Help - 55-200 vs 56 1.2

brownie314 wrote:

sir_c wrote:

The 55-200 is a very versatile lens and it oven delivers nice portraits of you know how to treat it well. Its weight is limited and it balances well too. Great travel option, also because of OIS.

The 56/1.2 I have as well and it is a totally different beast. It is not particularly heavy, but it is hefty. It is a good few stops faster too, but i don't like the AF very much. It renders great images, but the hit rate may be subpar.

So i can understand your dilemma in one way, but on the other hand the two aren't comparable at all. Neither one will be a bad choice, but you need to look at the use cases you want to fill in.

Are you ok with one or two areas where a lens really excels, or do you prefer more versatility. I would go after a good deal for the 55-200, but that is with the limited info you gave so far.

I think I could almost live with all of the compromises of a prime - if the AF speed was high (enough) on the 56. I do a lot of indoor candid snaps where the light isn't guaranteed to be the best. I don't usually pose them - so I only have a few seconds to lock good focus. My understanding is that this is the exact situation where the 56 might not be so good - as the focus might be a bit slower. I mean - it isn't indoor action - but still - I would like to lock focus in less than a second - or two at the most.

I don't find the AF to be especially slow at all, just quirky. The lens doesn't hunt, and rarely takes more than a split second to focus for me in any light with the right technique. I always use AF-S single point with an appropriately sized AF box (not too small in poor light) and a full=press of the shutter button (no pause at a half-press first) with the 56 and typically get a very high hit rate - including in very low light, at very wide apertures, and with moving subjects. In my experience, this is the only truly reliable AF methodology with the 56 if you're working with a limited DOF and/or in crap light (it also focuses manually very nicely too).