18-200mm lenses

[frugal_mar]

I have the 18-200 and it is an excellent walk around and general purpose lens. I use a D80 as my primary camera. I would see the only downfall to the D40 is that only AF-S lenses will auto focus on the camera. This would exclude using a lens like the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D. This lens is great for night time at Disney.

If you don't mind carrying multiple lens, you could get the D40 bundle with both the 18-55 and the 55-200 that both have VR. Look at the warehouse stores for these bundles.

As a biased Nikon user, I believe that you would be very pleased with the product. Take a look at some of the discussion sites at nikonians.org

Good luck.

 

[Steve's Girl]

I have the 18-200 and really like it as a "walk around" lens. I was with my daughter's class on a field trip at the zoo last week and really liked the convenience of not having to change lenses as I was chaperoning a group of first graders! I could easily take photos of the kids at 18mm and then zoom in on the animals. I find 200mm to be enough reach for most situations. If I need a little more reach, I just crop in post processing. Even though I have recently purchased lenses that offer me better IQ, I still use this lens alot for the convenience factor. Changing lenses with kids yanking on you in three different directions is just plain difficult! And the IQ of the 18-200 isn't bad considering the range it covers.

 

[Gdad]

That is a nice combo- the 18-200 is great for an all around lens if you don't want to be bothered with switching it up. Are all your events outside or usually in good lighting? If not can you typically use a flash? If you answered no to both of those questions you may want to seriously consider the D80 so you can include some fast prime lenses in your kit at some point.

 

[mrsbug]

Anyone have this one? I'm thinking it will be a great walk around lens for my D50 and I'd love the convenience of not having to change lenses. But, wanted to get some input before I hit buy. Is it really a good lens for every day stuff? I'll mostly be using it for pics of the kids and vacations. I have a SB600 flash to use indoors, which will help a lot from what I read. Any examples people can share of indoor and outdoor pics with this lens?
TIA!

 

[saturndb]

I am looking into getting this lens as well. I have had a few people tell me this a good lens

 

[tjl1388]

Bad to the bone!!!!!!!!

Outdoor..

Indoors

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

I think this is the one my SIL just recently got. She loves it, and I sooo want one like it for my oly

 

[Quicklabs]

I'm very happy with mine! I will post some pics when Photobucket is back up.

 

[YesDear]

I have had for almost two years. I love it, particularly at Disney. It is known for lens creep but it never bothered me. Very sharp and easy to carry around.
It is not the fastest lens so you won't get Jack Sparrow in Pirates unless the boat stops and you up the ISO. I even use for fireworks.

I particularly like that I can go from about 27mm to 300mm with the twist of a hand.

Well worth the money!

 

[jbart610]

I'm a Pro / Wedding photographer, and this is the lens I use as my "walk around" during the daytime. Sure beats carrying a 17-55 and 70-200 in your bag around the park! I also got some good shots with the Tokina 12-24 f/4 lens.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I just bought one and I love it! Mine has no lens creep whatsoever. They must have addressed it in newer models or something because I remember when it first came out a lot of people were not happy w/ that one issue. Mine almost feels a little too tight in the barrel, but it doesn't creep so I guess that's a good thing.

 

[extreme8]

This is all around lens, far better than the Sigma or Tamron of similar focal length.
It is a fairly slow lens, 3.5-5.6, so don't expect miracles in low light. Of course it's not as sharp as my good 2.8 glass, but it does what it's designed to do very well.
It focuses fast, the VRII will buy you 2 or 3 stops, the focal lengths covered are perfect for a vacation/family picnic/walk around lens, sharpness is acceptable, speed is better than the competition, build quality is good - it feels solid.

I have had problems with lens creep, but a rubber "O" ring on the zoom ring fixes it right up.

You can read more about it on Ken Rockwell's site (he's a goof, but sometimes the info is OK) with a gallery of samples from the 18-200.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm

 

[Miqee]

I loved mine, especially the days you could not be bothered humping around two lenses or changing lenses. Its good lens for what it does, pretty sharp.

I only got rid of it because I got a D3 and can't be doing with the cropped sensor!

Colin

 

[handicap18]

If I had the money this is the lens I would have gotten. I have the 70-300mm VR lens and LOVE VR. Works like a charm. I say go for it.

As for the D3, it will work just as well on the D3. The D3 will change from FF to crop. So even at 5.1MP on a D3 with a DX lens you'll get STUNNING images. Not that the D3 doesn't give stunning images anyway, but a large sensor without all those MP's packed in is a nice option to have at times.

 

[Quicklabs]

Here are some pics with the 18-200. I haven't used much of the wide angle. All of these handheld and most right out of the camera. The macros might have come out better if I had a tripod.

Used the in-camera editing for this one.

This might have been with my prime lens--not sure.

 

[Miqee]

As for the D3, it will work just as well on the D3. The D3 will change from FF to crop. So even at 5.1MP on a D3 with a DX lens you'll get STUNNING images. Not that the D3 doesn't give stunning images anyway, but a large sensor without all those MP's packed in is a nice option to have at times.

I know i could use the DX crop but it messes up my workflow with the different number of pixels, I keep forgetting and think the file is bigger, over sharpening etc!

Colin

 

[thecatsss]

I have this. I rather like it; amazing quality.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I wish Nikon would make one like it w/ F2.8 throughout. That would be an awesome lens! I guess full frame compatible wouldn't hurt either, eh? One can dream....

 

[jbart610]

I wish Nikon would make one like it w/ F2.8 throughout. That would be an awesome lens! I guess full frame compatible wouldn't hurt either, eh? One can dream....

Well that's one way to turn a $700 consumer lens into a $4500 pro lens! I use a 17-55 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 as my main kit, but far too much weight to carry around a park imho.

 

[handicap18]

I wish Nikon would make one like it w/ F2.8 throughout. That would be an awesome lens! I guess full frame compatible wouldn't hurt either, eh? One can dream....

Yeah, that would be one heck of a lens. Probably would weigh in at about 8lbs and be 12" long. But your right, that would be nice dream lens.