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Hi all, New on here buy I would like to know if anyone has recently purchased a Nikon 18-200mm (VR11) lens.I am looking for a multi purpose lens which will be used on a D90 body. I need it to be sharp and contrasty...What is their opinion and is it worth the £500 plus asking price? Thanks Arnold.
I bought one, not recently, It's used as my travel lens. It's warp from 20 to -180 at anything above F5.6 to F11, contrasty yes, fairley, reasonable colour, it is better than many would have you believe. Worth 500, mm, if you one one lens, avoid dust, travel a lot, and have general interests for shooting, it does all these things well.
I bought one as a 'daily use' lens and have been very pleased with it. As Rip says, if you keep it in the window it produces excellent results, softness creeps in outside this but it is still pretty good.
When you consider what it does it is not an expensive lens. It is also quiet and pretty quick to focus.
Given what I now know would I buy another one? Actually no, I would buy two and give the other to MrsMad. 
Ian
My advice would be to look to some of the other lenses Nikon make. The 18-70 in particular is a good value for money and decent lens. And the 70-300Vr is also a good pick on the price V's quality curve.
I must confess to not being a lover of super zooms, and while this lens may be about the best, its not that great a performer IMHO. And then there is the question of durability. The copy I have tested showed focusing and aperture control problems, so it may not be the best to compare, but it was no better than a sub £100 sigma 18-50 for example.
Two of the 3 people I know who bought this lens experienced failures within 6 months of purchase and had fights with Nikon to get it repaired under warranty. Now It could have been a bad batch, it happens, and it could all be fixed now. Of the lenses, one was sold, the other bought back by the Camera Dealer.
Of the 3 users all rate the 18-70 and 70-300Vr as better lenses. The D90 is a nice camera, the 18-200 is expensive, does it represent a the best in terms of performance for your money?
The OP wants an all purpose lens though and neither the 18-70 nor the 70-300 can be described as such.
In my experience the lens performs very well within the sweet spot already described. All lenses, particularly zooms, have a sweet spot and I have not found this one to be that bad. There are plenty of stunning shots on here taken with that lens.
As to durability, I know I'm not particularly ham fisted but I've had mine several years now, in which time it has been used plenty. Not had a single problem and it certainly comes in above that sub £100 Siggy.
As an example (and please don't click) this may not be the best shot in the world but you can't argue about the sharpness.
Ian
I understand Ian, and I guess the option I am trying to offer is that of having two better lenses and a more versatile end configuration rather than the convenience of 1 lens. So a choice for the original poster. Plus the extra length lens may well be handy.
For £500 I expect top performance, this was more average, very much in line with that produced by my Sigma 18-50 where they had the same focal length, similar distortion.
The solid red line in the official Nikon specification is entirely over 80%
This means for sharpness (as in acutance) and contrast it is excellent - and scores higher wide open than many Nikon lenses.
http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/af/dx/af-s_dx_vr_zoom18-20...
If I may link to two lens reviews that I feel match my own experience of this and the Sigma 18-50 (P.S I thought distortion on the sigma was as bad but the test indicates the sigma is better). I was thinking of the stopped down to F8 comments.
Nikon 18-200
Sigma 18-50
And just for fun the pair of Nikon's I would pick, though the 70-300 is the weaker of the lot I would still think on it as the extra length may be of use.
There are lies dammed lies and reviews with test charts. Regardless have a play with some lenses and see what feels to be the best bet for you. I think that for much of the comparison the lenses will not be that far apart in performance. So have fun buying.
Nikon 18-70
Nikon 70-300
Confirms my experience of the sigma 18-50, very good for a small amount of money. And I guess in all this it depends how sensitive you are to distortion. It was the distortion persuaded me to upgrade from the sigma, run it at f8 and the rest of the results were very good.
the sun is shining and this thread proves that more than about 4 of us and we could not agree, so have a play and buy the lens that is best for you. I was just showing that the performance of the choices, may not be that different.
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