Difference in lenses?

[crimbfighter]

Can anyone tell me (other than part of the name) what the difference in between these two lenses that makes one $70 more than the other?

AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II from Nikon - $849

AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED from Nikon - $784

All of the specs, once you start picking them apart, seem to be the same, unless, I'm missing something...

Thanks

 

[Robin Usagani]

My guess is the first one is 2nd generation? VR II.. Im not a nikon guy though.

 

[pbelarge]

VRII is the newer version

 

[crimbfighter]

That's what I thought, too. But if you read Nikon's little blurb under "key features" they both claim to have VR II... I'm at a loss. Any Nikon gurus weigh in?

I'm going to buy one and want to make sure I'm not missing out on some super duper feature for $70 less..

 

[crimbfighter]

VRII is the newer version

Does it offer anything substantially better over version one? All I have experience with is version one.

 

[SwiftTone]

VR on this lens is actually Nikon's 2nd generation Vibration Reduction. VRII is Nikon's 3rd generation. People say there isn't much of a difference in the VR quality really. But the VRII version has a lock for 18mm so it doesn't lens creep. I would only use it when I'm not using the camera, but I usually have one hand on my camera to protect it anyways when the camera is strapped on my neck

 

[Derrel]

I'd go for the VR II version for the slight price premium that exists. You can recover the difference if you re-sell the lens later, plus you'll have the latest and better version of the lens.

VR is very handy when shooting from a moving platform, like a tour bus, ferry boat, taxi cab, train, or in the wind, or when slightly out of breath,etc. Lately there have been some people saying that VR is "not worth it" and so on; I totally disagree with that, especially on slower-aperture, wide-ranging zoom lenses, where you are often going to want to stop the lens down to f/8 of f/9.5 or f/11 or something like that, to get deep depth of field, and the shutter speeds can drop into the 1/8 to 1/25 zone, which is where VR really,really can save your butt many,many times. Also, when doing slow-speed panning shots, VR is really of huge value--far,far better than a tripod is.