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

This is a spectacular lens but is it worth the extreme hype generated? Probably. Coming from digital with my 17-35mm 2.8, I needed something with a little more reach and a lighter lens for travel and general photography. With pro lenses in mind, I was skeptical of the 18-200 but this quickly vanished. I tested both the 17-35mm 2.8 and the 18-200mm VR on a tripod (with VR off) at different focal lengths and F-stops. Both lenses show very little if any difference in quality, perhaps a bit more contrast on the 17-35 and only slightly sharper when viewed at 100%. This is ignoring the obvious benefit of the 18-200 in its ability to use VR or nikon's vibration reduction. Again I was skeptical at just how good VR could be but the results were amazing.

VR is basically like having an electro-mechanical tripod operated by controls in the lens to stabilize the image when the shutter is pressed halfway. While you can't wildly swing your arms around and still expect to get a good shot, VR compensates for the normal 'tremors' present when holding a camera steady and/or wind effects so that you can stop the lens down to a smaller F stop such as F8 and still get a sharp photo. Anyone who tells you this lens will replace your fast, 1.4-2.8 lenses is not correct. Depth of field control and action shots in low light with this group is unparalleled. The 18-200 is just not cut out for either task, as VR will not compensate for blur when using a slow shutter speed.

While everyone likes to place the 18-200VR in the 'walk around' catagory because of its great versatility, I think that often this lens gets snubbed by pro's as being an amateur lens designed for prosumers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fast lenses have their place, there's no substitute for the quality they possess. The funny thing is, a lot of pro's get the 18-200 to see just how good this lens is and test it against their fast lens arsenal. Is it a fair test? Definetely not, but the results are astonding considering the price points. My advice is wait for the hype to go away, which it already has started to do. This is a $699 lens and it is worth every penny.

I am a professional wedding, portrait and event photographer and I own many different camera bodies and lenses of all different price ranges including consumer, professional, and "prosumer".

After actualy using this lens on the job at numerous weddings I am impressed with its versitility. It offers a wide range of flexibility from 18-200mm which allows me to continue shooting images as they happen instead of changing out lenses and allowing dust inside my camera body, or grabbing a second body with a different lense attached to it.

Normally I would have to shoot with 2 cameras, one with a wider angled lense attached, and a second with a zoom lense, switching out cameras throughout the whole shoot. Now I just use one camera and one lens for almost every shot.

The VR system on this lens is well worth the extra expense. When you are shooting events such as weddings you simply can not utilize tripods or even monopods and achieve the photos that the clients expect. This has always been a problem because of the natural tremor tendancy in zoom mode and wind effects. Now with the VR built into the lens it produces photos that are as stable as if they were taken from a tripod.

I only see 3 drawbacks to this lens. The first being its weight, which is to be expected due to its outstanding construction materials. This is NOT a toy plastic lens. The second is lens creep which is also caused by its weight and construction materials. How often are you really going to shoot straight up or straight down? I have owned this lens since the day after it came out and I have never yet run into a situation where the lens creep has posed a problem. I even used this lens while mounted on my D200 on a tripod and shooting at a fairly extreme angle to capture outstanding shots of the recent full lunar eclipse. Even at such a high angle there was no lens creep. Until the lens is pointed straight up or straight down at about the 150mm range, lens creep s not an issue. The third drawback is its price, but again this is caused mainly by its high quality and durable materials. As I stated, this lens is NOT a plastic toy lens as other competitors are making.

Overall, I would give this lens an Excellent Rating after taking everything into consideration and would definitely recommend this lens to anyone wanting a single lens for their photography needs. This lens has replaced about 4 lenses that I normally carry with me. Now I am able to carry a single D200, this 18-200mm lens, a MB200 multi battery pack, and a SB800 Speedflash and I am ready for almost any photographic situation.

This lens makes it possible to travel with no other lenses in the bag and still cover wide to telephoto. The VR compensates for the lens being a bit slower. I just took it to Europe for two weeks and got great shots with it to on my D2x.

