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[ret]

What would be a good lens for the D90, the kit 18-105 or 18-200?

[Marko]

I used the 18-200 last week on my friend's Nikon camera. I did not inspect the shots on the computer, but I can say that this is a VERY VERY versatile lens. It's not a fixed aperture lens but I think it starts at F3.5 which is not bad.

[tegan]

Surprising considering the great range but the 18 to 200 has an excellent reputation even among the reviewers, so I would agree with Marko and tend toward that one.

Tegan

[kiley9806]

i use the 18-200mm on my d80 and its great... no complaints, unless you want to do super duper macro.

[ret]

in terms of quality, how do the 18-105 and 18-200 compare?

if i m not wrong then is the 18-105 developed for the D90?

[tirediron]

Ehhh... I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. First off, stay away from the 18-105, unless you never plan to change lenses. It has a plastic lens mount. Let's see; metal on the body, plastic on the lens... this isn't too hard to figure out. I've not used the 18-105 personally, so I have no knowledge of it aside from the lens mount issue, but all of the reviews I've seen indicate it be yet another slow, marginal, consumer zoom lens. You're correct; the 18-105 was developed as the kit lens for the D90.

The 18-200 has acceptable optical quality, and IMO, barely adequate build quality. As with anything that tries to do so many things, the 18-200 doesn't really do any of it really well. If you want a consumer-grade zoom, go for the 18-70 kit lens that first came out with the D70. It is a kit lens, it is slow, but it's a much better performer than either of the two mentioned above.

[ret]

tirediron, appears as if dpreview seems to agree with you on 18-200 .... they have recommended it but with reservations

Nikon 18-200 review

btw, what Canon lens would be good with the 40D/50D, i guess it would be the 17-85