Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens

I've had a Nikon Nikkor AF 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED (DX) kit lens for years now, and I've had a great number of lovely pictures captured using it. It's got a number of down sides for me though, so I've been looking around for a, not too expensive, alternative to replace it. My ideal would be the professional Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-EDI, but finally settled on the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens. It's certainly not as fast as the 17-35, but at half the price it's a great compromise. Allowing for the crop factor, the 16-85mm focal length used on a DX camera gives effective angles of view of around 24 - 125mm. This overcomes one of the minor issues I had with the 18-35mm: It's a good wide angle lens, but I was forever having to swap to my 24-80mm zoom to get the longer view. This lens covers that ground nicely. It's no replacement for my 28-80 f2.8 Tokina, but it's good to have the overlap. The biggest problem I wished to overcome was that while the images from my older 18-35mm where pretty sharp, the barrel distortion at the 18mm end of the zoom was ridiculous. I can correct the bulging in Photoshop if I was careful to make sure that the plane of the camera in front of the photographic subject was well placed, but that's not always possible. The end result is that it can be very painful trying to straighten out wonky lines. There is still a little barrel distortion at the 16mm end of the 16-85mm lens, but even with the extra 2mm focal length gain, the distortion is very mild. If you're not photographing straight lines (alas, architecture is one of my favourite subjects) then you'll probably not even notice it. Being restricted to smaller apertures is not great in poor light, and my old lens gave me problems in that department. I also like shooting graffiti, which is often seen in low light conditions. The 16-85mm isn't any faster then my old lens, but with the amazing VR mechanism built in I can hand hold in poorly lit places with long shutter speeds which would have me ramping up the ISO with the old lens. The end result is that this lens is quite an upgrade. It's wider and longer at the same time, it's no faster then my old lens, but with VR it overcomes some of the issues associated with low-light shooting. It covers the ground that I needed two lenses to cover previously and it's all but removed the barrel distortion problems I've had in the past. Shooting with the new lens is a real joy. The lens feels solid and robust, with a good heft to it. The zoom action feels smooth, and can be taken from the 16mm to 85mm extremes with one twist. The focus with the Sonic Wave motor is reasonably quick, and as yet I've not noticed any problems trying to auto-focus in low light, where other lenses I have had will tend to 'hunt' before eventually locking up under similar conditions. I've only shot a few dozen images through the lens to date, but those have come back sharp, with great contrast and little by way of colour aberrations even under close scrutiny. In summery then, I think for a compromise lens (the 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR would be great but at around £1000... ouch!) this offers phenomenal value for money at this price. It will undoubtedly become the lens most attached to my camera going forward.

The Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens is a versatile and compact option for DX-format Nikon DSLR users. It's designed primarily for beginners and enthusiasts looking for an affordable all-purpose lens with image stabilization (VR) and decent optical performance. In terms of build quality, the lens feels lightweight yet sturdy with a plastic construction typical of kit lenses. The zoom ring is smooth, though not exceptionally precise, and the autofocus is reasonably quick and quiet due to the Silent Wave Motor (SWM). Optically, the lens performs adequately for its price range. At 18mm, it provides a wide enough angle for landscapes and group shots, while at 55mm, it reaches into the short telephoto range, suitable for portraits and details. The f/3.5-5.6 aperture range limits low-light performance and depth of field control compared to more expensive lenses, but the VR (Vibration Reduction) system helps compensate for camera shake, especially useful in dimmer conditions. Image quality is generally good for everyday use and social media sharing. While sharpness is decent across the frame when stopped down, there is noticeable softness at wider apertures and towards the edges. Chromatic aberration and distortion are present but manageable with post-processing. Overall, the Nikon 18-55mm VR lens is a solid entry-level option that delivers what it promises: versatility, image stabilization, and acceptable image quality at an affordable price. It's ideal for beginners or those on a budget who want a reliable lens for everyday photography without breaking the bank.

The first lens ordered never arrived, however, Amazon refunded the purchase in a a few hours and no hassle, excellent service from Amazon, thanks. The second order arrived promptly (3 days) and is now well installed and working extremely well on the 7100. Excellent quality through the range, from 18mm to 300mm, with such small pixel / gran issues at each extreme, you have to the a real professional to even notice. Excellent buy, but is a little heavy, so if weight could mean more shake for you or get you tired, stick to changing lenses. The VR and its "normal / active" settings are excellent for compensating this. Best lens buy yet for me, 2 push-ups each day are good for me and the quality of the photos, just joking. I now only carry this lens during the day. Low light parties and night shooting is still best with the fixed aperture f1.8 as you would expect, however I did some really great shooting of an end of year graduate party with the 18-300, impressive.

