I had the 18-200 for about 6 months...then I sold it. It's a good travel lens.. it's versatile, and has VRII. However, my experience with it isn't very nice. I tried to love it, but as soon as I put on a Pro glass (17-55 f2.8) the 18-200 found itself on craigslist asap.
I will narrow it down to these points:
PROS:
-This lens is very compact considering the focal range (18-200)
-If you're not critical with your image quality, It can very well replace most of your lenses
-A "do it all" lens.. jack of all trades, master of none
-A perfect travel lens. It stays on your camera most of the time, which means less chances of dust getting in the sensor
-Has metal mount and rubber gasket
-Excellent resale value (as with most Nikkors)
CONS... and it aint pretty
-Image quality..... um.... sucks. And that's being nice. Images just don't have that "pop".
-SLOW. Hunts in low light. I had TONS of non-keeper shots with this lens.
-Fully zoomed in, the lens barrel extends almost twice its size. When fully extended, the lens "wiggle" and feels like it will break easily if say, another photographer accidentally bumps it.
-Lens creep. I was on top of the rock climbing wall, shooting DOWN below while my son is rock climbing... and this damn thing keeps creeping down.. it makes focusing extremely difficult and almost impossible.
-72mm filter?? Who uses that? Most Nikkors use either 67mm or 77mm for pro glasses. This is an oddball filter size.
-With an 11x zoom, you HAVE to expect some compromises.. and there's TONS. My shots pretty much looked like they were shot from a point and shoot with this lens. They look flat. (and yes, only with this lens)
-Terrible barrel distortion at the wide end and slight pincushion at the 200mm end. Go figure.
Did I get a bad copy? maybe. But maybe not. I borrowed my coworker's husband's copy and it's the SAME. I hated this lens. (there I said it!)
If you have an 1800 budget, and are pretty much set with the D90, I would go with the D90 ($899 at B&H) and a 17-55 f2.8 ($999 used at B&H or Adorama) This is pro glass... trust me, you will NEVER look back.
A more sensible choice (budget-wise) are: 18-70 ($200), 16-85 VR (replaced the 18-70... $600) 18-55 non-VR (about $150) coupled with 55-200VR ($200) or that 18-105 and 70-300VR combo. All good choices.
This is what I would buy:
D90 body ($899 at B&H)
18-70 ($200)
Tamron 90mm Macro ($400)
Manfrotto CX3 and 486RC2 ballhead (~$300)
Total = $1800.00
good luck!