I had the opportunity to see a try for the first time this beautiful 80-200mm Nikon lenz in Singapore a few weeks ago. It was a very important mouve for Nikon.With the camera D50 and other models we had to travel like the old time...with heavy camera bag. It was very important For NIKON to developpe a lenz like this one. It works great and is very practical. No need to go around with two many lenzes.. ONE 18-200mm DAS IT ALL. It's perfect and very simple to use.
It is worth buying it. I advice anyone to try it.. and surely you will not use any other lenzes anymore.
Something negative aboud it?
Is NOT TO CHEAP !! And quite difficult to find !!The lenz it self? It's just perfect!!
Helene

This is a fantastic lens! The glass is near professional quality and images taken with this lens are nothing short of spectacular. No, it is not a pro quality f2.8 lens, but it is also not $1500+ either. It will do 95% of what most of us need a lens for. The focus is fast and near silent (you can hear the VR working a little). It focuses amazingly close, though not a macro lens and the wide angle is plenty wide with the usual distortion...easy to fix distortion, at both ends. The VR works well and can make hand held shots look nearly as good as tripod shots...nearly. Low light performance is good, though the VR only works on static subjects (obviously). If you are going to make a living taking available light shots you are going to have to spend the big bucks...that is just the way it is. Pros will balk and point out the len's flaws, but they have the extra thousands to spend...the rest of us don't. I guarantee you that if you have just a little talent and a decent Nikon SLR you will get results that will keep you from spending your money on a professional photog. Maybe that is why they are whining so much?
Bottom line...this lens is a marvel and now every other lens maker is going to have to play catch-up. If you are expecting this lens to make you Ansel Adams...you will be disappointed. If you expect it to make your photographing life easier, less complicated and in most repects better...you will be VERY happy.

Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Lens is one of the most amazing lenses ever produced by Nikon. Huge zoom range, magic VR (Vibration Reduction) technology, high class optical quality and compact size/weight make this piece of glass an ultimate "take it anywhere" lens.

It is hard to find lens. Instead of join the long waiting list, I decided to pay premium price on eBay to get my hands on it.

My second favorite advantage of this lens is how up close I can get for macro photography. I've discovered that this lens can focus as close as 8-9 inches from the subject at 200mm. Awesome!

Many photo opportunities were lost either because I had to change lenses or because of camera shake. The shots I got from my own lens are sharp and have better contrast than my 18-70 kit lens. With my 12-24 Nikon, I now am able to travel with only 2 lenses instead of 4 and shoot more spontaneously and no more heavy tripod. VR obsoletes tripods.

This amazing lens enables me to now carry everything I need inside one Sling Bag rather than a big bag with 4 lenses and a tripod!

It's truly a fantastic lens. How do I know? I have been using it for quite a while now. Though I own a few other "professional" lenses, this one rarely leaves my camera.

f3.5 – 5.6 makes this a bit slow lens and the only thing I miss in this lens is internal focusing.

For those who don't want to read the detail below: if you're an everyday amateur shooter with some money to spend, get it. if you're serious about you're work and working with ease, put you're money into a lighter faster lens.

id say this lens would be fun at the zoo or at a birthday party...for what i refer as snapshots. as far as taking photos, you're going to have to do some extra work yourself (tripod, slower shutter speeds, higher ISOs).

i myself, i'm thinking of taking mine back and getting an 18-70mm. i know, stupid right? the 18-70mm has some lens distortion, but so does the 18-200mm. i just really don't need to zoom into 200mm from 18mm. the 18-70mm is much lighter, faster, and half the price. plus, ive already got a nice 70-300mm which produces better results at high focal lengths.

Pros:
1. covers a great length, coming from 18mm into 200mm. this is handy for travel, or trip where you've never been, in which case you're not sure exactly what focal length will be best (as this covers many).

2. yes, it has a Vibration Reduction (VR) system built into it. its pieces of glass inside the lens which move when the camera moves to compensate for small movements (breathing, breeze, small tremors inside cam body).

Cons:
1. 18-200mm...who cares? this is a f/3.5-5.6 lens, so if you're in any low light forget about it. you'll either have to compensate with a slower shutter speed and use a tripod, or you'll have to crank the ISO up high and get a nasty pincushion effect on your photo. unless you're working with a D300 (ISO is pretty nice up to about 800-100), or a D3 (crank the ISO as high as you like with minimal pincusion), this is not a lens friendly to every environment.

