Nikon 18-200mm VR II – Can You Really Get The Best Of Both Worlds?

Reviewed by Ben Lee, http://dslrlensesonline.com editor.

Buy the Nikon 18-200mm from Amazon and receive free shipping!

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The Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Nikkor Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DX-Format Digital SLR Cameras encompasses the zoom range of many other lenses, which in an ideal world would save you money buying separate lenses and save time spent frequently changing lens for different situations.

It would also save you the hassle of constantly cleaning dust from the sensor now that I think about it…

But is this an ideal world? Yes.. and then some.

The Nikon 18-200mm VR II will transform your world if you decide to buy it. Aside from the capable optical performance of this lens (which I’ll get too in a second) it also has the added bonus of freeing up more space in your camera bag for other things – even possibly meaning you don’t bother with the camera bag at all!

What I mean is that there will be simply no need for the other lenses in your kit that fall into the 18-200mm range. A few possible exceptions may be ultra wide lenses like the Sigma 8-16mm or the telescopic Canon 300mm f2.8 – the latter of which you would be a fool to part with anyway!

As if that wasn’t enough, this lens is also more than handy as a macro and portraiture lens and is very reasonably priced.

The Good

versatile and extremely practical well priced great all round performer without being outstanding lighter and smaller than previous Nikon zooms, but still feature packed with VR (vibration reduction) for example reasonable bokeh – it gets better the further you zoom in only negligible to mild amounts of distortion and vignetting (most noticeable at focal length extremes) good image sharpness throughout the range

The Bad

plastic construction – may or may not bother you – but don’t drop it! stiff zoom ring – results may vary however from lens to lens 200mm at f/5.6 is going to make things difficult in certain situations, particularly with low light and auto focus (invest in a good quality flash unit if you are enjoy shooting at low light or indoors a lot of the time)

The Nikon 18-200mm VR II is a great lens, but it is not for everyone.

While this lens is going to be able to easily cover 80% of your needs while out in the field, I don’t think it is really going to be suited to people that have the highest standards and who love to nitpick.

You know who I’m talking about – the sort of people who stare at MTF curves and other tedious diagnostic photography related images until they go cross eyed. They are probably the sort of people that will buy a separate and specialized wide-angle, zoom and telephoto lens.

As I said earlier, this lens does a great job at everything without producing the same results that a specialized lens would create. Of course that is fine because it isn’t a specialized lens in the first place.

So, who is it for then?

Anyone that wants it really. No, just kidding. I would hazard a guess and say that it’s for anyone that wants greater flexibility and adaptability in their photography.

It’s for people who want to avoid changing lenses all the time (me) for fear of missing the perfect shot or getting dust on the sensor.

It may also be for people who are upgrading from a kit lens and it is their first major upgrade. Unlike the kit lens however, the Nikon 18-200mm may be one lens you actually hang on to when or if you next decide to upgrade to an even more capable piece of equipment.

What about the old version?

The old version of this lens was the Nikon 18-200mm VR (note: not VR II) and basically the only difference between the two models is the addition of the focus lock on the new model. Personally, worrying about another button is not worth it for me – I’d much rather just refocus if zoom creep was going to be an issue (which it really isn’t).

Futhermore at the time of writing, the “new” version is actually cheaper on Amazon by some $250, so it really would be  no brainer if you had to decide between the two. Click here to see for yourself.

Conclusion

I will reiterate, the Nikon 18-200mm VR II is great at everything rather than being outstanding at a few things. While this doesn’t make the lens unpopular or any less worthy of your consideration, I feel that it does mean it is suited to a certain type of photographer.

It may be best suited to someone  upgrading from their kit system,  looking for extra reach and quality.

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On the other hand, it may be less suited to a photographer who already owns a selection of specialty lenses covering most of the range of the 18-200. Indeed, the very fact that this lens is only compatible with DX bodies will filter a lot of those type of users out naturally.

As always with photography and in life, it’s a case of horses for courses.  I hope I’ve helped you make up your mind either way.

Related posts:

1. Nikon 70-300mm Review – Discover A Hidden Gem Of A Lens
2. The Nikon 80-400mm – Telephoto Performance Without The Bulk Of A Telephoto Lens
3. Nikon 50mm 1.8 – Read The Review And Get Excited!
4. Nikon 24-70mm – As Close To A Perfect Nikon Lens As You Can Get?

Filed under: Nikon DSLR Lenses

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