18-300mm vr: yea or nay?

[goodguy]

"Superzooms" excel at doing everything with superb mediocrity.

I have never heard a more perfect description, true poetry :mrgreen:

Dont bother getting this lens,
From your list I see you already have the 24-70mm and 70-300mm VR so why bother ?
The 70-300mm VR is much sharper and while not as flexible its far better.

That's what he wishes he had. Save up for those instead!

Oh, then its a no brainer, get the 70-30mm VR.
Its such an awesome lens and such a cheap one.
I saw 2 guys here who got it under 250$ used.
I got mine for 280$, best 280$ I ever spend, its just so much lens for so little money.
ITs not as flexible as the 18-300mm but its so much sharper.

 

[Solarflare]

This is NOT an "extremely versatile" lens.

This is, just like any other lens, a certain deal - with advantages and disadvantages.

A superzoom gives you:

+ high variance in focal length
+ typically has image stabilization (important for video)

- cant open the aperture much (well, f/3.5 at 18mm)
- image quality is not that great
- usually quite slow focus (while zooms in general are typically pretty quick at focus, compared to typical primes)
- doesnt offer much in respect to macro magnification
- tends to be heavy and bulky

There are certain situations that are good for this kind of lens:
- Video, especially if you want/need extreme zoom capabilities
- Special effect: Still photos with huge zoom effect (zoom in during the exposure)
- Can only have one lens (for example single camera in dusty environment) and needs the focal length variance, though a 18-105mm usually suffices
- Need to be really quick with focal length changes and can only use one camera, though in these cases a 70-300mm or 80-400mm usually suffices

 

[shadowlands]

I once owned it. It's a beautiful lens and it does a fine job.

 

[Braineack]

Oh, then its a no brainer, get the 70-300mm VR.
Its such an awesome lens and such a cheap one.
I saw 2 guys here who got it under 250$ used.
I got mine for 280$, best 280$ I ever spend, its just so much lens for so little money.
ITs not as flexible as the 18-300mm but its so much sharper.

Mine was $310 from Keh; looked brand new. Great lens for the price, worth the upgrade from my DX 55-300mm VR.