Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens

The 18-200 VR is an excellent travel lens, is extremely versatile, and good quality overall, but it is not the only lens you will ever need for most people.

It has its flaws, most notably for me are the distortion at 18 mm (which is correctable) and the lens isn't the best as you approach 200 mm, but it still is good enough for most cases. I also noticed it tends to overexpose a hair near 18mm, but exposure comp takes care of that easily, then again this could also be my camera or the shooting situations. I haven't done enough comparisons for this.

The strength are the flexibility and the VR. VR is great and makes hand held shooting with lower shutter speeds great. Think lower light shots hand held at 18mm and 200mm hand held without camera shake.

Traveling this is the lens I use 80% of the time now. For more specific situations I still dig into my lens bag more, particularly for my 12-24 or 50mm 1.8.

A lot of reviewers are saying this lens isn't sharp. They must be insane. How sharp CAN a lens be when it zooms from 18mm all the way up to 200mm? Maybe it's not quite as sharp as an f2.8 lens costing twice the money, but otherwise, it's mighty sharp. It's sharper than any other super-zoom out there. It's designed to be used as one all-around great lens instead of lugging around three or four incredibly sharp lenses. All zoom lenses are soft or distorted SOMEWHERE in their focal range/aperture. This lens is actually just as sharp or sharper than most lenses, and it focuses to 20 inches!!! That alone makes this lens an amazing performer. Maybe it's not as sharp as a real macro, but with what other lens can you take a considerably sharp ladybug at 200mm and then zoom out and shoot the entire landscape at 18mm? If it's not sharp enough, then why are so many pros using it all the time, and not even bothering with their other lenses?

I have a Nikon D200 and this lens. Everywhere I go, this camera/lens comes with me. Because of this amazing lens, I've been able to hike to the tops of waterfalls and through rainforests without a camera bag. I have worked professionally, but I'm not a pro. I don't need to spend a fortune on lenses for just a tiny bit more sharpness. I can always sharpen in Photoshop if necessary. But even a pro would have to admit that for a do-it-all lens, NOTHING is better than the Nikon 18-200mm.

Though a little bit pricy this is the best all round lens I have ever used. Great image stabilization and fast response for a zoom. Worth the money.

Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor LensI have taken over 10,000 pictures with this lens on my nikon d40 and the results have been incredible. The lens still works as well as the day I bought it. The only time I swap lens is when I need a little more length( i use my 70-300 vr) or extreme low light without flash. This lens is supewr for sports, portraits, and landscapes. It has never let me down. The colors and sharpness are consistently A+. I would advise anyone with a nikon dslr to purchase this lens. You will not be sorry.

I bought this lens to replace a 18-250 lens from another manufacture. I tested it for resolution at the center and edges from the widest f stop through f22. It was better than expected based on dpreview test of this lens so I decied to keep the lens. The lens I replaced (although sharper) could not be trusted to focus properly. The Nikon is always right on. I have shot at 1/5th second and at 200mm with great results using the VR. A great lens.