As a travel lens I am a student traveling to europe this summer and I'm looking for a good wide lens that fits well, works well in low light and is going to be good at shooting candites as well as travel & landscape photography with my d3000 camera. I really like this lens, I love bokeh but i am concerned that the shallow depth of field will take away from the travel images which will need a wider depth. (hopefully this makes sense) has anybody used this for travel photography and would recommend it? could somebody recommend a better lens for me? As a travel lens I am a student traveling to europe this summer and I'm looking for a good wide lens that fits well, works well in low light and is going to be good at shooting candites as well... » Read More As a travel lens I am a student traveling to europe this summer and I'm looking for a good wide lens that fits well, works well in low light and is going to be good at shooting candites as well as travel & landscape photography with my d3000 camera. I really like this lens, I love bokeh but i am concerned that the shallow depth of field will take away from the travel images which will need a wider depth. (hopefully this makes sense) has anybody used this for travel photography and would recommend it? could somebody recommend a better lens for me? « Show Less
1037323
I'm not sure if I understand your concern of DOF issue with 1.8, but you can always change your aperture to 8~9 and it will show details of your back-ground. But If I were you I would take a 18-200mm instead. covering wide to fairly good zoom unless you are planning to do dark inside building pics. That's just my 2 cents.
1326288
I'd take this 50mm f1.8, plus a zoom of some sort to provide the wide angle and telephoto. Or carry a capable point and shoot as a complement.
1276657
The low light performance is good. The lens displays very little distortion for the width that it is, obviously as long as you do not tilt it too much. It is a pro lens so the build quality is good. mine has displayed no lens creep. Why do you need VR on a lens of this width? if you shake that badly use a tripod. And as for filters I have been shooting professionally for 45 years in some very inhospitable environments, I have never used a filter and never scratched a lens. All you do with a filter (other than make someone selling them money) is degrade the performance by placing an extra 2 air/glass surfaces in front of you lens. Just make sure that you really need this lens. It is very wide, very large and does have limited applications. That said it is a great lens!
2064283
To get pleasing bokeh with a lens this wide you will need to place ot very close to the subject, and shoot close to wide open. If this fits what you want to shoot, ot could work. If you need more versatility than that, a longer lens would be better.
1845680
I think that it's a great lens, but more well suited for a full frame camera. If you goal is wide angle photography I would suggest that you go with something wider, such as the Nikon 12-24... http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-12-24mm-AF-S-Nikkor-Zoom/dp/B000092M1T/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390416530&sr=8-2&keywords=nikon+10+24 ... Good luck, I hope that helps! Don't forget to also grab a slim Polarizer which will help you get dramatic blue skies.
1759794
Oh, I'll add this:"Great for indoor" yeah that's matketing lingo for "this lens has a big, fast maximum aperture of f2."All lenses are mostly "good for outdoors/broad daylight". But faster max apertures can suck in more light than others which is particularly useful A) if you want amazing bokeh and shallow depth of field (B) you're inside and have horrid light and the extra 2-3 stops will get you the shot.
2069808
this is a great lens, and with the 1.8 aperture, it really does low light well. However, its not going to do very well at group pictures because it can't go very wide. If you are trying to do group photos at a wedding, looking at a 35mm 1.8 or a 50mm 1.8.
