I waited quite a long time before I could get that lens, like many other people. Nowadays, this lens seems to be available in many places, but the first year, Nikon seems to have seriously underestimated the popularity of that "Swiss knife".
And... it definitely was worth the waiting. This lens is indeed the
swiss army knife of DSLR photography.
This is the most versatile offering as of today. The range, the stabilization,
the optical quality, a relatively reasonable price... but there are some
limitations.
This has become my favorite lens, glued on the D70 or the D200. It is a
fantastic lens, ideal for traveling, allowing to do almost everything without
having to switch lenses.
Some people don't like that lens because it is consumer grade, it has zoom creep
(not on all copies), it has a lot of distortion (also not linear, difficult to
compensate), but all in, it is still an amazing piece of engineering. When you
know its limitations, highly recommend, even for pro-work (I did some
assignments with that lens and could deliver excellent pictures).
Pros
- price is reasonable
- VR II technology - vibration reduction second generation is working incredibly
well. You can use shutter speeds as slow as 1/5 sec @18mm or 1/10sec @200mm
handheld !!!
- versatility thanks to the incredible zoom range (18-200mm) x11
- build is reasonable
- optical quality is really excellent (center sharpness, colors, corner
sharpness if stopped down a little)
- short MFD (minimal focus distance)
- AF-S (fast focus)
- an all-in-one package
- comes with pouch, sunhood and pinch type lens cap
Cons
- build quality is not on par with pro-lenses
- some copies (not mine) exhibit zoom creep
- corner sharpness is not perfect when fully open
- it is not a fast lens (but what do you expect?)
- the lens extends quite a lot when zooming (becomes twice as long,
approximately)
A few pics (more coming soon)
Playing with shallow DOF is even possible - on a rainy day
Very slow shutter speed 1/8 sec hand held - nice blurry effects on the water (without a tripod)
Some limited flare (D200)
Wildlife example
