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

I bought the lens mainly to use the vibration reduction function for hand-held indoor shooting without a flash, rather than for long telephoto. It's very effective for this, particularly for architecture - the VR allows comparatively long exposures, so the shots tend to be beautifully lit, without the artificial feel of HDR post-processing. The controls (zoom and focus) are well placed, and the autofocus works fast and accurately. The resulting shots are sharp even in the few long telephoto shots that I've made.

There are four minor disadvantages. Firstly, it's a fairly large lens, and it does make the camera awkward to carry, which matters more than for most lenses because this is a "holiday lens" - i.e. a general purpose lens you're going to leave on all the time and carry everywhere. Secondly, there is no brake on the telephoto, so will slide out too its full length under its own weight if you walk vigourously. Thirdly, the lens will cast a shadow with the built-in flash on my D40X, even at the wide (short) end of its travel. Not a big deal as you can crop the bottom of the photo, but you need to bear it in mind when framing the shot. Fourthly, there is a fair amount of barrel distortion at the wide end. it's not prominent unless you photography something with parallel lines, but if you do, it's conspicuous (I sometimes photograph the signs at places I visit as a note to myself, and this shows up the problem). It is possible to find software to correct the image, and it only matters on the few shots where the effect is visible.

All in all, it's a great lens for what I do and I'm pleased I bought it, but you would need to be sure that you need that much zoom or the VR function to make it worthwhile for you as it's necessarily a fair wad of cash.

If you want to put a quality lens onto your camera & leave it there - this one might be for you. Quality and sharpness is as you would expect from Nikon & the VR function has to be experienced to understand how good it is. Recently returned from a holiday in Italy and this lens excelled in all areas - from wide angled landscapes through to zooming detail on buildings. The VR function allowed hand held pictures in fairly dimly lit churches down to 1/30th with great results. If I had to try to fault the lens the only bit I'd improve would be the slight falling off of sharpness at 200mm - but that would be it.
Tip top optic !!

I was looking for a 'general purpose' lens and this is it!
Owning any SLR, dirt on the sensor is always going to be a problem so it was worth paying a bit more for an all-in-one lens. Have you ever priced how much it is to get the sensor professionally cleaned?!
Add to the fact I don't need to swap lenses constantly now and the value of this lens is remarkable. All I need now is a 300 or 400 zoom, a super wide and I'm complete. For general use, holidays, days out this is really the only lens you will need.
I'm very impressed with the speed of focus and how well the VR works. Have taken some great night shots hand held! Very quiet lens to use too, I hate noise and those zwee/zwee sounds of noisey lenses as they focus really irritate me. Not a problem with this one.
There is slight barreling/pin cushioning at full wide/telephoto buy easily fixed in photo editing programs and only obvious against straight lines (door frames, etc) toward the edge of the lens.
I am very impressed with the quality of this lens - it really does make my Nikon feel more 'professional'. And is a complete lens package in one.
I'm very happy with mine, if it got stolen/lost/broken? Within a few days I'd have another one - need I say more?

Am on a trip to SA in a short while, will write more when I get back.
Have a couple Hoya filters for it to so looking forward to some great photo's.

More soon...

This is a beautiful piece of kit. Clearly solid and well built but without being over heavy. It's quite bright at large apertures but the Ver II image stabilization makes it a good performer at low apertures too and you shouldn't have any trouble down to 1/60secs.

Stacking too many filters may be a problem as there is some vignetting with a skylight (lens protector) and a polarizer, for instance, so its best to use one only at a time.

Otherwise very pleased and if one can get from a reliable eBayer you might save ove £100 on the best UK retail price. Beware eBayers stating they ship from UK (eg Luxurycorner) as one can often be caught out (as I was) with USA sourced lens and be hit for duty, etc!!!

Great lens when it works. Mine unfortunately died on me when looking at the Nile flowing over a magnificent waterfall in Ethiopia. The focus wasn't working properly, nor the full range of the telephoto. Needed to be tweaked constantly to take a photo at all.

