Jerry Higgins wrote:.

I'll be sitting in the stands of a gymnasium trying to take pics ofmy daughter down on the floor as she runs around in her cheer-leadingshow. This 55-200 lens looks to be a good deal and has quite a few good..

At the 200mm setting, that lens is f/5.6. This means in order to maintain 1/250 or even 1/320, your gonna need 1600 ISO (or more). It also means just barely enough light for the AF system to work.

It depends on what you want to do. Just a few candids of her @ 4x6? Then you can crop any pictures to fit and still have some resolution left. If you expect to get 8x10's at the "height of action", then you're gonna need better/longer..

200mm is just barely long enough for a full body shot. From the stands, mean all of you shots are gonna have that high-perspective look to them. You need to get down on the floor for good-tight action. But then that means a distracting background, so your gonna need a huge aperture to throw the background out-of-focus.What you really need is:.

Http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...639-USA/Nikon_2171_400mm_f_2_8G_NIKKOR_ED.htmlThen you're gonna need a better body:.

Http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...G/Nikon_25434_D3_PROFESSIONAL_DIGITAL_SLR.html.

Of course, now you have spent $10,000..

My advice: Leave the camera at home, and enjoy your daugter's performance LIVE. At most cheer competitions I have seen, there is a company selling action photo's. Sure, their $14.95 for an 8x10 seems high, but it's a bargain compared to the equipment they (you) have spentWarm regards,DOF..

The AF-S 55-200 is a very good choise - and about the only one you have at a reasonable price tag, if I remember correctly..

For some tele shots, you may find it a bit too short - fx. smaller animals, birds and stuff like that..

As for macro lenses - that's a bit more tough... I'd advice you to start out with buying some cheap close-up filters. You can typically get them for about 50-60 USD..

If you get caught, you should take a look at dedicated macro lenses from Nikkon, such as the very expensive AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR macro 1:1 (pro lens)..

Http://www.fotostart.dk << tutorials, guides etc...

Indoor gyms can be brutal. I'd look toward a fast prime that can do f1.8 (or better). partly it depends on how close you can get to the action. if you shoot jpeg you may want to do a custom white balance (gym lighting can be weird). watch out for super shiny floors that reflect the powerful overhead lights...

For macro you should by macro rings ... it's much cheaper than real macro lens (remember sigmas "macro" called lenses are not real macros!)..

Nikkor 55-200 is good lens.My fotoblog: http://www.howtoshot.com/My fotoblog (czech): http://fotaky.xf.cz/My photos (leazy to update anyway): http://gady.idomena.cz/..

If you want the Nikkor 55-200, it's well worth spending about 50% more to get the newer VR version (with vibration reduction, whereby one of the lens elements is free to vibrate to compensate for the effects camera shake). In the circumstances you describe you are going to be hand-holding a 200 mm lens with a fairly slow shutter speed... VR will be essential to give you usable shots. For the extra $80 or so it is not worth not doing..

Best wishesMike..