Nikon 18 - 200 VRII

[colinl]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Nikon 18 - 200 VRII lens. I'm thinking of buying one to replace the two kit lenses I have (18-55 and 55-200). The versatility would good, but I wonder how good the image quality is.

[kiwi]

Probably better than what you have mate, but not as good as other more specialised lenses.

[fillum]

Col, I have the first version of this lens which is almost the same. It was my first lens but is no longer my main lens. It's very versatile and great for traveling light, but does have a few drawbacks.

Main drawback is the max aperture. It has a max aperture of f/3.5 at 18mm but by the time you zoom to 50mm the max aperture is already around f/4.8. Increased ISO (and VR in some situations) can make up for the lack of light, but you won't be able to get the same narrow depth-of-field as with a faster lens (if that's a requirement for you). As you will be replacing kit lenses you won't actually be losing too much in regards to max aperture (and may actually gain at some focal lengths), but I thought it important to mention.

The other issue is that the lens has fairly significant distortion - mostly barrel at the wider end but also some pincussion further through the zoom range. This is more of a problem if you shoot a lot of straight lines (buildings, etc), but I find it's usually pretty easy to fix in pp when necessary so I personally don't find it a big issue in practice.

Other aspects - sharpness, colour, contrast - not the best available but are all adequate for my needs. If you want to get an idea of some actual results maybe head to flickr and do a search on this lens (there might even be a user group).

If you do go with the 18-200 you might want to consider adding a fast prime for low light situations. I bought a 35mm f/2 for this purpose, but if buying now would probably get the 35mm f/1.8 (and there are also third-party options from Sigma, etc). I eventually moved to a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 as my main lens, but still use the 18-200 regularly for travel or walk-around, etc.






Cheers.

[colinl]

The aperture was one of the things that worried me about the lens. I've attended a couple of events recently were the crowds and environment have made swapping lenses for different shots were a bit of a pain in the proverbial. This lens seemed like a good alternative, but I would like to see some improvement with image quality over my existing lenses too.

[phototyke]

I quite liked mine,I know there are negative reviews out there but everything is a compromise,I'd get another one anytime.............