Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom Nikkor Lens by Nikon
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Digital camera reviews of Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom Nikkor Lens
Digital camera Review: A must have if you have the money...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this lens two months ago and have taken 1000+ pictures on it so far. It is amazing. The VR allows me to take a perfectly steady handheld shot as low as 1/4 second! The images are very sharp and contrasty, and combined with a circular polarizer, produces even more amazing images! A must have if you can afford it!Digital camera Review: A must-have.
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best lenses I've ever purchased. Picture quality is excellent.Digital camera Review: A very dissapointing lens
Summary: 2 Stars
As ap semi-pro with photography, I moved from Canon equipment to Nikon specifcally for this lens. In the last two months I have shot over a thoursand pictures with my D300 and this lens. Several years ago I had a Nikon 8800 as a secondary camera that provided stunning pictures all be it an extremely slooooooow camera. I kept asking myself, what is wrong with this highly sofisticated camera and lens? I found that shooting with spot metering provided the best results but still not as sharp and popping as I am use to getting. I finally went back to Amazon and read the 1 and 2 star reviews only to learn that so many have experienced what I have come to realize. This is truly a soft focus lens good for 4x6 famly pictures but do not attempt to blow them up at all. I do a lot of macro photography and would say that 90% of the photos I shot were unusable! I moved to the Nikon 16 to 85 and it is a night and day difference. If you are interested in large format printing and want to see the veins in the pedal of a rose - run from this lens as fast as you can!Digital camera Review: A winning lens!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's pretty hard to justify the expense of this lens when I already had the D70 kit lens (18-70) and a 15 year old Nikon 70-210mm lens which I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! The bokeh is gorgeous and its my favorite lens for shooting human subjects in the outdoors.
The problem with that 70-210 is that I rarely use it because it's not normally bolted to the camera. This 18-200 lens solves that problem by being "the one" lens that is always on the camera. This lens reduces my "gotta have" bag to just one other lens, a wide angle 12-24. That covers 99% of my shooting. For those other times, the Nikon 80-400 is a wonderful, albeit heavy, chunk of glass.
I have only had this lens for a few weeks so I haven't tried duplicating some of the best shots I've taken with the old 70-210. However, the shots I've taken I am quite pleased with. The fact that I have it on the frame all the time increases its value dramatically.
Digital camera Review: Absolutely wonderful, versatile lens but with some limitations
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a perfect lens for all-around scenic use giving you everything from nice wide angles to just about all the focal length you'll need in most situations for scenics. It focuses fast, and makes a much better "only" lens than the lenses included with most camera bodies.
However, you do need to be aware of its limitations; specifically at full zoom there is quite noticeable light fall-off in the corners that becomes especially obvious if the image is enhanced at all or if you process the RAW data from your camera. The practical effect is that full zoom shots are less than useful if you need any of the image in the corners of the frame unless you're willing to do some manipulation to even out the exposure in the corners.
Still, it's hard to beat especially at the price. For those buying D40s and D60s it may be hard to justify a lens that costs nearly as much as the camera body, but take a look at the four figure prices you'd need to spend to get something better.
The absolute best thing about the lens is the VR feature; I've been able to take some handheld shots with razor sharpness in conditions that normally would have required a tripod - especially good when taking nighttime "city lights" shots.
In short, if you're looking for say, an 18-190mm lens, this is a great buy. If you need the 200mm length to be absolutely perfect, choose a different lens.
Otherwise, despite its drawbacks, I'm quite happy to leave this lens attached to my camera 99% of the time.