nikon 18-200vr lens

[putlog]

hi all,
has anyone got any leads on availability of this lens they're like the proverbial
rocking horse .
I've seen them on ebay but I'm a bit reluctant to part with that much money to somebody in hong kong I don't know.
I really want to get hold of one of these before I go to the usa on holiday in November.

Cheers
Ray

[Mark Haywood]

Onestop seem to have them in stock - at least you won't be dealing through ebay. I have ordered a few lenses from them with no problems at all, and they have a very good reputation, but unfortunately they are based in Hong Kong.

[SSB]

They're basically not freely available here. All of the stores you find on camerapricebuster have long waiting lists. You can either join one of those lists in anticipation of getting a lens before November, or buy now on ebay. Not all of the lenses are hong kong stock, I've seen a few UK lenses buy it now for between £500 and £600 over the last few days, seemingly from genuine UK sellers.

[chris1210]

Jessops website states 2-4weeks, and using the discount code on hotukdeals.com, the lens comes to a nice round £500.... worth waiting for at that price i reckon. And you would THINK that Jessops would be further up the queue at getting stock than most other retailers.

[Magslad]

I've seen them on ebay but I'm a bit reluctant to part with that much money to somebody in hong kong I don't know

Know what you mean, but I ended up being too impatient and did order mine from ebay (urgalaxy to be precise - based in Hong Kong). I checked with Nikon first that the warranty would be valid, and checked with the seller that they actually had them in stock. Was a bit nervous ordering, but it arrived within 3 days and I registered it with Nikon UK with no problems. Well worth it IMHO, it's a fantastic lens.

As SSB says, there is no-one in the UK that has them readily available. Jessops do say 2-4 weeks availability, but they've been saying that for months (although they do tend to get stock earlier than others, but no idea how many back orders they have at the moment)

[brainbox]

I bought one last Tuesday
I had been ringing round various dealers- soem quote dme 20 weeks but sevaral have had stock in the last monh. Ukdigital said they had sold one on 7th Sept and were getting them in from time to time.
Eventually I got mine from fotosense.co.uk. Their web site said they had them in stock when I rang they had 3 in stock. They may have some in stock still.
Its a really nice lenses especially on the D80

[jumpman23]

yeah i got one from jessops within 5 days to go with my d80

[sam43]

Jessops do seem to be able to get hold of these in numbers. Although their website says 2 to 4 weeks, mine arrived in about 10 days.

[Dave777]

I got mine in 10 days from Jessops online. Used the discount codes as above so paid less than £500.

Well happy, Park Cameras are quoting 18-26 weeks for delivery!!!

Cheers

Dave

P.S. It works well too!!!

[Branxx]

I've ordered my via Roberts Imaging in US. They quote 12 weeks delivery but the price was $670 i.e. £353+VAT. It would be nice to have the lens earlier but the price was very competitive (they are now quoting $699).

Got mine from KP. They phoned me about 4 months after I registered interest! But that was while production was moved from Japan to Thailand. If your need is urgent, I would suggest phoning round the dealers listed on Nikon UK's web site.

This is one fantastic lens. The zoom range and VR make good images in a huge range of circumstances. I especially like the increased opportunity for informal (no flash) indoor shooting at telephoto settings - eg of small children. I would take it with a D50 over a D80 with a standard kit lens. I am scrapping most other lenses, leaving just: 18-200, 12-24, 50, macro.

Still saving for the D80 (currently have a D70).

[PaulBoy]

some good ones available 2nd hand too (see below) - Paul

[owain_thomas]

I've got one of these on order from jessops (missed your sale PaulBoy ) but they have no idea when they'll be in. nowhere else seems to either. Does anyone know of any in stock at the moment?

[URGalaxy]

This seems to be the hottest lens in the last few months. But personally, I think the lens is just so so in optical performance. on-going price is way above (around 30% frankly speaking) Nikon's suggested retail price already. So, please reconsider buying criteria before making decision.

Good Luck All,

Thanks

Originally Posted by URGalaxy

This seems to be the hottest lens in the last few months. But personally, I think the lens is just so so in optical performance. on-going price is way above (around 30% frankly speaking) Nikon's suggested retail price already. So, please reconsider buying criteria before making decision.

Good Luck All,

Thanks

Good point. The reason for buying the 18-200VR is incredible versatility (and compact size) not optical quality. But in many situations the VR will deliver a far greater improvement in sharpness than switching to a sharper lens would. I think it's not too bad optically.