18-200 VR the worst I ever had

[rjseeney]

Originally Posted by dstonek

Hello,
the purpose to upload those samples was to show the shadows on the edges, not to start a discussion about their image content.
Thank you.

I understand that, however, these images are underexposed which makes the vignetting worse than what you would find on a properly exposed image. It's not fair to the lens to use these as examples as to how good or bad the lens is. If you take the best lens available and not expose the image properly, you could make it look really bad as well.

[JimC]

Are you sure the images were being rejected for vignetting versus some other reason?

Are you using any filters that may be causing the issue?

At most focal lengths, the vignetting is only around 1/3 stop or so (although at wide open aperture settings, it can be a bit worse at some focal lengths).

That's really not bad for this type of zoom (vignetting relatively well controlled).

How about your monitor settings? Are you sure your contrast isn't bumped up (as in you'll find with most LCD panels unless you calibrate them properly) causing the problem to be exaggerated?

You can also correct the issue in software using products like DXO Optics Pro (that can correct for vignetting, distortion, perspective issues and more.

http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/dxo_optics_pro

[ruchai]

It may not Nikon's best lens, but it's the world best 11x lens. I love my 18-200 and use it more than any other lenses when walking in the fields.

[dafiryde]

Originally Posted by dstonek

After serveral months of use I can say that this lens is the worst Nikkor I ever had. It makes vignetting at 200mm!!
Look at the upper right and left sides.
None at 18!!
The second example is near the same at 70mm.

when you say it is the worst Nikkor you ever had, what lenses are you comparing it too

Dave

[zilbog]

Hi
I can not see the vignetting on the 2 photos. I know it must be my inexperience but the corners look ok. The examles of vignetting I have seen always seemed to look like tunnel vision to me?
Also as far as the 18-200 lens I had thought that was one of the good zooms. I just bought the 55-200 VR but have not gotten yet. Besides the obvious focal lenght difference why is there such a difference in price. I bought the 55-200mm
DX VR AFS.

[mtclimber]

Bob-

The 11X optical zoom Nikon 18-200mm lens was a much more complex lens to manufacture. On the other hand, the Nikon 55-200mm lens is roughly only a 4X optical zoom lens, making it much easier and far less expensive to manufacture.

Sarah Joyce

[zilbog]

Thank You Sarah

I did not know the difference about the zoom,
Do you know of a faq or source the gives a good lay out about lens designation , function, etc.
I knew there had to be a big difference because of the prices. I guess the 44 diff in mm addeds a bit.

[dstonek]

Sorry for the delayed answer.

dafiryde:

when you say it is the worst Nikkor you ever had, what lenses are you comparing it too

I never had had a 11x zoom lens like this one.
Of course I cannot compare it with a 600 f4.
The only similar I've used in the past were a 80-200 f4 and f2.8
I say 'similar' because of 200mm f.d. (where the problem is)
This is not a wide angle corners vignetting.
I understand the difficulties of building such kind of lens, anyway I am disappointed with telephoto shots.

JimC:

Are you sure the images were being rejected for vignetting versus some other reason?

That image was not rejected by anybody, it is just a sample I took from my vacation image folder

Are you using any filters that may be causing the issue?

Sometimes I use a Tiffen skylight filter. I made some tests with and without it: no noticeable differences were found.
Despite it makes no sense I also made some tests with and without the lens hood.

How about your monitor settings? Are you sure your contrast isn't bumped up (as in you'll find with most LCD panels unless you calibrate them properly) causing the problem to be exaggerated?

I use an iMac 20" 2 years old and L1953T LG 19" and the effect really bothers me. I have to use the Photoshop dodge tool carefully.

You can also correct the issue in software using products like DXO Optics Pro (that can correct for vignetting, distortion, perspective issues and more.

Thanks for the info, I don't know this tool, PS also has these tools, don't know which is better. Vignetting tool is good for vignetting on corners.

zilbog:

I can not see the vignetting on the 2 photos.

Only the first has vignetting. Left and right borders are darker than the center.

Thank you all for your responses.

[dafiryde]

i have owned some fine lenses from Minolta, Sony, Pentax, and always wanted an all in one, and to honest the one i got i am very pleased with., may be if you suspect some thing may be wrong with your copy , you could send it in to have it checked

Dave

[dstonek]

I don't know if only my lens has this problem.
Has any one noticed something similar in your units?
Here's another sample of mine's at 200mm