By Michelle Nicolosi (Seattle, Wa)

This is an incredible lens, delivering consistently great photos. Auto focus is fast and accurate. Of course, the bottom line is what kind of image quality will it dish up — sharp, crisp, brilliant, excellent. People look at the pix I shoot with this lens and say, man, this looks professional.

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By David Liscio (Nahant, Ma USA)

Since most digital SLR cameras tend to squeeze the average wide-angle lens until it basically becomes useless in tight quarters, the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 goes a long way toward solving that problem. Even at 16mm, the lens performs admirably, and the auto-focus mechanism is fast, silent and flawless. Yes, it’s expensive, but a couple of picture sales will pay for it.

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By Lori Daniels “Hot Momma” (Emmett Twp, MI United States)

Excellent lens for the price and to us ameture/novice photographers. I have done quite a bit of research before my actual purchase and for someone who wants to start venturing out into the telephoto world this is a great start. I’ve been on other pro web sites and to them this may not be the perfect lens, according to the reviews, but I feel I made a great choice. I bought it in mind for sport/action photography, since I have kids. The only down fall is when you can’t use flash and taking action photos, the photos come out blurry. That happens to be the case with my daughters gymnastics. But when I’m ready to spend a few hundred dollars or more I’ll research for a lens that will overcome that problem. But for now I’m happy.

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By bink (New York, NY USA)

I’ve been reading about this lens for months now and saving my pennies. When the price dropped back down out of the stratosphere, I smashed the piggy bank and grabbed it. I’m glad I did. If you are hitting the end of the 18-55 lens and wishing you could get in just a little closer with each shot, you will love this lens.I’ve had no problem with creep or excessive stiffness. It is a bit bigger and heavier than the 18-55 but nothing unmanageable. Though it does kind of dwarf my little D40. But I’m ok with that.

I haven’t used the VR much, so I can’t speak to that yet. I am happy with the quality of the shots I take and thrilled to think I’ll probably never have to change lenses again. What a great way to keep dust out of the camera!

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Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens Plus information
The 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens is a compact, lightweight, 11.1x zoom lens that is ideal for high-performance, everyday photography, and it incorporates advanced features such as Nikon’s Extra Low Dispersion (ED) glass, Silent Wave Motor technology (SWM), and Enhanced Vibration Reduction (VR II) in a DX-Nikkor design engineered exclusively for use with Nikon DX format digital SLR cameras.

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By “just another customer” (San Francisco, CA)

If you looking for something relatively inexpensive and fun to carry around, this is the lens for you. Quality is good in good light, most of the time, and can be exceptional sometimes. The plasticy feel doesn’t bother me because I avoid carrying around a hunk of metal.The VR works like a charm in good light.

However, I’ve noticed softness (at all apertures) often enough where I would not use this lens for any professional work. For example, the Nikkor 180 f/2.8 blows this lens away in quality of manufacture and resulting photos.

I’ve also noticed softness and noise in almost all of my night photos using this lens, even with a very heavy tripod and no wind.

If you want to have fun and need a good lens, buy this one. If you are a professional or OBAM (obessessed amateur), save for the higher quality lenses because you’ll be disappointed.

I wish more people would objectively weigh the positives and the negatives in their reviews so that those considering buying this lens can make an informed decision. While this is a very good lens on a tight budget, this is not a great lens directly compared against other similar (and more expensive) lenses.

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