Originally Posted by
bdjohns1
18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR - the swiss army knife of lenses. Does landscapes great, reasonably proficient at telephoto. 95% of my pictures are taken with it. Not having to change lenses in the field is well worth it.
TOTALLY!^^^
This great Nikon lens is so versatile that I rarely change lenses, especially when traveling. So I don't know that it changed my life but changed how I shoot, which was great. I can't remember where I read that it's not quite considered pro level glass quality, but in my experience, the photos are tack sharp and I think very capable of producing publishable quality photos. I did this nice shot last month:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95671748@N00/1129577584/
I also would say the 50mm/1.8 sorta "changed my life," in the sense that I learned a lot about photography when i started shooting with this lens over the standard/kit small range zooms.