First of all, I also own the magnificent AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, so thats my comparison reference for the 18-200mm. The 24-70 is truly a beast, weighing in at a full two pounds, so I dont understand why so many people think the 18-200 is heavy when it weighs nearly half as much.

Absolutely the best accompaniment to a lightweight DSLR. Haven't used either of my other two lenses since this arrived. Sharp images with very little distortion or aberation across the whole range.

I have not had the lens for long now, but I am very please with the lens to date. The VR function works well and the lens is easy to zoom when you want to zoom in to focus then zoom out to take a more appropriately cropped image.

No, no, no. I photograph professionally, and I heard from some other photographers that this lens was not as sharp as Nikon's 28-300 in the same line. I didn't listen; they were right. Do some identical setups with other lenses and you'll find that this one is not sharp and crisp.