Nikkor 18-200 VR Question

[travis_reynolds]

I am looking to upgrade my DSLR equipment, and had a question about this lens.

[anonymous]

While I have never owned the lens, there are a couple of reviews from very good sources that may answer some of your questions-

http://www.photozone.de/nikon–nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/242-nikkor-af-s-18-200mm-f35-56-g-if-ed-vr-ii-dx-review–test-report

and

http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_zoom_02.html#AFS18-200VR

hope that helps- sorry for having nothing else to offer.

Will

[Buzz Bryson]

I got the lens when it first hit the market.

[Ben Cochran]

The 18-200VR is a great lens!! I hear the “to soft talk” about this lens and I keep wondering, to soft for what? It is a sharp lens but if the images are compared to pro lenses, it will be a bit softer. All zoom lenses have their soft spots and that is to be expected. The 70-200 is an excellent lens but one can not compare the 70-200 to the 18-200, they are engineered completely differently.

I also have the 18-200 and think it is a great lens. For everyday casual shots, I will not hesitate to use it and in a crunch, I would not hesitate to use it on assignment. The 18-55 is also a great lens and is very sharp, can’t compare it to the 17-55 though as they, too, are engineered differently. The 17-55 is sharper but the 18-55 is still a very good lens, for the price; it is an excellent lens!

I, also, strongly recommend the 18-200 as a great choice. Granted it does creep a bit but for the good quality of the images, it is a mere short coming. Don’t know if Nikon has fixed that issue or not yet.

[Neal Osborn]

Travis,

I am always hesitant to give advice on this part of the board but I feel confident enough about the 18-200VR lens to discuss its performance.  This has been my primary (and until recently only) lens for my Nikon DSLR.  I am very very pleased with the lens and it is truly a work horse.  for two years my setup was a Nikon D50 with the 18-200 and it served me well and offered a great range of shots to gain experience.  Now that I have upgraded my camera body and got some new lenses I still keep the 18-200 on the camera most of the time. Furthermore, my wife will pretty much only use that lens since she feels comfortable with its performance.  You will not regret the purchase one bit.  Don’t read the review about it being heavy, it’s just right for you current camera body.

Here are some post I’ve made – all pictures were taken with my old D50 and the 18-200 lens.

This post shows pictures from Belize – the 18-200 offers a good range of shots from close up to horizon shots. http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1210637505/14#14

This post shows that the 18-200 can take good macro pictures of your flies. http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1217385827

Here are some posts I made from Islamorada – all pictures taken with the D50/18-200.

[travis_reynolds]

Thanks for the replies everybody, and thanks for the example pics Neal.  I was hoping somebody would post some as a reference for me….I am feeling pretty confident about the 18-200 VR, and maybe my local dealer will let me put the lens on my camera to bring home to analyze the pics.  I figured the softness issues were just nit-picking.  It seems that the when you read reviews online it is a treasure trove of negative comments, people who are satisfied with the product very rarely make any comments.  Also, the guy I work with that has the 70-200 f/2.8 told me that he was partial to that lens, so his analysis was biased.  I realize that those two lenses are engineered for different purposes, so I think I am feeling much safer going with the 18-200.  My local dealer had it listed for $750 last week, so needless to say I probably won’t be going that route.  B&H listed around $650 and E-bay around $550 new.

Thanks for all the input everybody.

Travis

[jon olender]

My advice would be to get the 55-200 IF you are going to keep the 18-55- it will be cheaper and you will get roughly the same optical performance as the 18-200 VR.

[Buzz Bryson]

Travis,

One site you might want to refer to when considering lens’ choices is Bjorn Rorslett’s (http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2_PC.html).

He’s a Nikon guy, and does a pretty good job of thrashing out most of the Nikon lenses.

Buzz

[Neal Osborn]

Travis, check out Ken Rockwell’s in-depth review of the 18-200.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm#index

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