Summary: A great general purpose lens.

Comment: This lens is just right for me. Ideal for indoors, at museums, at the zoo, in the garden. It is a very good macro lens for casual use without special accessories... great for small flowers, bugs, coins, jewelry. None of the problems that come up when using long telephoto lenses. No creep when pointing down. Very light. Works great on my Nikon D80.

Summary: Excellent lens

Comment: After being an avid Nikon products user for well over 30 years, I must admit that this lens holds no disappointments for me. The extra 2mm from the 18mm to the 16mm is considerable. It's worth the extra money for the extra consideration. I don't think anyone would regret buying and using this lens.

Summary: Excellet lens - great compliment to the 70-300 VR

Comment: Bought this lens after one too many times being dissapointed in the 18-55 kit lens that came with my D50. There were two factors important to me - 1) VR being included and 2) improved sharpness, another, yet less important factor was the zoom range which fits perfectly with my other lenses. I currently shoot the 70-300VR, 50mm 1.8, Tamron 90mm macro and now the 16-85 VR. It was a bonus that this lens fit perfectly with my other gear, the real reason I picked it up was revealed the first time I used it. Love the VR, really helps on a majority of my shots which are done hand held. Second is the IQ - sharpness and colors are much improved over the 18-55 kit lens. There is a slight bit of vignetting, however, that's easily fixed in post processing. The build quailty is excellent on this lens and while it may be a bit on the pricey side I'm very happy with it and highly recommend it. I've since "upgraded" to the D300 body and it shines with that as well. If you've currently got the 70-300VR this lens is the perfect compliment.

Summary: I hate zooms, but...

Comment: I am a snob of sorts. I use prime Nikkors, mostly manual focus, and mostly fast apertures. In thirty years of Nikon use, I use manual focus Nikkors even on my auto-focus film cameras.

I tested the waters of digital with a D40 and D60 (the D40 was stolen), and the kit lens that came with each was everything that made me stay with my metal and glass Nikkors when auto-focus ruled the film world, too light, too flimsy, and lacking of a feel of precision. I used my manual focus Nikkors on the D60 with good effect, giving up metering, and a less than exact focusing ability, especially at f/one-point-something.

After reading a review for the 16-85mm Nikkor zoom, I decided to get one so that I could at least have one auto-everything lens for when I wanted to be lazy, or hand the camera to someone else to use. When the lens arrived, it looked much better than the kit lens that sat unused after a brief test period. The lens was first rate in terms of fit and finish. The impression of a fine lens continued when I mounted it and shot images in my low-lit living room. A sharp shot taken at 1/3rd of a second at the 85mm setting was enough to let me know that the new VR label was a true tool, and not just a selling point.

I now have several hundred photos made with this lens, and not a bad one from the lens' fault. The prints I had made from my lab had the tech asking me what I was shooting with... the files were so good.

FWIW... my normal working wide-angle in the film days was 24mm, and this lens has that angle of view when set at 16mm. I was at home with this lens on the first outing, and I stopped thinking about film-versus-digital...I was shooting with a 24mm lens. I never liked the 28mm focal length, so this lens was the one I was waiting for, and I'm glad it came along. There is a difference between a 24mm and 28mm (on film), and it shows up here in the digital world too.

I can recommend this as a quality optic for the digital shooter.

Summary: NIKON LENS

Comment: I AM A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT AND BOUGHT THIS LENS FOR MY D-80. IT IS JUST WHAT I NEED TO COMPLETE ALL OF MY ASSIGNMENTS AS IT HAS A VERY GOOD RANGE AND IS NOT CUMBERSOME OR TOO HEAVY. I WILL CONTINUE TO USE THIS LENS FOR YEARS TO COME ON A DAILY BASIS.