357723
I spent many months comparing 28-300 and this 24-120 before I settle with this. I was looking for a walk around lenses for travel and family picture because I don't want my f2.8 lenses to take all the fun out of the trip as they are heavy and big. To my surprise, this 24-120 replaced my 24-70 f2.8 except for shooting sports as the AF is not as snappy as the 24-70 f2.8 and I need to shoot more frames to cherry pick the ones that are in focus. Other than sports, my copy of 24-120 f4 has taken over the job of 24-70 f2.8. I used it at weddings and senior pictures...... I am very happy with it. I got it in "brand new white box" for about half the price and that's even a greater deal. I spent many months comparing 28-300 and this 24-120 before I settle with this. I was looking for a walk around lenses for travel and family picture because I don't want my f2.8 lenses to take all the fun out of the trip as they are heavy and big. To my surprise, this 24-120 replaced my 24-70 f2.8 except for shooting sports as the AF is not as snappy as the 24-70 f2.8 and I need to shoot more frames to cherry pick the ones that are in focus. Other than sports, my copy of 24-120 f4 has taken over the job of 24-70 f2.8. I used it at weddings and senior pictures...... I am very happy with it.... » Read More I spent many months comparing 28-300 and this 24-120 before I settle with this. I was looking for a walk around lenses for travel and family picture because I don't want my f2.8 lenses to take all the fun out of the trip as they are heavy and big. To my surprise, this 24-120 replaced my 24-70 f2.8 except for shooting sports as the AF is not as snappy as the 24-70 f2.8 and I need to shoot more frames to cherry pick the ones that are in focus. Other than sports, my copy of 24-120 f4 has taken over the job of 24-70 f2.8. I used it at weddings and senior pictures...... I am very happy with it. I got it in "brand new white box" for about half the price and that's even a greater deal. « Show Less
2054692
My son and I purchased the filter for use on a wide angle lens. We had no real problems with the filter such as tinting the corners or limiting the amount of lens view. My son and I were using the Tamron 10-24 wide angle. He was using a Sony and I was using a D60 Canon. We to were expecting the corners to be shaded and limiting us on the range, but did not. Now of course this will depend on how critical you are, lighting (natural or artificial) Range of the lens being used, etc. etc. It also depends if you do a lot of cropping. This was the first time we tried this brand and type of filter and in this case we thought we got the better end of the "You get what you paid for!" We shot mostly in bright sun and tried some night shots and were happy with the results. We were in Italy so there were a lot of ocean shots as well. We bought the 77mm and some adapter rings for the smaller lens to use this same filter. Some suggestions we read were to carry adapters for it cheaper then a pocket full of filters and to try using a filter slightly larger the the lens. I hope this helps, but might not be the answer your looking for.
150330
My opinion: This lens is perfect for tourism, because you want a light baggage to travel anywhere. This lens is very flexinility about zoom (10x) and a good sharpness buy lower than a fix lens, for this reason for a great shot i prefer a fix lens for the sharpness or when i have low ligth i need a lens with good aperture (2.8 or less). For amateur photographer it's a recommendable lens for shots for memories, but if you want more sharpness, then i recommend a fix lens.
170019
Jason, I am a newbie to taking pictures using anything other than a point and shoot!! But, I love this lens. I used it last night for my grandchildren's Christmas program at church. The church was dimly lit with the stage lit. I used no flash with it set on night scene. The pictures are great, even for an amateur like me. As far as the motor, all I know is that I just screw it on the body and start taking pictures. I love the range of the zoom. I could zoom out and get the entire group or in and get my precious ones. I would buy it again with no hesitation. It is much lighter than my Tamron low light lens, so if either will work for the situation, I choose this lens. Jason, I am a newbie to taking pictures using anything other than a point and shoot!! But, I love this lens. I used it last night for my grandchildren's Christmas program at church. The church was dimly lit with the stage lit. I used no flash with it set on night scene. The pictures are great, even for an amateur like me. As far as the motor, all I know is that I just screw it on the body and start taking pictures. I love the range of the zoom. I could zoom out and get the entire group or in and get my precious ones. I would buy it again with no hesitation. It is much lighter than my Tamron... » Read More Jason, I am a newbie to taking pictures using anything other than a point and shoot!! But, I love this lens. I used it last night for my grandchildren's Christmas program at church. The church was dimly lit with the stage lit. I used no flash with it set on night scene. The pictures are great, even for an amateur like me. As far as the motor, all I know is that I just screw it on the body and start taking pictures. I love the range of the zoom. I could zoom out and get the entire group or in and get my precious ones. I would buy it again with no hesitation. It is much lighter than my Tamron low light lens, so if either will work for the situation, I choose this lens. « Show Less
150331
Deepak, I am currently using this lens on a Nikon D300 with 12.3 megapixels. I own several Nikkor lenses, ranging from wide angle to 300mm. This 18-200 is the best of all. Since receiving it, I have not taken it off the D300. I use it exclusively. It is a great lens. The VR feature is also fantastic. Low light shots come out great. I would highly recommend this lens for high megapixel cameras. It works great on my D300. I think you will be very happy once you use it too.
621855
I just got this lens but so far it seem good for general purpose photography. It helps to use a smaller aperture for wider depth of field.
