I am a semi happy owner of the new 18-200 VR, 10 days ago. I must say the it's very good lens optically. But i have a problem with the construction of it. The second day I discovered that if i put the camera with the lens zoomed verticaly to my table the lens zooms out by it self. I went to the store and they replaced with an other one. It is working OK for a few zoom-in and zoom-out and then again the same problem. Then I did a phone-call to Nikon authorised dealer and he told me that this is not a problem and happens to a lot of these lenses because they are heavy. I do not that this is normal and I want your opinion and advise about that.
This is normal for a super zoom. You have quite a bit of glass there. Nikon had two choices; #1. They could have made the lens so tight that everyone would complain how stiff it was. or #2. Let the lens zoom smoothly but creep when pointed downhill. A zoom lock would have been a nice addition to the lens so it could be locked at 18mm.
mine is doing it too. But I sort of expected this lens to be a compromise on many levels.... and this is one of them. It's still a fairly acceptable all-rounder to me for the price I paid.
Yes but I have seen many other lenses, older Nikon and new lenses that this does not happens. Most of all there are some Nikon 18-200 VR here in Greece that are OK. So this does not happens in every lens that is why I believe it is a problem. But there are too many back ordres and they don't care. I think that after some claims thy will change their opinion.
Zoom creep is normal behaviour on this lens. When new, the creep is minimal and not noticeable. After a week or two of heavy use, the zoom mechanism is a lot smoother and the creep is very noticeable. To the previous poster who claims to have seen versions of this lens with no creep, I suggest using them for a week.
Lots of lenses creep. It's not a defect. It's inherent in the design, like moustache distortion at the wide end or the variable aperture.
Seems to be normal to creep earthwards whenever you point it up or down. Unlike an earlier statement above mine stays put at 18 and 200, no lock needed. I thought it was designed that way. Have used it for six months and a couple of thousand images.
Ummm well... I have an earlier version of this lens, it doesn't do that, but it is a little tight... so its either creep or tightness... Seriously thought its a super telephoto, pretty amazing lens I must say for a walkaround.
I have one that is less than one week old and it has done the same thing a couple times. I have a Tamron 29-300 and it has a zoom look which on took a second to turn on and off; it would have been nice if Nikon had done the same thing considering it charges $300 more than the Tamron.
Thanks to all of you for your useful comments but i believe it would be easy for Nikon to put an extra mechanism to lock in every position if you want to. I cannot believe that if I decide for a vertical plan in tripod I have to use tapes to fix the lens. It is ridiculous for a Nikkor lens.
Michael -- This is a normal characteristic for this lens which we pretty much have to learn to live with. I was going to Seattle earlier this month and got tickets to Monday Night Football with my son. I e-mailed the Seahawk organization to find out if I would be turned away if I showed up with a D-200 and 300 mm lens, and was told they recently changed their rules from "no lens over 10 inches" to "no lens over 4 inches." We had good seats, but I didn't have a decent telephoto lens under 4" long. So I paid $950 in e-bay and bought an 18-200. (I've been using SLRs for nearly 40 years, and in the 60s and early 70s wasted money on some very heavy zooms that had more than a 1:2 range (e.g., 75-200 mm). The conventional wisdom at the time was to stick to 1:2 -- anything more would not produce quality images. This was my first VR lens, and I was blown away by the images I got. I was shooting in the rain at 1/45th of a second with an effective 300mm lens and getting NICE images. Sure, there was some motion of running players and the ball was sometimes just a blur -- but everyone I showed them to asked how it was possible to get so close and such good pictures at in some cases 100 yards from the subject. Is it a perfect lens? Is it as tack-sharp as my 180 2.8 or Micro Nikkor lenses. Get serious. It's not even supposed to be a professional lens. But it has quickly become my favorite travel and walk-around lens, and I could not be more satisfied. (Of course, I haven't tried to shoot anyting straight up or straight down.) Good shooting! -Bob