Prior to my purchase of this, I was shooting with the Nikon 18-70mm (DX) and Sigma 70-300mm (35mm). Changing lenses was always a chore and the issue of sensor dust gets more prominent with each lens change.The 18-200mm is a very sharp lens at all focal lengths. The slight barrel distortion at 18mm is hardly an issue to me as my shooting varies over all the focal lengths. The DOF at f/3.5-5.6 is sufficient enough to isolate the subject from the background.Being a user of the Nikon Coolpix P4 before I switched to a D70s, I'm glad to have VR back. VR-II works as advertised and allows me to shoot at up to 4 stops lower than could have otherwise been possible. This is invaluable for long range shots.