2. heavy. i think this is the real reason this lens has a VR system on it...to compensate for extra shake because this lens is a little on the heavier side, especially zooming into higher lengths.

3. VR system...this vibration reduction system can obviously be used to only compensate for very small movements from the camera. i would rather just have a lens that weighs less than have a heavy block with this VR system on it.

4. sharpness is weak. call me crazy, but my 18-135mm f/3.5 is sharper. yes, im picky about sharpness, so unless you're making large prints or using photos for digital design online, you probably won't notice it.

5. cost...i know why this lens cost about $700, but i think the feature you are paying for are not very valuable features; i.e., VR system, 18-200mm, hasselblad glass.

This is really a great lens, it is sharp and crisp through out the zoom range. The VR stabilization is good for about 2 f-stops. VR is not an infinite fix. But if you can normally hand hold at 1/60th of a second, with VR you can hand hold at 1/15th of a second.

I'm not a pro, but I got this lens, and it is well worth it's price. The quality is good (for my standards) and doesn't seem to have any problems. Also, the zoom capabilities is excellent.

I chose this particular lens to go with my new Nikon D40 camera, as I am not a professional photographer...just a regular busy person...and did not want to have to be switching lenses all the time to go from close-up to wide to telephoto zoom.

This one lens it great, as it does it all!!! No swicthing, no carrying others, no worry...it just stays attached to the camera and I can do anything with it! Fast, quiet, and takes beautiful shots!

I am very pleased with this lens and I feel it was well worth the money!

This is the lens that I leave on my Nikon D200 most of the time. The picture quality is excellent and the VR is awesome. You can go from wide angle shots to zoom without changing lenses. You will not be sorry if you buy this lens.

The Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR Nikkor lens is perhaps the most versatile Nikon lens on the market today. The lens produces sharp images out wide as well as close in. The VR (vibration reduction) function does tend to drain battery power from the camera much more quickly than normal, but significantly reduces the chance that your images are blurred. I find that I shoot with this lens 90% of the time; it's great for portraits and landscapes alike!

This is a great all in one general purpose lens, from wide angle landscape to telephoto portrait is all possible - the compact design has made possible thanks to the DX design. Non-rotating front filter thread is great for polarizer. Lens is overall very sharp and contrast is very good. Barrel destrotion at 18mm is obvious. VR II is very useful when photographing without tripod, lack normal/active VR button found on hi-end vr lenses means it would be hard when photographing on a moving vehicle. 72mm filter thread size.

Strengths: 18-200mm focal length, VR II, compact size and weight (for the range it provides), easy manual override of auto-focus, fast and silent auto-focus

Weaknesses: Very difficult to find anywhere near list price, will not work with film cameras

Comments: This is a fantastic lens from Nikon. And based on the scarcity of this lens, it appears that a whole lot of people in the Nikon world agree. The title says it all for me - if I had to choose just one lens to go for everyday shooting, this is the lens I'd take. The 18-200mm range allows versatility and the VR II image stabilization system really helps. At $700 list, it's not a cheap lens but I consider it a great deal considering what it delivers.

The only downsides in my book are the scarcity of this lens. I had to wait weeks to get my copy but the wait was definitely worth it. Also, this is a DX lens so if you use a film camera body, this lens will produce pictures with severe vignetting.

Overall, a very nice lens from Nikon that I would highly recommend.

Everything you've heard about this lens is true - the good and the bad. First off, the bad - which is not all that bad. Like *any* zoom, it has some distortion at some focal lengths. I find that personally I can live with this distortion, and God knows if you can't DXO will fix it for you automatically and painlessly. As for the good - excellent usable range, very good (but not killer) sharpness at f8 and above, and the VR is AMAZING. You really truly will never want to go back once you experience the VR - it really is that good.
Get this lens if you can afford it - sell some of your other lenses if you must, you will likely never touch them again anyway. I've sold five of my other lenses; I've only kept my ultra-wide 12-24DX, and an old MF ultra-prime 180mm, more out of nostalgia than anything else.
Nikon Rules!!!!

