Duane...agreed, the kit 18-55 is a decent lens. I owned the 18-200 for several years, and if I just was able to choose one lens, it's a good choice, though a little big for general carrying around. It's also a little soft from 135 out to 200...just on the edges. It has always been VR2 though...it didn't say that on the lens, but it is. The lock keeps the lens from creeping when carrying it around in the fully retracted position, but you can accomplish the same thing with a rubber band on the barrel. I sold mine before the new edition came out and got the 16-85. It's VR2 as well, though again, it does not say that on the lens. They claim VR2 gets you 4 stops, but in practice, I've found 3 stops is about all I can really get while still getting 80% keepers...that number drops to about 30% keepers if I try to go 4 stops. VR is the greatest thing since sliced bread though.
The reason for the 16-85 is that I found that 80% of my shots were between 18 and 100mm, but often found myself wanting just a tad wider...2mm does not seem like much, but in practice, it's pretty significant when at 16mm. Also, on DX, IMO, portraits are best in the 50-85 range, so that was another good reason for the switch to the 16-85, plus, it really sharp throughout it's range, though it needs to be stopped down (higher F number) when at 16mm. For landscapes, it is, IMO, an ideal lens. If I shot a lot of portraits, I'd probably get the 85 1.8 to blow out the background a bit better, but for my type of shooting, I'm not generally concerned about Bokeh, and if I need to be concerned about that, I just use the great, but very inexpensive 50 1.8...a real bargain in the Nikon lineup. If I want to get really creative, the 10-24 will get me there, but in reality, it only sees limited use...same with the 70-300 VR, though it makes a decent Macro lens when paired with the old Nikon 6T Diopter (they don't make it any more, and if you find one, it'll cost you)...even though the new 70-300 is a 67mm filter thread, a step down ring and the 62mm 6T works just fine, with no vingetting. Extension rings will get you there too, with the Kenko AF rings being the best, again IMO. But the 6T is easier. Canon still offers excellent diopters at 72mm, which can always be used with stepup rings.
All the 2.8 or faster lenses are great glass, if you need it, but you pay for it both in price and weight/size. The new 70-200 VR2 is a fantastic lens, as is the older 24-70 2.8, but they are beasts to carry around. But, if you need the speed, those are two great ones. Sigma now offers some great lenses in 2.8 glass, from the reviews I've read. If you shoot sports action, fast glass is absolutely necessary...or concerts, etc.
In good light, the G10 is hard to beat, and I hear the G12 is way better at higher ISO's (up to about 800, where the G10 get a lot of noise).
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Topic: General photography discussion (Read 10651 times)