best lens for my D200

[racedraper]

I just bought a d200 and the first lens was a 18-200 DX VR lens but I am find ing that its a little hard to shoot portraits. What lens would you guys ans gals use for shooting ,lets she a model with a car or motorcycles? I am thinking about doing some when it gets warmer out, or should I stick to by 18-200? I also wave a 50mm f /1.8 but its a old manual lens.Thanks all

[adz929]

You really need to elaborate a little more. Exactly how is it hard? Is it not wide enough (my assumption), in that case you need a wider lens, something like the Nikkor 12-24 f/4 DX or the Tokina 12-24 f/4 would do the trick nicely.

[racedraper]

well if you see my gallery when I shot my daughter it seemed fuzzy. Like I couldnt get it focused and I had to bump up the ISO and slow down the sutter speed. But I am finding out im better when using all manual setting. Also do I have to calibrate the camera for each lens? I coming form using a minolta 7000 maxxum to a nikon D200 so this didgital learning curve is a little slow right now but its getting better...

[adz929]

First, make sure the VR switch on the lens is switched to "On". Are you doing any post processing or are these JPG's straight from the camera? If they are indeed JPG's from the camera, then you might want to bump up the in camera sharpening to max as the D200 by default is very lean in that department. Something else I noticed is that you are using some very slow shutter speeds, VR is great, but its hit and miss at the extreme end. Something else worth noting is that the VR system needs time to engage, it will only engage when you half press the shutter and if you are focusing manually, then half press the shutter for a second or so before taking the shot. Hope this helps.

[racedraper]

im not focusing manually , just the settings plus when I did my daughter it was all auto. It seems my VR is better doing bright outside shots then indoors. It might be me. I will also try your idea of sharping up the pic some. If I remeber I shot in raw so I can play around in photoshop

[adz929]

See what I mean about elaborating, anyway, there is the possibility that your lens may have a minor front focus issue, however, having taken a closer look at your images and the EXIF data, I suspect that it may have more to do with technique.