Best all-purpose "Walk Around" lens

[molested_cow1]

I think it will be a lot more suspicious to walk around with a telephoto in DC than a 50mm.

 

[Ginu]

Well I would have to disagree with some if the responses... Every lens has a downside... 35 and 50mm primes are awesome but no zoom and no wide end assuming they are used on a crop body and not full frame.
A 24-70 2.8 is a great lens but again no wide side or telephoto end and a 70-200/300 is a nice lens but no wide or mid range zoom.

Now a 18-200 replaces all those, meaning it's a great all around multipurpose lens not to mention the VR on those lens is nice to have as a stop or two can make a huge diff.

Someone mentioned the the 18-200 will shoot at f6.3 or higher which is incorrect, the 18-200 is f3.5-f5.6 which is acceptable. Sure is not a f2.8 all the way but it's also not 2300$

KR review on the 18-200

I would suggest a 18-200mm along with a flash and a very inexpensive 50mm.
As the time goes on, you can start looking into more specific lens which would be suitable for different applications.

Not long ago I met someone who sold about 10k worth of equipment because the guy got tired of carrying around three primes and four zoom lens along with his D700, flash tripod and monopod. All the lens were top of the line pro lenses. The salesperson must have been really good but the guy was not into lugging around all that gear just to be able to snap some photos of his family.