I've only had this gear for a week or so, so have not had much opportunity to play with it, but the 18-135 certainly seems to be all that I'd hoped it would be. I messed around a little with it last night, on "closeup" shots. It's not macro, of course, but I was impressed with just how close I could get. I think this lens will probably be my walkaround, and stay on the camera more than any of the others I have. I'm also sufficiently impressed with the $450 D50 that I'm seriously considering adding a second body, so as to have two focal ranges ready to shoot at a moment's notice w/o having to change lenses. I did that for years with my film SLR's and am willing to put up with the additional weight and bulk (not to mention expense!). My thinking, when I started this process, was that I could get *two* D50's for what a D80 cost, but only ordered the one D50, initially, just to be sure it would serve my needs. I saw no rational reason to spend 2X the money for the D80, and still don't.
~YEKCIM