RaidenCraig
Senior Member
Recently, the 18-200 has been fetching $900+ previously loved on ebay, viz.:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-18-200mm-f-3-5-5-6-G-ED-IF-AF-S-VR-DX-Nikkor-Lens_W0QQitemZ140004639335QQihZ004QQcategoryZ106862QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
That is > $150 above list price. The buyers cannot inherit Nikon warranties, and no assumable Mack Warranty was included. In the example above, all sales are final-- no right to return if not satisfied with the copy (as when buying new from a reputable vendor).
In contrast, two reputedly mint 17-55's went for about $850 each. Hmmm...
My sense is that the 18-200 is a very nice improvement on an 11x zoom, benefiting from the latest technology. It makes a commendable all-in-one lens for some people, probably sufficient for quite a lot of casual, record shot family picture shooters. It would seem to be particularly well-suited as a travel lens. The VR unquestionably is a nice plus some of the time, albeit not for subject motion, such as kids' games.
Notwithstanding those CERTAIN positives, it would seem intuitively and inferentially that at a list price of $750 it is surely fully priced. No other vari-ap lens that slow is at that price point. To fetch more than $900 and more than the 17-55 previously loved surely seems to be LLD overzealousness for the new "latest and greatest" must have wunderkind nostrum/panacea lens, which at the end of the day is no better optically or faster than the 18-70 over the congruent range, then gets weaker> 100.
Food for thought... value is in the eye of the beholder-- perhaps. For the same $900 or so, we got a 35/2, a 35-70 2.8, and a 180 2.8, all previously loved mint-- the latter two indubitably pro glass. Different strokes for different folks... to each her own.
--craig
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Craig in Ga. (USA)
As you go thru life, don't forget to stop along the way to smell the roses.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-18-200mm-f-3-5-5-6-G-ED-IF-AF-S-VR-DX-Nikkor-Lens_W0QQitemZ140004639335QQihZ004QQcategoryZ106862QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
That is > $150 above list price. The buyers cannot inherit Nikon warranties, and no assumable Mack Warranty was included. In the example above, all sales are final-- no right to return if not satisfied with the copy (as when buying new from a reputable vendor).
In contrast, two reputedly mint 17-55's went for about $850 each. Hmmm...
My sense is that the 18-200 is a very nice improvement on an 11x zoom, benefiting from the latest technology. It makes a commendable all-in-one lens for some people, probably sufficient for quite a lot of casual, record shot family picture shooters. It would seem to be particularly well-suited as a travel lens. The VR unquestionably is a nice plus some of the time, albeit not for subject motion, such as kids' games.
Notwithstanding those CERTAIN positives, it would seem intuitively and inferentially that at a list price of $750 it is surely fully priced. No other vari-ap lens that slow is at that price point. To fetch more than $900 and more than the 17-55 previously loved surely seems to be LLD overzealousness for the new "latest and greatest" must have wunderkind nostrum/panacea lens, which at the end of the day is no better optically or faster than the 18-70 over the congruent range, then gets weaker> 100.
Food for thought... value is in the eye of the beholder-- perhaps. For the same $900 or so, we got a 35/2, a 35-70 2.8, and a 180 2.8, all previously loved mint-- the latter two indubitably pro glass. Different strokes for different folks... to each her own.
--craig
--
Craig in Ga. (USA)
As you go thru life, don't forget to stop along the way to smell the roses.