That *is* a nice looking lens. Have you seen any reviews on it? I bought
this one:
http://tinyurl.com/aruez and then decided it was too big to carry on the
trip we
made. Now I'm considering selling it. I ended up with the 70-300mm lens,
http://tinyurl.com/cn9r5, with which I've been pretty happy.


I've read only one review, and it was very positive. It sure ought to be
for the money. In addition to the 18-70 kit lens, I also have the 70-300
zoom, the ED version. At the time, it seemed like the most logical
compliment to the 18-70 kit lens, and it was very affordable. However, in
practice, I find it is often too long, and I find myself switching back and
forth between the 18-70 and the 70-300 way too often. Either that or I will
often revert to my point and shoot when I have the 70-300 on the D70 and
need a shorter lens to get a shot off quickly. It's clumsy, and I don't
like it.

There are several inherent advantages this 18-200 lens offers over the
18-70/70-300 combo we now use. First and foremost is to have the majority
of the focal range of the combo in a single lens. You give up nothing on
the short end, and still have 350mm on the long end in 35mm equivalence.
11.1x range is not bad. I'd be more than willing to give up the very long
end to have the 18-200 range in a single lens. Much more convenient. From
what I can tell, it is fairly compact in size. Somewhere between the 18-70
and 70-300 in size, which I would find acceptable for a default walk-around
lens. Second, this lens is far superior to the 70-300 zoom. Much faster
focusing with the silent wave motor, just like the 18-70. And third, even
though this lens isn't really any faster nominally than the 18-70 and only
slightly faster than the 70-300, in practicality it is much faster due to
the VR technology. In most situations, image stabilization will give you
2-3 stops more speed than without. Huge feature, especially if you shoot
mostly hand-held, as I do. I have a very nice pair of Canon image
stabilized binocs, and what the image stabilization does for them has to be
experienced to be believed. My next lens purchase will absolutely have
image stabilization technology incorporated into it.

I'm just waiting for supply to catch up with demand, and maybe the price
will soften a bit. But I wouldn't expect that to happen in the next six
months.