Statistics
~250g?
52mm Filter diameter.
Mine came with the camera, and had a hood.
Attributes:
DX Cropped APS-C cameras only
SWM Silent-wave motor
VR Vibration Reduction
ED Extra-low Dispersion glass elements
Aperture Variation
18mm – f/3.5
18-20mm – f/3.8
20-22mm – f/4.0
22-26mm – f/4.2
26-28mm – f/4.5
28-32mm – f/4.8
32-35mm – f/5
35-48mm – f/5.3
48-55mm – f/5.6
Auto Focus
Infinity to Wide to Infinity: 1.6s
Although this lens is quite slow to focus (it is a kit lens after all), it is very accurate except in poor light, when hunting may occur.
Buttons and Switches
Autofocus (A) or Manual (M). Note that there is no manual override (M/A).
VR On or Off (no Normal/Active).
Build and Action
You get what you pay for. Chassis appears to be mostly plastic; lens mount is plastic too, which may be an issue in the long term.
The zoom ring occupies the majority of the barrel, whereas focus is performed by twisting the far element – this rotates the filter thread also – no internal focussing here. Zoom action is quite stiff for such a small lens and is a little uneven, so precise zoom changes may be difficult. On the other hand, the focus ring is very free to move.
Small lens size makes everything within reach if you need to change switches without moving your hand from the zoom ring. That said, you have to remember that the focus ring is further away than the zoom ring, rather than the opposite.
Other Features
VR has a simple On/Off switch, no Normal/Active mode. That said, it works very well – the slowest I’ve gotten a shot off whilst hand-holding without support is around 1/4s, in the Nerja caves in southern Spain. Anything below 1/10 requires some statistics though – the pictures inside the caves were from a group of four shots.
Optical Quality
It’s not bad. Photos are generally pretty good, being able to pick up a good degree of detail. It does have a little blue chromatic aberration at the extreme wide and long ends of the zoom, and there is quite a bit of distortion at the wide end as well, so landscapers beware. However, this disappears if you increase the zoom past 24mm, or if the camera has distortion correction. Sharpness-wise, the lens is okay wide open, being sharper in the centre-frame than at the corners, although the difference is quite small. Stopping down to f/7.1 or f/8 at 35mm is the sweet spot of this lens. Stopping down in general is recommended.
Comments
Pro
Dirt cheap;
Actually not a bad performer, especially if you stop down a bit;
Simple and straight-forward operation;
It *does* have VR.
Cons:
All-plastic, right down to the lens mount;
It is worth what it is – rotating filter mount, build quality is low, and;
It will make you want more. GAS, anyone?
This is one of the standard kit lens on the D60-D80 era cameras, which means that it’s designed to be cheap and cheerful. You get essentially that function with this lens – it can go fairly wide (27mm equivalent) for landscape shots, into the mid range for portraits or study (82mm equivalent) shots. The VR means that you can get quite reasonable shots all the way down to 1/6s shutter, although you may need to use some statistics to boost your chances there.
Considering the price, this is a pretty good lens. The only lens that is a suitable upgrade from here is the 16-85mm, but is three times the cost.
Another point to consider is that this lens has quite a short minimum focus distance (closer than the 16-85), which means that this goes very well with a 20mm extension tube. You lose a little light, but you can get very sharp pictures, although the working distance is practically nothing, sometimes less than an inch. If only those insects would stand still…