Nikkor 55-200 VR. arr... focus?

Hi. Today I bought the Nikkor 55-200 VR lens. Went out for a test shoot and came back with around 400 photos. When I came home and browsed em I was just a bit surprised to see that maybe 2/3 of the photos lacked focus. With aperture set above 8 the result were ok. But with 5.6 (in particular) every single one was blurred, more or less regardless of shutter speed. I mainly had the camera on program (P), who chose to use 5.6 ALOT, for some reason. This can ofc be taken care of manually, but is the lens this "bad", or am I doing something seriously wrong?! VR didn't really affect the blur

Added two photos to show this. If you zoom in it should be clear what I mean.

I humbly ask for some guidance!

Johan

hmmm.......

I see that you are new to DPReview.. Congrats on the new lens. I have one of those 55-200VR lenses too and am often surprised just how sharp the lens can be.

In your examples it seems that the very centre of your photos may be OK.. with the stuff far away or the stuff that's up close blurry.

Is that what you're seeing in the original photos?

I bought a 55-200 non VR for 60 buks..very good condition.
the pictures it gives amazed me...sharp and good focus. wide open

margatnep said:

Added two photos to show this. If you zoom in it should be clear what I mean.

I humbly ask for some guidance!

Click to expand...

Disable the VR when shooting at speeds that don't need it.
Try again.

margatnep said:

Johan

Click to expand...

sanju2400 said:

I bought a 55-200 non VR for 60 buks..very good condition.
the pictures it gives amazed me...sharp and good focus. wide open

Click to expand...

yes. VR should be switched off.(if not needed). Mine doesn't have a VR. So i dont worry abt it.

I think the DOF is about right for 150mm at f/5.3 on a DX sensor in the last picture. If your f/8 are OK its be cause yo are getting a little more DOF. Try taking the scene, with the camera on a tripod, at f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f16. & f22. you should be able to see a change in DOF.
--
Canon A2E, Sony R1, Panny TZ5, & Nikon D5000.

Ill do some further testing in the coming days. Hopefully ill get a hang of using the lens. If my concerns linger on I might just be back to haunt you! Thanks for your input. Be well.