55-200mm VR lens vs 55-200mm No VR lens

[NewEnglander]

Im currently looking into buying or well getting my first SLR camera for my birthday and am wondering something. What is VR? I know it stands for Vibration Reduction but what is it? Also what are the differences between a regular 55-200mm lens and an 55-200mm VR lens? if so, how much of a difference is there? Im just curious cause i want to get the right one if theres a better one between the two. any ideas, suggestions or thoughts on it? if so that be really helpful. thanks.

[avene]

VR does exactly what it says - it reduced vibration of camera while you take a photo. VRis a built-in system that compensates for the slight movement of camera while you take a photo, like shaking of hands (I'm not talking about anything exxagerated here, even the slightest movement can result in blurred image), breathing etc. VR lets you shoot at slower shutter speed while still avoiding camera shake (if you're shooting handheld, of course). rule of thumb for best results is that the shutter speed should be reciprocal to the focal length, meaning if the focal length of the lens is 100mm, shutter speed shouldn't be slower than 1/100 sec (ideally you should always have a tripod, lol), 200mm - 1/200 sec etc. VR lets you slow down and still avoid camera shake, and have sharp images at 100mm and 1/50 and even 1/20 sec, for example, which is usefull in low light situations. take a look at this article, it's quite useful. my advice - get the VR lens.

best,
K.

[NewEnglander]

ah okay so definitely go with VR? from what you say it definitely sounds like its worth it. thanks for the help and article :0)

Jesse