Quality of 18-105 VR

[kim_ethridge]

<p>I'm buying a Nikon D90 -- my first D-SLR - and I'm deciding on a lens. As background, back in the day I used a Nikon EM which I absolutely love!<br>

When checking out lenses at a store last night I wasn't thrilled with the quality of the image I was getting through the D90 viewfinder - especially with the 18-105 VR. "In focus" never seemed to be sharply in focus - either manual or auto.<br>

Is this to be expected? Or was I looking at a faulty lens or faulty camera body?</p>

[vinh]

<p>Kim, did you try adjusting the diopter on the viewfinder? If that's not set properly for your eye, things don't look "in focus" regardless of actual focus.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Was there a battery inside that D90?</p>

<p>Because of the way the viewfinders are designed with overlays, the viewfinder for pretty much all current Nikon DSLRs will become dark and blurry if you remove the battery from the camera. Otherwise, the D90 has a very good viewfinder (but not top of the line) and as far as I know the 18-105 is a good lens as far as optical quality goes. However, that lens has a plastic mount, which is a clear indicator that it has very mediocre construction quality.</p>

<p>Also, you should adjust the diopter on the viewfinder to match your eyesight as pointed out above.</p>

[tommyinca]

<p>Using just view finder, you may need bionic eye to tell detailed quality difference between one lens to another, even if you adjusted the D90 eyepieces. Best is bring a flash card, take some pictures (take some pics outside if the sale person let you). Go home to check them out. Next to that, still having limtation, use the LCD zoom and pan it arround.</p>

[gogu]

<p>Hi Kim!<br />I also bought my first DSLR a few weeks ago, it was also a D90:-)<br />I preffered to go for the 16-85 for its wider end and after comparing it with the 18-105 of a friend of mine I can now say it was a wise decision! (I also have the 70-300 ED from the film days so for the moment I am covered).<br />As for the viewfinder being not so sharp check the little wheel in the right of the eyepiece, it's a diopter adjustment control.</p>

<p>rgrds</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Tommy Lee is very right, you cannot really judge lens sharpness (and many other qualities) in a viewfinder. A large screen of a PC/Mac is better for that.<br />All the photos I've seen taken with the 18-105VR are showing that it's a really niece piece. Great value for money, sharp, decent AF speed. Good allround offer. Build quality is low-ish end, but to me the lens felt more solid than many Tamron zooms. But the build quality is not top, and the price of the lens is reflecting that. Still, with normal care and normal (amateur) use, these all-plastic lenses will serve you longer than the average digital body will.</p>

<p>The 16-85VR is a better lens in many respects, but not when it comes to "bang for the bucks". If the budget can stretch it, it's the lens to get, but when not, the 18-105VR will not disappoint either... So, the budget, that's up to you to decide :-)</p>

[bsd230]

<p>I would agree, if your budget can stretch to the 16-85 that would be the way to go. Optically it is a very decent lens. If you cant 18-105 does cover a nice range.</p>

[kfrog]

<p>I like the 18-105VR on the D90. Keep in mind it is a kit lens and the quality construction reflects that but I get fine sharp images with it. It's light and well constructed given the cost. You loose a little on the wide end to the 16-85mm others mentioned but you gain a bit more of reach when zooming and it's not quite as pricey. It's a keeper.</p>

[rene gm]

<p>I have used it for months now almost exclusively, and rarely got disappointed. The VR gives me 1/15 through the range handheld. Of course, a faster lens is fine, especially when playing with DOF. So I sometimes switch to a prime. But the long 105mm range helps with good backgrounds, and the Bokeh is really nice. Built quality is sufficient, considered you can buy two of them for one more solid lens.</p>

<p>You cannot judge the sharpness of a lens through the viewfinder.</p>

[nachi_abrams]

<p>I just bought the D90 with the kit 18-105 VR lens. My initial preference was the D90 with the 85 1.8 prime. However, since they were out of the body alone, I purchased the kit. Took it home, shot some images and was very pleasantly surprised. It nails focus and pictures come out sharp. What more can one ask for? </p>

[aaron l]

<p>Diopter adjust is wrong or the lens is smashed. I really like my 18-105 for general walk-around use. It has distortion and will create a fun-house if you like shooting architecture. The trade for me is it is very useful for travel because the VR takes you into darks places you would never succeed. It's quite sharp for 5.8x zoom.</p>

[trevor_newman1]

<p>I too debated the 18-105 and the 16-85 when I purchased my D90. I ended up going with the 18-105 and have not been disappointed. The lens is very sharp for a kit lens and has very little fall off for a variable aperture zoom. When looking at comparsions between the two lenses it is clear that the only real differences are the extreme focal lengths and the metal lens mount of the 16-85 and plastic mount of the 18-105. True the 16-86 does employ VRII technology but I have used both lenses and really do not see any tangible difference. As for the plastic lens mount, I change my lenses fairly frequently and the plastic lens mount looks no worse than it did brand new. the 18-105 also feels very sturdy and really is the perfect walk around lens. In the end I decided to forgoe the extra wide angle of the 16-85 and saved the 200 dollar premium it has over the 18-105 to put toward a Tokina ATX 12-24 f/4 which gives me a lot more wide angle than the 16-85 and a faster constant f/4 aperture. You really can't go wrong either way...at least until Nikon answers my prayer and introduces an amature constant f/4 middle range zoom!</p>