"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
oups.com...
Nice resolution, from edge to edge. Is that a true Nikkor, or one from

another mfr. that they put their name on? I'm looking for a similar
lens.


Max, as far as I know Nikon only rebadges the 70-300G lens and some of
their Chinese built lenses have poor build quality, but most others are
true Nikkors. The 18-200VR seemed too good to be true, but it does have
some issues. Distortion at the wide end,

They all have that. 18mm is really at the short end of wide angle,
bordering on a fisheye. That said, I have seen a 14mm lens with almost no
distortion, but it also costs over $3K and weighs a bloody ton.

some light falloff in the
corners and it's not as sharp as my 1700 dollar 70-200VR lens of
course.

Of course not. But for 99% of applications it's pretty tough to beat at the
price. I paid over $1200 for a single focal length 300mm Nikkor lens about
20 years ago. It's superb, but I almost never use it anymore, thanks to
being long, large diameter, and too bulky to carry around. I use it to
photograph astronomical stuff almost exclusively now, which means it never
leaves my yard. Modern, compact, inexpensive zoom lenses have all but
replaced dinosaurs like my old 300.

But for general photography and a travel lens it's the best
lens on the market. My copy is sharp and contrasty. Bokeh is somewhat
poor, AF is very fast. It's a small lens, but it more than doubles it's
length when zoomed to 200mm. It's also capable 1:4 lifesize close focus
at 12 inches!!! It's really an amazing lens. Cost is around 750.00.
They are very hard to get with a long waiting list at present.

Our local camera store has two of 'em, but the price is a bit higher. I'm
not in a hurry, so I may wait. I've been scrutinizing that lens for a
while. Nice to talk to someone who has one.

Max