Equipment Compact telephoto for Nikon recommendations

Hey all,

Im looking to purchase a walk around lens for my Nikon D40 and am looking to Nikon users on the forum to help me out. I still have the kit lens but am looking for something a tad longer and faster but small and light enough to carry around all day.

I have been reading up on the now rather 'legendary' 18-200mm VR but due to its cost i would have to be absolutely sure its worth the money.

So a couple of questions if you please:

1. If you own the 18-200mm VR - how heavy is it and do you think its worth the £400 or more you would have to pay for it?

2. What is your walk around lens of choice?

Much appreciated,

Cyp.

 

The 18 - 200 VR is quite the lens to own, tbh. I settled for keeping the kit 18-55 and getting a 55-200 DX - I got lucky and bought it from Dixons online for £100 new!

Otherwise, I would probably have ended up getting the 18-200. It encompasses a good range and the VR gives you a chance at zoomed in low light or fast moving subjects.

On my D40 atm is a Sigma 10-20 - amazing lens, so far.

 

The 18-200mm is a very nice lens. I don't own one personally, but I have borrowed one while I travel. It's excellent as it does cover such a massive range, only a couple of things bothered me about it.

1) While walking around the lens will tend to slide out on it's own. Not much can be done about this. You put it to 18mm for walking around, and the next thing you know it's hanging down at 200mm.
2) It is a little slow. I'm a little spoiled and I tend to like my f2.8 lenses, and the f3.5/5.6 was just not cutting it for me. The VR on the other hand was *VERY* nice as I was able to shoot hand held down to 1/30s even at 200mm with not much camera shake. VR is definitely a beautiful thing in medium to long focal lengths.

Bottom line, it's the cheapest option to cover the range. If you start buying multiple lenses, you're going to exceed the cost, not to mention you'll have to carry multiple lenses. You're not going to get faster lenses across that range without going up in size/weight and especially cost. The next step up is f2.8 which never comes cheap. Compared to the 70-200 f2.8, it's significantly lighter, and more compact, not to mention under half the price. Overall, I'd personally rate it as the best buy in the Nikon line for entry/intermediate shooters.

 

Cheers guys. I had heard about the 'creep' issue Paradigm. I might try to borrow/rent one as well to see what its like before i consider my options. The fewer lenses the better tbh.

Kenko - have you found the 10-20 soft at all? I have been reading reviews that say its not that sharp.

 

A charity wristband around the lens barrel does solve the problem on the 18-200 completely, but it might look a bit odd