Excellent lens and at a good price. Well packaged. Not much else I can say other than im very happy with my purchase

This is my second copy of this super Nikon 16-85mm lens. While using a new wide angle lens exclusively, my wife 'borrowed' my old 16-85 to use on her Nikon D90, she has the 18-135mm without VR and camera shake at the telephoto end was a problem as it was in fading light. No such problems with the 16-85mm, although at 85mm, the telephoto is a touch short for her. Still when I wanted my 16-85 back I could sense its recovery could cause problems, so I did the 'right' thing and bought a new one. Even though I had the choice of all the current Nikon and 3rd party lenses to choose from, I still regard this as the best DX zoom available for the zoom range around 16 - 200mm. Surprisingly, the 2mm at the wide end makes a significant difference over 18mm, but the 115mm over the telephoto end is not so noticeable. Those who 'need' extra at the Tele end would probably be better off with the 18-300mm anyway. One caveat, it's rumoured that this lens will be updated by Nikon soon, perhaps to a 16-85 F4, I doubt it would be optically better and for me the F4 would offer little over the F3.5 - F5.6 as this lens performs best at F5.6 to F8, and the VR II is so good that I can shoot hand held down to a quarter of a second. The increase in price may be the most noticeable feature of a new version. There is a little distortion at 16mm which completely disappears by about 20mm through to 85mm which can mostly, but not entirely, be rectified by post processing. By 18mm it has noticeably less distortion than the 18 - 200mm Nikon at 18mm. This lens really excels with its contrast and colour rendition which I think is the best of all current Nikon DX zooms, much better than my 12-24mm F4 at one third the cost. The lens is reasonably light, it fits well on the D90 / D7000 bodies or the smaller D40 / D3100 / D5100 bodies. It has a Silent Wave Motor (SWM) which is very quiet and very quick; it focuses accurately at all points even in very dim light. With all VR lenses, there is a need to let the VR settle before taking the shot, I never make allowances for this and have never had a blurred picture because the VR hadn't settled, so it too must perform very quickly. In summary, the Nikon 16-85mm F3.5 - F5.6 AF-S lens with VR II is an excellent choice and excellent value for those needing a versatile standard walk around zoom.

It works ok, has an issue with disconnecting from the camera and not working constantly

I really wished I had not been tempted by the 18-200mm VR Nikon lens before eventually settling on this.....I had the 18-200mm for a week before returning it as I was so disappointed with the image quality and sharpness (maybe a had a bad copy) I then tried the Tamron 18-270, slow slow slow focus, and aperture, so not a great success either, eventually sold it on Ebay. So having been burned by trying to get a lens for everything, I finally decided on a 3 lens solution, This Nikon 16-85 plus a Nikon 70-300mm VR, plus for really low light or portrait situations a Nikon 50mm 1.4 prime. So enough about those other lenses what about this. I have to say I am thrilled with the image quality, pictures are sharp, full of punch and contrast, and the extra couple of mm at the wide end is really handy. (If you are using anything wider than 16mm in my opinion it starts to look freaky anyway). The lens is a really handy compact size, but very solid feeling and nicely built. This lens pretty much stays on the camera 90% of the time as its all you really need. Admittedly sometimes you wish for a bit of extra reach without having to swap, but I have to keep reminding myself that, yes you can get more reach with a superzoom but the pictures are not going to be very sharp. The autofocus is adequate but not super speedy, so you have to leave the camera on continual focus if trying to capture running children etc, once focused on the moving target it will track it quite well so you get the majority of pictures sharp. By the way the 70-300 is also a brilliant lens. So don't be suckered by a superzoom, this is as zoomy as you should really get without too many compromises,

I have a Nikon D300, and it originally came with the Sigma 18 -200mm lens, which I have successfully used for a couple of years, and with which I have taken many pictures. So why buy one of these relatively expensive Nikon lenses, that mostly does the same job? Well, the first thing to understand is just how useful a lens with this spread of focal length really is, and I learnt that with the Sigma, and the Nikon lens simply reinforces the opinion. If you only have one zoom-type lens, then the 18-200 range is absolutely fantastic. It changes the way that you look at things. Down at the 18mm end of the travel, you are looking at a landscape or a building where the image in the viewfinder is probably a lot higher and wider than you actually see in real life. Most of us just use the bit in the middle of our vision for most of the time. At the 18mm end, you need to look around a lot more at what you want to capture, and then you need to look around in the viewfinder a lot, to make sure you have framed the shot you want. And then you want the detail, so you head towards the other end of the zoom, towards the 200mm setting, and there is the detail you want to capture. You can go, with the twist of your wrist, from the whole of your view, to a small piece of the detail. None of us routinely see the world this way, so it takes a while to realise what such a lens does. The only other thing that does that, is a one litre sports motorbike, and on one of those you will risk being locked up if you are caught twisting your wrist that much! If you want a beautiful bokeh with the detail, that seems to be the Nikon's biggest advantage over the Sigma, so far as I can see. It also feels a lot more solid, but then the Sigma has survived a couple of years of use, and the Nikon is still new, so time alone will tell. As it is, the only disadvantage to having an 18-200mm lens is that you loose a bit of the perceived credibility that comes with lots of strapping-on of different lenses, for different shots. Of course, with the single lens, you capture things you would otherwise have missed while doing the lens change, but the reality is that with a lens of this type, you really can use your digital SLR camera like one of those drunk ladies camera's, that sometimes make you wonder why you bother lugging a big kit about! These lenses really are that good, that you will find that you fit it, and forget it, for most of the time. When I go out to try to do some serious wildlife pictures, I will always take (OK lug), the 80-400mm zoom but I will walk in with the 18-200 fitted and capture what I can on the way. Sometimes specialist is good, sometimes it's versatility that delivers, and for versatility, this lens simply delivers what you need, for a huge percentage of both time and subject.