. It was really tight on it, I can't take it out. I was on Autofocus. I turned and turned before I realised I turned the wrong way. I turned the other way, it was still really tight, but I managed to get it out. When I zoomed to 18mm, there was a click sound, and it happened a few times a few hours later. And the lens couldn't focus on a bright scene (daylight outside - just for a while). I was on continuous focusing. When I switched to AF-S, the problem was gone.

Am I supposed to be worried?

 

[Nikon_Josh]

Well there is no doubt you may need to be worried I'm afraid to say, I have an 18-55 and its great optically! But the build quality leaves a lot to be desired, it is plastic,plastic, plastic and cheap cheap cheap! It dosen't look as if it could take any abuse what so ever! But then again these lenses are so so cheap that they are easy to be replace. So it dosen't shock me that you may have damaged the focussing system by jamming the filter on it, an internal focusing system would not suffer from the same problems.

As far as my understanding goes, the 55-200 is the telephoto equivalent of the 18-55. Another lens with poor, flimsy, plastic build quality. I mean neither of these lenses even have a metal mount which is a really bad sign.

As you say though, you have used both lenses 'quite a lot' which means they may begin to be showing signs of age. In reality they are built for amateurs who take their cameras out the bag three times a year. They are not really built for people using their cameras 24/7.

My conclusion.. both lenses produce great images. But if you are using the lens on a daily basis, you would be better off with a Sigma 17-50 2.8 OS and a Nikon 70-300 VR. These lenses could withstand daily use! I know its a real pain when this sort of thing happens, but at least these lenses are very cheap and you are not going to be hugely out of pocket when you have to replace them.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Well there is no doubt you may need to be worried I'm afraid to say, I have an 18-55 and its great optically! But the build quality leaves a lot to be desired, it is plastic,plastic, plastic and cheap cheap cheap! It dosen't look as if it could take any abuse what so ever! But then again these lenses are so so cheap that they are easy to be replace. So it dosen't shock me that you may have damaged the focussing system by jamming the filter on it, an internal focusing system would not suffer from the same problems.

As far as my understanding goes, the 55-200 is the telephoto equivalent of the 18-55. Another lens with poor, flimsy, plastic build quality. I mean neither of these lenses even have a metal mount which is a really bad sign.

As you say though, you have used both lenses 'quite a lot' which means they may begin to be showing signs of age. In reality they are built for amateurs who take their cameras out the bag three times a year. They are not really built for people using their cameras 24/7.

My conclusion.. both lenses produce great images. But if you are using the lens on a daily basis, you would be better off with a Sigma 17-50 2.8 OS and a Nikon 70-300 VR. These lenses could withstand daily use! I know its a real pain when this sort of thing happens, but at least these lenses are very cheap and you are not going to be hugely out of pocket when you have to replace them.

I used it a little more than a month. This is kinda crappish. I do use it 24/7 on the last two weeks though (not 24/7, but four pictures per minute when I am not eating, drinking, sleeping, peeing or in a place that don't allow you to take pictures), two trips together. I've never faced a problem with the 50mm 1.8G, maybe it is more proffesional-ish? And yes, I have thought of upgrading to those lenses and D7000. The D5100 seems to lack a dial and some buttons, plus some feature that is really tempting, and I needed the 2.8 from Siggy at a reasonable price. I have never thought of the Nikon 70-300 VR, but now you remind me of it, I'll give it another serious look. The 55-200mm is not as worrying as 18-55mm, but it might face the annoying zoom creep anytime soon. What I really need now is the Sigma 17-50mm. Others, I don't need it so early, but I will eventually need to get it.

 

[wvsmphoto]

On my plane ride to Italy my camera bag was squished by other items in the overhead bin my lens though was functioning and the photos were turning out just fine when adjusting zoom it would click / pop and even lock up Nikon replaced it

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