I have been looking for this lens a long time. Ken Rockwell, a noted photo guy who has his own webpage, said this lens was one of the best to be had, any price, any model.

Knowing he is very knowledable I began to look for one of these lens to fill out a gap in my photo needs. I had been looking everywhere, and when this lens was available, it usually ran about $889 usually with shipping added.

I then went to ebay, and found this lens. I was shocked actually, when I bid on the one I got. For a long time, I was the only bidder, and then another bidder came in. There were only two bids, I had already put in my maximum bid on the first bid. I went on to bed that nite, and I was shocked when I arose the next morning, and found I was the winning bidder. I got this lens at a much better price than any I had seen. Needless to say, I was a happy camper.

I love photography, and with this lens, I can actually replace a lot of lens by just keeping it on my camera. It will cover anything I need in almost all situations.

At this time, I have found no problems with this lens, it really is awesome.

All the best,

Casper_zip aka Bob

I bought this lense because of the great VR system and the excellent 18 to 200 range. I am usually carrying a bag with 3 different lenses to cover every situation and have found that it makes me miss more moments than capture. Since I have started using this lense it has put the FUN back into enjoying my camera and photo opportunities.

Dont get me wrong there are still plenty of time I break out my 70-200 f/2.8 for situations that demand an A+ lense but the 18-200 is an "A" in my book for 90% of all picture opportunities.

I can't say anything bad about this lens. I paid alittle more than waiting and have a dealer call me but it's worth every penny. I put in on my camera and I haven't taken it off. From close ups to landscape it's AWESOME............
Thanks,
Julie

The Nikon Nikkor 18-200 VR lens is a great lens to have in your arsenal. It takes great pictures with excellent quality. The VR features really help stabalize your shots and minimizes blur. I love this lens and would highly recommend for any level of photo experience.

I tell you, for 98% of what most photographers do, this lens is absolutely all you need...it cover standard wide angle all the way through strong telephoto. I conducted some tests comparing sharpness at the different focal lengths between this lens and the 18-70 kit lens and this lens equals it or beats it at each focal length...and of course this one continues into the telephoto range well beyond what the 18-70 can do. In fact, it even rivals some of my old prime Nikkors at 20mm & 105mm! It's a definite winner, and the VR functionality is awesome as well; much crisper hand-held shots, expecially at longer focal lengths. The best all around lens you can buy, period!

I've been a serious amateur photographer for well over 30 years and almost all that time, I carried a camera or two and multiple lens (mostly Nikon film cameras.) The Nikon 18-200 VR lens is the first time I've been comfortable that while carrying only one camera and one lens, I could handle the vast majority of shooting situations I find myself in. The resolution is excellent, I can see no color anomalies, and it focuses accurately. The vibration reduction feature lets me handhold at least two more f-stops over a non "VR" lens. I'd like the lens to be faster but, its well balanced and the VR feature gives me affect of a faster lens anyway. Paid more for it than my camera body but, in my opinion, digital SLRs evolve much faster than high quality lenses so, I consider a very good investment.

I've been trying for years to reduce the amount of photo gear I actually need to accomplish various assignments. I purchased this particular lens because it eliminates the need for a great many individual lenses without sacrificing optical performance.

This lens has proven to be a wise choice for me and has become one of two lenses that I pack for every assignment.

I purchased this lens two days before heading off to shot a six day conference. I paired it up with my recently purchased Nikon D40. Thrilled with the images I was able to capture.

You can stand in the back of the room, and shoot everything. And only use one lens. You can go from wide angle to zoom all in one motion. The VR meant almost every shot, no matter the distance, came out clear. Took some shots at a baseball game, and captured the motion of the picture and catcher easily. People were impressed with the photos.

Two weeks later, I went to my niece's college graduation, and would not have been able to get the shots I did without the lens. I was able to get the entire stage area and then zoom in close to identify the people on stage. Since it was raining cats and dogs, I was glad I did not have to keep changing lenses.

Buy it, you will love it.