Walter Hutchens’ Blog

Friday I bought a new camera lens. It’s a big zoom that carries the unwieldy name AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED. I’m very enthused about it. Below are a couple of sample images and links to other information about it.

Currently there are long queues to buy this lens in both Europe and the U.S. Amazon only promises to ship orders when they get more product. One online forum poster describes these lenses as more rare in the U.K. than “rocking horse droppings.” People who find one can resell it for a premium on eBay. However, I did manage to find a few for sale in Beijing this week. After reading several reviews, I snatched one up.

The great thing about this lens is that it can take relatively wide angle shots like this:

Then lets you zoom in to take telephoto shots like this (part of the same scene depicted above in the wide-angle shot):

I took both these shots through a closed (and somewhat dirty) window on the 25th floor of an apartment building in Beijing. I applied a few automated adjustments through PhotoShop Elements but did no major retouching (and lost some quality resizing for the web).

To me the image quality at both ends of the zoom spectrum is satisfactory. A super-picky photographist shooting for a magazine cover or ad campaign would disagree, but for a hobbyist like me—someone who didn’t know what an SLR or f-stop was a year ago—this is fantastic!

I have another zoom lens (a Sigma 70-300) and the kit lens that came with my camera (a Nikon D70s), but this new 18-200 Nikon lens offers several advantages over my previous equipment.

First, the Nikon’s range is extraordinary. The range of my 70-300 Sigma zoom starts where my Nikon kit lens ends, so to take the two photographs above (at 18 and 200 mm, respectively) using the equipment I previously had, I would have needed to change lenses or carry two cameras (one for each lens).

Changing lenses is cumbersome. It means you 1) have to carry more stuff around 2) may miss shots you want while you are changing lenses and 3) may get dust on the sensor while changing lenses (or all the above).

Carrying two cameras eliminates the dust problem and most of the delay problem, but it only exacerbates the problem of bulky gear. Having two SLRs around your neck 1) makes it flatly impossible to look like a typical tourist or otherwise shoot inconspicuously and 2) pretty much shreds one’s pretensions of being anything other than a besotted geek, as this photo my wife gleefully took illustrates:

So the first beauty of this new Nikon lens is that it covers a lot of ground for a single lens.

The second and equally important trait is that the lens can let you capture good images despite covering such a wide range. Usually, the wider the zoom, the crappier the images. But most everyone seems to agree Nikon has managed the trade-offs quite well with this lens. I’m not the only person rhapsodic about it. This reviewer is also quite positive. (But see this for a less enthusiastic take.)

Third, this lens has vibration reduction technology (hence the VR in the model name). With my Sigma 70-300, if I don’t use a tripod or something else to stabilize the camera, a lot of the images at the higher reaches of the zoom will be ruined by camera (er, photographer) shake. Heretofore it seems Nikon’s VR technology has only been available in (even more) expensive pro lenses. This lens brings VR technology into a product for consumers/enthusiasts.

The lens also focuses fast and is quiet (unlike the Sigma). It doesn’t extend or retract to focus—that all happens internally (again unlike the Sigma) with the length staying in the same position unless you zoom in or out. VR and faster focusing will help me get a lot of shots I’ve been missing. Also, the lens can focus relatively close to the camera (19 inches I read). That will help for some things like taking pictures of flowers and bugs (this isn’t a macro lens but can substitute for one in a pinch).

Next week I’ll be on vacation in Sichuan. I’m looking forward to using my new lens more.