Today we have a choice of three excellent lenses. Naturally the recently introduced Nikkor 18-200mm VRII Lens has received the Lion's share of the publicity lately, as the Tamron and Sigma models were both introduced well prior to the Nikkor's introduction.

I think it would be fair to say that we are now at a juncture where there are enough lenses in actual day to day use, that itseems to be a goodtime to get somereal time feedback from folks out there using these lenses.

Understandably, each brand most probably has its own supporters. But how about some everyday, working details with these lenses. We will really appreciate yourcomments. For example, I have found the Olympus Zukio 50-200mm lens to be a great lens, but just bigger than I really want to deal with as a so called, "walkaround lens."

Will the Nikkor, the Sigma, or the Tamron be more likely to fill that role for me? I need something more compact and shortlike the Nikkor 24-120mm VR lens. I truly believe that I am attempting to voice some of the feelings felt by many of who would like a single, work every day kind of, "walk around" lens that would put to rest those perilous dust/grit problems of switching lenses while in the field.

So please tell us your experiences. Surely there is a wide diversity in price between these lenses. A Nikkor 18-200mm VRII just sold on E-Bay for nearly $(US) 1,000, while the Tamron is selling for around $(US) 325, and the Sigma is selling for around $(US) 315. Is that spread within the price range justified?

We all will look forward to your replies. Thanks in advance for sharing with all of us.

MT

Do Sigma & Tamron have any plans to make VR or equivalent lenses for Nikon?

Or is the VR a proprietary or patented by Nikon itself already?

big_potato wrote: Canon designates their stabilized lenses with IS (for Image Stabilization), Nikon calls theirs VR (Vibration Reduction), and Sigma calls theirs OS (Optical Stabilization).

Sigma has one lens with OS (Optical Stabilization) now, which is their version of Nikon's VR. It's an 80-400mm lens.

http://www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/le...mp;navigator=3

You'd have to ask Sigma about their future plans (but, they're unlikely to tell you anything).

Tamron does not have any lenses using similar technology yet.

All I can tell you is that I was originally debating between an ultrazoom camera and getting a Canon Digital Rebel with either the Sigma or Tamron 18-200 lens. I found a lot of shortcomings with the ultrazoom cameras, however, the majority of the user reviews that I looked at, people were in general not happy with the Sigma or Tamron lenses. In addition to slow AF times, and a frustrating tendancy to hunt for focus, it also came to light from several sources that the lenses actually only actually zoom to around 160mm vs. the advertised 200mm..

After finding all of this and then finding almost total satisfaction with the nikon lens, I decided to get the D50 instead of the Canon strictly because of the availability of a good 18-200 lens.

I was going to get the canon just because I have friends with canons and figured that we would be able to share lenses....

SilentBob wrote:Tell your "sources" to check again, with the lenses focused to infinity. :-)

If you focus on something closer, it's not uncommon to see a wider angle of view than you should have with many lenses, since the focal length can change with focus point, especially in some of the newer compact lens designs.

So, when someone compares lenses and notices one appears to be wider than another at the same focal length settings, this kind of information gets spread around the forums.

If you focus on something further away, the focal length will be very close to what is advertised.

Of the two 18-200mm 3rd party lenses in the market, the Sigma 18-200mm lens seems to get the nod ahead of the Tamron 18-200mm lens. Unfortunately, the Nikkor 18-200mm VRII, while a great lens, is just too darned expensive for my blood/and pocket book.

Has any one used these (Sigma or Tamron) Lens? Please share with us your experiences won't you.

MT

Does anyone know where to find the nikon vr dx in stock? I have decided to make the plunge.

wtparilla wrote: Best Buy and Circuit City (850ish at both).

If you're not in a hurry, you can probably save a hundred bucks or so if you wait for more vendors to get them in (most will be getting $749 for it).

In additon to the lower cost of Tamron compared with Nikkor VRII, it's also lighter:

398g vs 560g.

Together with my 600g D50, it's just under 1kg - a semi P&S DSLR for me.

Big Potato-

So I am assuming that your chased the Tamron 18-200mm lens. Did you consider the Sigma 18-200mm? And what have your images been like. The Tamron 18-200mmis suppossed to have a bit more reach than the Sigma 18-200mm. Thanks for the input.

MT