Nikon Zoom-Nikkor 18 mm - 55 mm F/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX G ED Lens

PROS (* indicates the ones that are very important to me)

Image Quality*--I am very pleased with the image quality of this lens. I have not yet had time to conduct tests in a controlled environment but my preliminary field tests indicate that this lens will give me the high quality images in outdoor sunlight, under studio lighting conditions, with the built-in flash unit, and with external flash units.
Focal Length*--18-55mm is a very usable focal length range. This range is good for the times when I only want to carry one DX digital SLR body and one lens.
Vibration Reduction*--This is my first lens for my Nikon with this feature.
Filter Size--The 52mm filter size is perfect for my filter inventory.
Close-Ups--Even though I did not buy this lens with close-ups in mind, it is comforting to know that at the 55mm focal length, this lens can fill the view frame with an object as small as 6cm.
Price*--Less than $100 for an auto focus zoom lens with vibration reduction was too good a deal to ignore. Plus, the low price makes this lens the one to use in a situation where a more expensive lens may be damaged, lost, or stolen.

CONS (* indicates the ones that are very important to me)

DX lens--This is the first DX lens that I have ever purchased and will probably be the only DX lens that I will ever own because I prefer FX lenses. I prefer FX lenses because I want all my lenses to work not only on my DX cameras but also on my Nikon film cameras and my future FX digital camera.
G Lens--I avoid buying G lenses because I cannot use them on my older Nikon film cameras that need the aperture ring to set the f/stop. This is only my second G lens. The 14-24mm f/2.8 was my first.
Bayonet Mount--Plastic! Now I have nothing against plastic. In fact, I would rather have a thick tough plastic than a thin weak metal. However, I have heard too many horror stories about plastic lens mounts breaking.
Aperture--f/3.5 to f/5.6 is too slow for a maximum aperture. Also, I prefer a zoom lens with a constant f/stop rather than a variable one.
Lens Barrel--The lens barrel does not rotate during zooming but it does during focusing. However, the barrel rotates so little that you can still screw a flower petal type lens hood into the 52mm thread.
Manual Focus--The small focus ring makes it very difficult to focus manually. I found it easier to focus if I tightly screwed in a lens hood and twisted the lens hood instead of the small ring.
Lens Distance Scale--None
Lens Depth-of-Field Scale--None
Vibration Reduction--I hate that little thump that happens when you press the shutter button half way to focus and then remove your finger because you decide not to take the photo.
Durability/Reliability*--​This lens does not feel like it was built to withstand the wear and tear of everyday use. Plus, the vibration control and the built-in auto focus motor are two additional moving parts that can break. However, the price of this lens is so low that if anything breaks, it is just as easy to replace the lens as it is to repair it.

Comments:

Many of the Cons I listed would have been major issues if this had been a high-dollar lens. Since the price of this lens is so low, and the performance of this lens is so high, these Cons can easily be overlooked. In fact, I thought this lens performed so well for the low price that I bought a second one so I would have a back-up to my back-up lens.

I highly recommend this undervalued, future cult classic lens.

This lens comes with the D60 camera, but not the D90. The glass is VERY good, and this is a great "all Purpose" lens. I like this on in particular for the silent drive. Nothing worse than listening to lenses growl in and out when photographing wildlife. It chases them away. The is a great value for what you wil get out of it. Both new users, and professionals.

This lens is beautiful. Amazingly light, when I put it on my d200 I can hardly even feel it. The focusing motor really is near silent, and the VR makes a good deal of difference in low light shots.
I really LOVE this lens. My only thought is that if you are buying one lens to use exclusively, you might consider the spending the extra money and getting the Nikkor 18-105mm, or for a chunck of change, the 18-200mm, for the added Zoom range and versatility.

If you are a professional and you earn a living doing photography you probably don't have this lens anyway. But if you are not this is a great lens for DSLR starters! Very light, focus very fast and quiet, cheap and is good for general everyday shooting without the zoom. It's wide enough for taking picture of places and interiors, and it zooms ok to frame people's faces. However it's only a 3X zoom so basically you have to walk more to fill up your frame. I think the sharpest f stop for this lens is around f/8 to f/10, as f3.5 tends to be blurry, at least for me. If you just switch from point-and-shoot this lens is the best to go around places and start shooting! A must have for starters

Well, having little to compare this to in terms of others lens' and only recently taking photography more seriously, this was exactly what I expected.

The VR version does seem to produce sharper images, it seems good quality (a little light for me weightwise though), well built and very fast to auto focus. And very cheap.

All the areas it lacks in, I knew about already so I would say this is a good basic lens, and one I will be keeping on me (I seem to have got some good shots, but then I would say that).