Patience is a virtue...

MrBook2

The wife and I are leaving to go on a transatlantic cruise from the US to Europe soon. Because of this, I ordered a Nikon 18-200 VR back in February from Ritz, one of the few places actually taking orders for it. I have pestered their customer service several time since then with no luck. They were waiting for the shipment from Nikon. Then I got this earlier tonight:


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Thank you for shopping at http://www.RitzCamera.com.


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Order # ****** has been shipped.

Date Shipped: 4/19/06

Amount Charged: $749.99

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Item(s) included in this invoice:

Item Qty Shipped

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541530721 1
18-200MM F/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF DX VR LENS


Your package was shipped via FedEx.
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This makes me very happy.... I had pretty much given up hope that it would make it before we left. In fact, I assumed it would ship the day after we left.

--Aaron

pathfinder

Cool!!

Be sure and post your vacation photos here on dgrin also, so we can all see what can be done with this lens -

I know there are a lot of floks very interested in its performance.

MrBook2

pathfinder wrote:

Cool!!

Be sure and post your vacation photos here on dgrin also, so we can all see what can be done with this lens -

I know there are a lot of floks very interested in its performance.

Not to worry, I shall bore you all with lots of vacation pictures when I get back. I am so excited! Right now, FedEx has it, somewhere in Kansas.

I should have at least a few days to play with it before we leave. I am a little worried about getting used to a new lens on the trip. My wife keeps joking that this type of zoom lens is designed to remove the interchangable lens feature from an interchangable lens camera; since I will just leave it on all the time. (This comes from an article here: http://www.photo.net/mjohnston/column57/ , a classic if you haven't read it.)

--Aaron

pathfinder

MrBook2 wrote:

Not to worry, I shall bore you all with lots of vacation pictures when I get back. I am so excited! Right now, FedEx has it, somewhere in Kansas.

I should have at least a few days to play with it before we leave. I am a little worried about getting used to a new lens on the trip. My wife keeps joking that this type of zoom lens is designed to remove the interchangable lens feature from an interchangable lens camera; since I will just leave it on all the time. (This comes from an article here: http://www.photo.net/mjohnston/column57/ , a classic if you haven't read it.)

--Aaron

I have readt it previously, and it is still funny. And true:D

Red Bull

Yeah that is a funny article. Loved these two:

Slow 180mm or 200mm prime: Lightweight and easy to carry. May project a certain “image,” i.e. that you are poor or cheap.

Super-telephoto zooms (to 300mm or more on long end): For adjusting FOV when standpoint is constrained. Replaces several heavy primes. Sometimes pressed into service by amateurs who have burr up ass about having all focal lengths “covered.”

MrBook2

It's Here!
My lens arrived last night! I haven't had too much time to play with it, but I will try and post some pics soon.

My first impressions are pretty much what I expected. It is a good solid lens throughout its zoom range, it allows greater flexability in shooting since you now have a few more stops on the slow end, but it is not a miracle cure allowing you to shoot in super crappy light. I think it is going to match my shooting style quite well.

It is a little bit strange the first couple of times you shoot; I had a Sony years ago that had image stabilization, and it just fixed the image as you shot. Since you are looking through the lens when you take pictures, it stabilizes your view even before you shoot. Just half press the shutter and you can see how well it can counter-act your shake.

--Aaron