  Dust Magnet
Not a good lens for the price. Just got a couple of weeks ago and it has collected more dust in the internal glass than my camera's sensor. It's unbelievable the poor build & to think you pay $600 plus for this lens. Get another lens, not worth the money! I'm using it with my D300.
Great lens if you understand the limitations
I originally got this lens for my D-70 and later upgraded to the D300. I'd have to say that it's the most versatile lens for a Nikon DX type camera.
If you go to the various camera review sites you can find all sorts of technical information about distortion, sharpness, chromatic aberration and other optical qualities. Rather than repeat them here I'll focus my review on my personal use and handling.
I've used the lens for both personal and professional work. I also have other "professional" grade lenses to compare it to in some of the focal lengths. Is it the same quality? No, does it matter that much? Depends on what you do.
The lens itself is remarkably small and light for its range of focal length. It does have a plasticy feel and when it extends it practically doubles in length. The hood on is good. Mine took quite a beating, I'm on my second one (they don't float FYI) going on my third. The lens itself despite all that beating is still in good shape.
It has three switches on it. One for the focus, two for VR.
One is the switch to move between autofocus and manual focus. Its rare to use that and the manual focus ring is really more there for emergency use. It is neither large, well placed or smooth. It is an AF-S lens which in Nikon speak means it fairly quiet, fairly quick to focus and after you have achieved a focus point you can grab the focus ring and override the autofocus to what you need. Just the ticket when shooting animals at the zoo and the autofocus can't get past the cage.
The remaining two switches are related to the Vibration Reduction (VR). This is some fancy mechanism that stabilized one of the inner lenses to reduce the effect of hand tremors and jostling. One switch turns it on, the other lets you choose normal or active mode. Use normal if your plan on panning (like at a sports game) active if you don't (like from a car). I usually leave it on active.
The VR helps but it's not a substitute for proper technique or support. When you crank out the telephoto VR or not you need to pay attention to what your doing or you'll get blurry pictures.
The size and weight of the lens is both its blessing and its curse. Its really not that big and does well when mounted to a D70 body. Mounted to a D300 with the MB-10 grip it seems a little on the small side. Balance is a bit off as well. Its small size and light weight make it perfect for travel and carrying around all day. But it also makes it tougher to get a really good firm grip and rest for taking a shot. With heavier lenses the mass of the lens helps to dampen out your bodies vibrations and the larger barrel gives you something substantial to grab onto and balance with. So when shooting handheld with longer shutter speeds and focal lengths don't expect the same performance.
The F-stop range (how wide the aperture can open) goes from 3.5 to 5.6. F 5.6 at maximum focal length is wider than any other super zooms have been able to achieve. Only recently did Canon equal it. F3.5 is ONLY available at the widest aperture (18mm) as soon as you come off of 18mm it starts going down. By the time your in anything resembling normal range your up to F5.6. On occasion you might get F4.5 out of it.
The VR system is nice but its not magic. You still have to pay attention to your shutter speeds and focal lengths. If your at 200mm F5.6 and 1/20th of a second you'd better have Kung-Fu grip if you want a tack sharp image. Also it doesn't do you a bit of good if your SUBJECT is moving. You may be able to hold a 1/10 sec shot but the person walking though the picture is still going to be blurry.
Functionality
This lens gets huge marks for functionality. If getting the shot matters way more than getting the shot perfect then this is THE lens for your Nikon DX camera. Being able to go from Wide to telephoto at the spur of the moment is huge. The flexibility is incredible. I wandered around Asia for several weeks and this lens was constantly on my camera until nightfall. After dark I switched to some wide angle F2.8 glass since most of the stuff at night in the city is close.
To be sure other lenses could outdo it. The min aperture of F5.6 at zoom and the fact it does its sharpest work between F 9-11 was a factor that affected both quality and the shots I could take. But for the most part I was able to get a picture. If I had to use "pro" glass I would have missed half the shots (or more) because I had the wrong focal length or didn't feel like lugging that thing around even more. This really is a great, great travel lens.
Closer to home its useful if your going somewhere and you don't know what focal length your going to need as long as you understand the low light limitations of the lens. Around the house it's great since it goes wide which is most of what you need indoors.
Performance
Features and specs aside does it take good pictures? The answer is a definite yes. It's not the best lens in existence at its focal lengths but the vast majority of users and people who admire their photographs, are not going to notice. If you compare it pixel for pixel against pro grade glass you'll see the where it doesn't measure up. But for a shot for the family album or website its great. It's a real lens for real people taking real pictures, not professional artists trying to win gallery competitions where every little flaw is judged.
Its not to say it has no room in the professional arena. I've seen high end wedding photographers use this lens and deliver pictures to satisfied clients. He might have gotten slightly better quality with a better lens but the flexibility let him give them shots he would have otherwise missed. Unless you've got another picture with a better lens to compare it to you won't really notice the difference if you use it right.
Durability
I was concerned about the durability of the lens, but so far I've had no issues with normal and even rougher than normal use. It spent time in pack, got squished in subways, drizzled on, knocked around crowded streets and still works fine. I made sure not to intentionally abuse but its gotten a few knocks.
One annoying aspect of the lens is that if you leave it on the camera and sling the camera with a strap it tends to telescope out on its own. Creeping out a little bit at a time. Also if you have it pointed up for a long period of time it will creep in. Annoying if your trying to do long shots of the sky or stars.
So to sum it up
Pros-
-Light Weight
-Small size
-Incredibly flexible
-Widest aperture in the super zoom class (F5.6)
-Good VR system
Cons-
Lack of mass for dampening
Best work is done at F9-11 not F5.6-8.
Lens creep on the zoom.
Conclusion-
This is a great lens, you won't regret buying it. If I could have only one lens this would be it. It stays on my camera more than all my other lenses combined.
Great Lens! Wouldn't trade it
I love this lens! in spite of all the 'pro' reviewers who claim this is a very weak lens....I've had extemely good results & wouldn't (haven't) trade it for several better, faster lenses. It is the one lens I use 99% of the time....indoors, portraits, outdoors, landscapes, wildlife. Too often, you just don't have time to change lenses...you'd have to carry at least two cameras with different lenses (wide & tele)....and I've seen photographers who do, but for an 8 hour shoot, it is just too much for me & not worth the extra trouble.
I shoot weddings and have two 'better', faster lenses, but never use them...things happen too quickly at weddings and you would miss half the shots if you had a 70-200 or the 17-55. I've tested these lenses against the 'quality' of the 18-200 and was very disappointed in the "better' lenses. The 18-200 takes great pictures.....just practice with it to see what you need to do in certain situations.....low light, fast action etc.
I love it and recomend it highly.
Great all around all in one lens...
For serious amateur photographers using Nikon who are interested in carrying one lens for most shooting, this is it!
A Dream Lens
I've been using this lens for over a year now and it seldom comes off of my camera. I have a number of other lenses but this one covers a wide range of focal lengths while also creating sharp images. I periodically need to take low-light shots and for this vibration reduction works well. Yes, it's a bit heavy but weighs less than the combined weight of the lenses it replaces in my camera bag. Also, because it covers such a range of focal lengths you won't be swapping it out very often and that means fewer opportunities for dust to enter and collect on your camera's sensor. Nikon has really outdone itself with this one.
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