Have tried to get it repaired twice through Jessop's, but repair has failed both times. Had to buy a new one in the end. So after 1.5 years, it was not fit for purpose. I hope the new one lasts longer

This lens is a great "allrounder". Perfect for a holliday as the "only lens" Image stabilisation (VR) os also a greal function. Good value for money.

The lens is great. I decided to buy it since with this lens I now have a great camera which takes excellent photos. It offers special features which make y Nikon D60 complete!

A great all rounder which produces very respectable results on my Nikon D200. OK, it may not be as good as individual prime lenses, but how many would you have to carry to cover the same range? One of the complaints I have heard about this lens is its tendency to creep when pointing downwards when carried but my example certainly doesn't do this although it is still new! All in all an excellent piece of kit which certainly meets my requirements for an everyday lens.

I have waitied the best part of three years to get my hands on this lens.

First it was in so much demand it was on backorder everywhere. Then those that did filter through were being sold at a premium with typically a 25% mark -up on RRP. Others just gouged from there!

Now it's readily available, and, more importantly, discounted in many places, this was my chance.

It's a heavy lens, if you're going to be toting it round all day, make sure you have a camera bag with you to take the occasional break.

The first couple of hundred shots since it arrived yesterday have confirmed what all the reviews have been saying. Excellent optics, smooth action, superb VR and most of all excellent image quality in all light levels and across the aperture range. very minimal lens distortion anywhere in the range too.

If you too are thinking about this lens for a DX format camera, JFDI!!! You won't regret it.

I like the general-purpose of this product,
but the f value could be lower close to the 200mm.

If you need an easy and cheap kit lens it is the best.

This lens was far better than I expected. I already bought a normal lens that pretty much covered my everyday use. Still I couldn't get this 18-200 mm out of my head, read all the reviews and decided to try it out. It's range covers everything a semi-pro or even a real pro needs on a daily basis. Even a lazy photographer can get excellent results with this allround lens. Shooting pictures away from the center of attention where it looks like you're out of range. Many photographers wish they could be that discrete and not look like a papparazzi. The lens itself is light, sharp and fast. The VR system compensates for the f3.5 aperture. It replaces all the other ones I used to carry around. That was definetly the pros, now to the cons...
The only bad thing I can think of is that it feels a bit low budget in weight and appearance but don't judge a book by it's cover.
As for the performance: it's GREAT!

Just Excellent! Very quick delivery,very good communication, lens as described!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seems to be the must have for the D80 or upwards ,I own a D300 and apart from the obvious lense travel problem it does work a treat.

This is a superb lens I decided to buy this lens after reading some reviews and it turns out that they were spot on.

Andy.

Great Lens Have taken some wonderfull wildlife shots with it. Does everything I expected it would do.The VR is great for an oldy like me.

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Awsome lens took about 100 pics with it now lots between 100-200mm and i not had any bluury pics yet this is ace. a must for any nikon dslr owner on a budget.

bourght one of these from Kerso a long while back,,, nearly a year on its functioning just great! the VR function has proved a god send especially in all types of low light, anything down to 1/10th second has come out sharp.

the range of 18-200 mm means that you never really need to take then lens off the camera! (or at least i dont) saves a lot of sensor cleaning.

and it saves a lot of room in your camera bag!

only downfall with such a long lens is the wieght of the glass! this in some rare ocations casues the lense to extend through the weight,, usually when you have the lense vertically facing down.

but other then that its 99% recormended!

Good service - the lens is great and is useful for for a wide range of tasks, good at low speads/light - good for all round work.

I bought this lens on a write up and test reports, In Digital Photo magazine.
Its a great lens, light, quite, and gives you sharp shots at low shutter speeds. Can be expensive so look around, there are some great dealsto be found.

good item, fast delivery, i am happy with it, i bought it as new lens to my camera, its new as descriped, thanks...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................