Nikkor Lens Question

[Stoller]

AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED (11.1x)
I did not find any information in this forum on this lens or I missed it. Does anyone have this lens? Is it worth the price for an almost rookie like me?

Thanks

[George Riehm]

AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED (11.1x)
I did not find any information in this forum on this lens or I missed it. Does anyone have this lens? Is it worth the price for an almost rookie like me?

Thanks

You might want to shift your inquiry to the Nikon dSLR board. I think that we have a couple of members using the 18-200 VR.

[Jason25]

The general opinion seems to be that it's around the same quailty is the 18-70 DX lens.

[erichlund]

Yes, similar to the 18-70, but due to the wider range, it has more severe barrel distortion at the wide end. There is also some minor vignetting at the wide end, but I have not seen either of these issues in "real" photos. However, this is counterbalanced by excellent VR capability. There are tools in Nikon Capture to fix vignetting. You may be able to fix the barrel distortion with the "fisheye" tool, but I haven't tried this.

I've been satisfied with the results I'm getting from the lens. Of course, I'm learning its ins and outs at the same time I'm learning a new camera (D200). On the whole, as long as you expect good performance, without expecting a "Pro Quality" lens, you will be satisfied with the performance of this lens.

If you are looking at 18-200 lenses, I think it is clearly the best of the bunch. However, it's also about twice the price, which is typical of Nikkor VR lenses.

I have found the lens to be sharp through a wide latitude, but I have not done any testing to see where sharpness tends to fall off. Typically, all lenses tend to become less sharp either wide open or at very small apertures. Zoom lenses may also lose sharpness at their zoom extremes. However, both of these vary with the lens, and some lenses are better than others. As I've said, I have not rigorously tested the lens, I've just used it, and I've been satisfied with the sharpness I've gotten at all the settings I've used.

I used this lens for a full day at the zoo, and I've posted a selection of photos from the first card (of two) to my smugmug gallery (http://eric-lund.smugmug.com/gallery/1109468/1/51652676).