nikon 18-200mm VR lens not avaliable and 17-55mm way to much money, i NEED A LENS?

Question

gotta be able to do NIGHT SHOTS, and macro, and potrait, and landscape, architecture, etc.

im traveling to italy, and only want/need ONE lens. gimme some help people. below $750 please . thx

im getting the NIKON D80

what about the Tamron Zoom Super Wide Angle SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

or

Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR

????

is NIKON better than TAMRON???????????????????

Answer 1

Those 2 Tamron lenses + the Nikon 18-135mm are your best options.

17-50: good in low light, great optics, limited zoom range.

18-135: average in low light, good optics and zoom range.

18-200: poor in low light, average optics, great zoom range.

The lens that Fhotoace suggests is fantastic, but for my taste it doesn't zoom wide enough.

It's time to pick your priorities. You can't get everything in just one lens.

As for the Nikon 17-55 vs. Tamron 17-50, the Nikon is better: slightly better image quality, faster auto-focus and much better build quality.

With the 18-200 zooms, again the Nikon is better: it has slightly better image quality and it has vibration reduction - which you'll really want with this massive zoom range.

Answer 2

This is at least the 3'rd time you've asked this question. Surely you have all the information you need?

The Nikon 18-200mm VR is not a good pick for the photography you want to do. The Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 is out of your budget.

Why not go with one of the other suggestions you've been given in your other posts?

Regarding your question about Tamron - they are a very good lens manufacturer, like Sigma and Tokina who also make lenses. However, I don't have any knowledge of the specific lens you mentioned.

--
Disclosure: I am the owner of www.lenslenders.com in Canada.

Answer 3

Nikon lenses are generally thought of as better than Tamron, but Tamron tests very well. Here are a few links to other questions on this same topic where there were some excellent suggestions with links to reviews from several members trying to help you.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AszDgSq_det3vB1kFHmY8s7sy6IX?qid=20070425143705AAfJUVC

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AopZIggZxwuSDqMntManXyfsy6IX?qid=20070424165335AAtYyWD

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqHh0O7PJortDf.sfynbhWLty6IX?qid=20070422055811AAn6Qyv

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmOOs3q4V55VJOvWZEOzmAXty6IX?qid=20070421190454AAQgR4F

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Auz_TqhhweOeFQjxPhPetn7ty6IX?qid=20070420114759AA7E7Gp

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlrRSc5jeR_ev_Qwr.MnnMfty6IX?qid=20070418143822AAr8U2R