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: Agree, it's awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
I would not necessarily agree with a previous reviewer's assessment that it is lightweight. I guess it's relative, but of the three lenses I own for my D80 it is the heaviest; although not so much that it's a hassle to carry. I have found this lens to be great for a lot of different situations from landscapes to portraits. One thing though, do heed the manual's, and Scott Kelby's book's, advice to turn the VR off when shooting with this lens on a tripod. One thing to note, this lens is hard to come by and the vendors who do have some in stock are charging a premium over MSRP. You have to decide if the premium is worth it (I decided it was) or if you want to get it up to $200 cheaper by waiting several weeks to months. Eventually Nikon will get enough into the marketplace, but they aren't there yet.Digital camera Review: All In One Lens BENCHMARK
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are looking for an all in one lens, this is it. For my D50, I previously had the 18-70mm and finally realized I need something that had more of a zoom range. However, the last thing I wanted to do was buy another lens like the 70-300mm and have to switch them back and forth. Problem Solved: Nikon 18-200mm VR
You can read and read all you want about this lens, but until you experience it first hand will you see how it is the most practical lens around. Oh, and the VR....incredible! Some may argue you are better off have 2 or even 3 lenses depending on your occasion, but with the 18-200mm VR, you have everything you need. Oh, and the VR...did I say incredible. Try it once is all I needed to realize I will never own another lens without VR.
Sure you can buy cheaper lenses and some may say the VR really isn't necessary, but you get what you pay for. For travel or everyday use, I will never miss a shot having to worry about, oh, I need to first change my lens cause all you have to do is adjust the zoom, and shoot.
As for the VR, just so you don't have to think about it, just leave it set to ON. ACTIVE setting when on a moving vehicle and taking pictures, otherwise keep it on NORMAL. One more thing, when shooting sports or action shots, keep the VR turned off.
Digital camera Review: All Rounder Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
They say, you get what you pay for. This lens may be on the high end side when it comes to the price but it gives result which makes your investment worth every penny. I am not here to review all the technical details but I did a lot of research on web before I went for this one and I didn't make a bad choice. Right out of the box I shot a wedding and the results came out stunning with great details and colors (wedding in Asian countries have bright color dresses). Auto focus is fast even in low light, almost quiet focusing, great Zoom and VR works the way it is supposed to. There are tons of websites with all sorts of reviews to confuse you over the technical details and prove that it is not worth it but remember that this lens is a Jack of All Trades so don't analyze it only for a specific purpose and should consider other specific lenses for that. It is not as heavy as it looks so holding the camera with this lens for longer duration is not an issue. I have read of lens creep issue with this lens but I have yet to witness it. The lens is one stop brighter than the competition (which offers a choice on similar specs but a lot cheaper in price) and one stop may not sound a whole lot but it does make a huge difference for indoor low light situations. This lens offers you the convenience of photographing the right moment at the right time and not to waste it in changing lenses. Go for it !!!!.
Amazon dropped the price right after I bought so I am not happy over that as Amazon should guarantee price for some duration to increase consumer confidence or match it with a refund if the price drops within that duration. I think like other good stores do, it would be fair with the customers.
Digital camera Review: All in one wonder
Summary: 5 Stars
Replace a whole bag of glass with this! This lens does exactly what it says it does. It covers 99% of the shooting I do and does it well. Well worth the investment. Only con I can find is that it is a little heavy. Get a good strap to carry your camera and it won't matter.Digital camera Review: Almost ideal when coupled with DxO
Summary: 5 Stars
I first thought about buying a Nikon when my girlfriend at the time decided to get one for herself. Her choice was a Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-135mm AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens. I went on a search and found the magnificent site by Ken Rockwell. Liked what I read and later got myself a Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens. Actually I got myself body_only with 18-200 lens.
What can I say. At first I was just happy - new toy, insane zoom range, smooth and super-fast focusing (my previous experience with SLRs dates back some 35 years when I was a kid and my father used to fix expensive film cameras and lens for a living). After a while I realized that the lens isn't free from distortion. I won't pretend I understand MTF and all that crap, you can read it in the reviews of people who do get it. Anyhow, images needed fixing. Now, I'm not that fond of photoshop - way too much time to master, while nearly useless until you're a guru. Even googling the answer isn't always that easy and helpful. Anyway, I was looking for some kind of software to auto-magically fix all the distortion etc.
And again Ken Rockwell provided me with an answer: DxO Optics Pro v5 Elite Edition (actually, all you need is 'standard' that is $170, not the 'elite' one linked - Amazon doesn't seem to have the cheaper one for some reason).
Now, I'm happy. My workflow goes like this. I shoot in RAW, download everything to my PC, use ACDsee to kill all smudged and otherwise hopeless pictures, then batch-process everything left with DxO, just fixing white balance if needed. I also like to hike vibrancy a little. No distortion, and great pictures!
So my suggestion - just include DxO in the budget. Yes, it's quite expensive to begin with, but it's a single walk-around lens you'll probably ever need! You don't need anything else. And no bag - just thing about it ;-)