is it supposed to be like that?

[JackReacher]

this photo was taken with 18-70 nikkor lens, on a d50 camera

Exposure: 1/1000
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length:18 mm
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/3092/44uo8.jpg

too many pictures are turning out to be out of focus
is it me or the camera/lens?

also check my gallery to see more unfocused pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7795573@N02/

this is very odd, the camera and the lens are brand new :/

 

[fmw]

Hard to tell if it is out of focus or not. It appears to have been made at a very low resolution. The lens certainly does display a ton of barrel distortion and that is the fault of the lens to be sure.

 

[The_Traveler]

I have the 18-70 and it is very sharp.
You need to test this out in some structured way to make any good guesses.
Tripod, delayed shutter release, manual/auto focus, range of f-stops/speeds - the entire routine.