648860
It really depends on what your needs are. Although this is an amazing lens for the price (especially in portability) I find it to be a little too long for me. It's a bit long for street photography; a 28 or 24mm could get much more of the scene in. But really, it's like any lens. Know your gear. Know your limitations. You might buy a 24mm and find that you prefer something a bit tighter. Great for portaiture. If you do more indoor things or landscapes, you might want something wider and faster. If you do outside portraiture or have a bit more room to move about, go for it. Actually, either way, go for it. The product is amazing for the price, and build quality is twice as good as the nifty fifty. It really depends on what your needs are. Although this is an amazing lens for the price (especially in portability) I find it to be a little too long for me. It's a bit long for street photography; a 28 or 24mm could get much more of the scene in. But really, it's like any lens. Know your gear. Know your limitations. You might buy a 24mm and find that you prefer something a bit tighter. Great for portaiture. If you do more indoor things or landscapes, you might want something wider and faster. If you do outside portraiture or have a bit more room to move about, go for it. Actually, either... » Read More It really depends on what your needs are. Although this is an amazing lens for the price (especially in portability) I find it to be a little too long for me. It's a bit long for street photography; a 28 or 24mm could get much more of the scene in. But really, it's like any lens. Know your gear. Know your limitations. You might buy a 24mm and find that you prefer something a bit tighter. Great for portaiture. If you do more indoor things or landscapes, you might want something wider and faster. If you do outside portraiture or have a bit more room to move about, go for it. Actually, either way, go for it. The product is amazing for the price, and build quality is twice as good as the nifty fifty. « Show Less
1381524
Like any tool, it depends on what you want to use it for. This is probably the best lens out there for wide angle, night sky photography (although the 35mm 1.4 is very good too), and will be good for a wide variety of applications. Either one will do well in low light, but since I usually take photos of people, I have a preference for the 35mm. Either lens, when used in bright light, loses a lot of their advantages unless you intentionally place your camera in aperture priority mode and keep shooting in wide apertures.
1708283
It behaves as it is marked. Remember that this is a D-SLR only lens and is made for C-sized sensors. Consequently, it behaves like a 50mm lens (when compared to film camera). So it is definitely not a "wide" angle lens :-) So not a lens for the stereotypical landscape pictures but I am pretty sure one can take beautiful landscape pictures with just about any type of lens :-) The lens does have a wide aperture and behaves quite fast. I had bought it for my Minolta Maxxum 7D camera but I had to sell it since this lens was having focusing issues with my Minolta. The buyer had a Sony D-SLR and the lens performed perfectly fine on his camera :-) It behaves as it is marked. Remember that this is a D-SLR only lens and is made for C-sized sensors. Consequently, it behaves like a 50mm lens (when compared to film camera). So it is definitely not a "wide" angle lens :-) So not a lens for the stereotypical landscape pictures but I am pretty sure one can take beautiful landscape pictures with just about any type of lens :-) The lens does have a wide aperture and behaves quite fast. I had bought it for my Minolta Maxxum 7D camera but I had to sell it since this lens was having focusing issues with my Minolta. The buyer had a Sony... » Read More It behaves as it is marked. Remember that this is a D-SLR only lens and is made for C-sized sensors. Consequently, it behaves like a 50mm lens (when compared to film camera). So it is definitely not a "wide" angle lens :-) So not a lens for the stereotypical landscape pictures but I am pretty sure one can take beautiful landscape pictures with just about any type of lens :-) The lens does have a wide aperture and behaves quite fast. I had bought it for my Minolta Maxxum 7D camera but I had to sell it since this lens was having focusing issues with my Minolta. The buyer had a Sony D-SLR and the lens performed perfectly fine on his camera :-) « Show Less
1681730
This is a fantastic lens for sports photography in its focal length range. I use it to take pictures of tennis players, both during the day when the light is very good and at night when it isn't. There is a faster (f2.0) 200mm fixed focal length lens that could be useful if the light is really poor, but it is much more expensive. The real question is whether you will be so far away that 200mm isn't enough; I have not used any of the tele-converters.
1774788
I love the bokeh on this - however I very rarely use it - I use my 50-1.2 more and my 200mm - however it is a lovely lens that really I should pull out and use more often!!