Thinking of selling my 18-55 & 55-200 for the 18-200 VR?

[rodman]

I was thinking of selling my 18-55 kit lens and my 55-200 VR lens for the 18-200mm VR lens. I was thinking it would be cool to have the range w/o having to switch lenses whenever I need to zoom or vice versa.

I wanted to get your opinions on this.

Thanks
Rod

 

[AlexColeman]

I have no experience with any of the three lenses, I have heard many bad things about the 18-200. I see no reason to not keep the lenses you have, it is the same range.

 

[sabbath999]

I own all three. My wife uses the 18-200, I use the other two.

The 18-200's only advantage is in the fact you don't have to change lenses.

The other two lenses both have vastly superior image quality...

I would ask which is more important to you, not having to change lenses or inferior images.

Me, I will change the lenses and have better looking glass.

 

[jlykins]

The 18-200 is good in the middle. On the short end and the long end it lacks a little in quality. I would stick with what you have. BTW I own all three so I can tell you that from experience.

 

[Slaphead]

I own all 3 as well, and agree entirely with what sabbath999 said.

The 18-55 and 55-200 are sharper than the 18-200 is anywhere on it's focal length. That's not saying it's a bad lens - certainly in terms of what it does it's one of the best, but there are always going to be compromises with an 11x zoom range

If I know that I won't need longer than 55 then I'll use the 18-55. If I know I won't need shorter than 55 then I'll use the 55-200. If I'm just walking around looking for photo opportunities then I'll take the 18-200.

The advantage of the 18-200 is flexibility. The advantage of the other 2 is quality.

Also consider that the 18-200 is a lot heavier than either the 18-55 or 55-200 and might feel out of balance on a D40.

I personally wouldn't consider the 18-200 as a replacement for the other 2 as I use the 18-200 in different circumstances.

You pays your money and you takes your choice as they say

 

[SrBiscuit]

i wanted that lens for the longest time, and my finances forced me to wait...im glad i did.
i dont have any experience with the 18-200, so take my comments with a grain of salt, but im finding that more and more im using the 55-200 less and less. the 18-55 im finding to be a great walk around lens, and i only swap to the 55-200 when i know im gonna need the extra length.
just thought id offer you my thoughts on something i was also really interested in until recently...my focus now is snatching up the sigma 10-20...i KNOW ill use it more.