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I recently purchased one of these lenses in conjunction with a Nikon D300-S camera in preparation for a prolonged vacation. My primary reasons for selecting this particular model is its flexibility. The 18-200mm Nikkor has a broad focus spectrum and features 11x zoom.
This is a lens capable of taking good close shots as well as decent long range photos. While it certainly is not the best on the market in either capacity, this flexibility makes it a great stand-alone lens for casual photographers or those looking to travel light. Since lenses can easily become the heaviest part of your camera setup, it's nice to have one lens you can throw on and have perform respectably in any situation. There is also a built-in vibration damper to help keep long-range shots crisp.
In general, the picture quality from this lens is good, but not perfect. It performs best in the upper-mid range. While the anti-vibration feature works great under normal lighting conditions, you'll definitely still wish to use a tripod if taking photos in low light as the shutter speed is not high enough to compensate. We ended up purchasing two different filters to use with this lens to help cut down on glare in high-light outdoor shots- switching filters in and out can be a bit awkward, but they provide an added flexibility and improved results without much in the way of additional investment.
Ultimately this is a great grab-and-go lens for the amateur photographer. You can do a lot with it (though nothing perfectly) and most casual users will be more than content with its mixture of range and convenience. Professionals will likely want to shop for multiple more specialized lenses, but if simplicity is more your style this is definitely the lens for you. While we're still mastering all the features of our D300-S, we were able to take hundreds of great photos with this lens during our vacation and I'm more than satisfied with our purchase.
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