It feels cheap compared to my older SLR Nikon lenses, but DOES work great. It is a sharp lens, reasonably fast and with minimal distortion. It zooms easily while focusing silently (unlike my older lenses). It's light weight (Good), but the bayonet mount is plastic (Bad) - probably OK if you don't change lenses often.

i have 3 lenses so far for my nikon, this one (the 18-55mm), the one i bought it with (an 18-135mm), and a 50mm non-zooming lens. i bought this lens to have more managable lens for when i was going on a trip where i felt the 18-135 would be too bulky or get a bit heavy. this lens fits the bill well, the only things i would point at are this:
while yes, this is lighter and a little smaller than the 18-135mm lens, its not much shorter (if at all), and feels a little less solidly built than it. however, it is -noticably- lighter.

the only complaint i would mention is that this lens seems to be louder when auto-focussing than the 18-135mm is. im not exactly certain why, but it is something i noticed immediately. it doesnt seem to affect anything, obviously.

despite those things, i do still feel this is a good lens to own as a less bulky, light-weight alternative to the larger 18-135mm lens, and is obviously more versatile than the non-zoom 50mm lens.

I bought this lens as part of the Nikon D40 kit, and I must say it has exceeded expectations. Kit lenses are usually of around decent grade, and most users upgrade pretty quickly after buying their camera. Since placing a higher-end lens in an SLR package would spike the price considerably (and make the competition's kits look more desirable, in most cases), manufacturers may cut some corners here.

Not so with this lens. It is plastic, yes, while truly high-end lenses are metal-framed, but that must be expected, and its compact size and light weight makes it perfect for the D40/D40x, as that SLR is very compact.

The 18-55mm focal length is a nice all-around range, without becoming overly heavy and pricey. 18mm is quite wide, allowing for nice indoor/interior shots and landscape vistas, and 55mm will get you some detail (although most users will still want to invest in a zoom lens, such as the - apparently quite decent - new 55-200mm VR DX II, which is a nice range as it does not overlap). The lens is clear and does not suffer from any noticeable aberration at any point in its focal range. It is also somewhat faster and better-built than the 18-55mm kit lens which comes with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, and also seems to be brighter in my experience.

If you buy this with the D40 kit, you can plan on it being a keeper (unless you are going to upgrade to top-end glass immediately), and design your future lens choices in light of that. There is no need to splurge for, say, the 18-135mm or 18-200mm Nikkors unless you really want to carry the whole gamut in one lens. Given the $250 price tag of the 55-200mm, this means the equivalent of the 18-200mm can be had for about $370, as opposed to $850!

The DX designation is there to let you know that these type of lenses are designed specifically for Nikon's entry-level series, comprising the D40/D40x, D50, D70/D70s and D80. It's not intended to be used in a film camera due to a different crop rate.

This is a good sharp lens but if I had to do it over I would get the 18 to 135 (I think this is a standard with many kits these days).

In any case, I have moved to fill the gap with a 70 to 200.

I love this lens. I broke my first one by dropping at the state fair (not good for if, by the way...) so I just replaced it. I missed it a lot - it gets a great field of vision (sorry, I don't know camera jargon). I use it on my Nikon D50 and get great results. My companion lens is the 70-300mm - between these two I get almost everything I need!

All the praise heaped on this little lens is well-deserved. It's sharp, has acceptable bokeh (aka out-of-focus blurring), is featherlight, cheap enough to not constantly worry about damaging it, can focus on objects reasonably close to the lens, focuses quickly with its entry-level hypersonic ("Silent Wave") focusing motor, and has wide enough apertures to support most daytime use. Of course, it's limited by its maximum aperture. A truly fast lens begins around f/2.8, and many amateurs wind up insisting on f/2.8 lenses eventually. Also, many photographers find it's easier on the brain to use a zoom with a consistent maximum aperture than one that can do different maximums at the two ends of its zoom range. So many upgrade to something like the Sigma f/2.8 18-50mm HSM Macro lens for four times the price of this Nikkor lens. But this is a terrific place to start.

IMPORTANT: Nikon has just released this lens' upgrade, which adds a Vibration Reduction (VR) motor. This should be a big improvement, because it reduces risk of blurred images when hand-holding the camera. Of course, VR can have a downside. First, VR reduces battery life. Second, it sometimes adds a whirring or grumbling noise. Third, it may add weight. Fourth, the price will probably be approximately twice the non-VR version. Fifth, all else being equal, a truly fast lens (f/2.8 or wider) is more advantageous than VR. Nonetheless users tend to overwhelmingly prefer the VR version to the non-VR version of the same lens. It reduces the number of missed shots in dim light shots.

As of today (Nov 24), the new VR version of this lens had been announced on Nikon's website but was not yet listed on Amazon.

This lens is awesome! Very quiet (almost too quiet because you think it's not working!). Excellent clarity and sharpness. Highly recommend.

Don't write it off just because it looks and feels a bit down market. It performs very well and delivers image quality that will delight almost everybody. I've had mine a month or so and I seem to use it more often than my other older and heavier Nikkors on the D80 body. It felt a bit strange at first only because it is so light, but now I am used to the balance and it is just great for most casual occasions.

Great pick for your first lens. Works well on my D80. Its affordable and takes great pictures in a variety of settings!

This is a light, quiet, fairly fast focus lens that has low distortion for the price with seven diaphragm blades which are rounded at the larger apertures (this is good). It will focus at around 11" which is better than some lenses costing more than $1000.00! The sweet spot is around f/5.6 - f/8 as you get some diffraction at smaller apertures.

The A/M switch is on the side of the lens with a very small focus ring at the very front so it really is intended for more auto-focus operation. Zoom operation is smooth and light.

There is some barrel distortion (lower than some more expensive lenses) that can easily be corrected in PhotoShop.

You can't really beat it for the price and it works well with the D200!

I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good wide-angle for general use.

I have 6 different focal length Nikon AF lens and this works great with my D50 SLR as an all purpose lens. It is lighter than my other lens because it has more plastic than my older metal ones.But there is no distortion as far as I can tell.

We have here the Nikon 18-55mm kit lens that is seemingly designed to do one thing: make you want more. I received mine as part of my kit package with my Nikon D40. It is a decent lens that cuts corners all over to keep price down, and doesn't really do anything great. However, for those first starting out, it's light as a feather, simple to use, and at least for the initial month or so, all you need to get out and start capturing memories.

As expected for the price, it is of relatively low-grade plastic construction, to include the mount (the part at the rear that connects to the camera), however the optics are uncharacteristically sharp. While it is an AF-S lens (focusing element in the lens and not the camera), it doesn't benefit from full-time manual override found on other AF-S lenses (that is, you're able to make manual adjustments after the lens has focused). I'm sure that Nikon did this as a cost-cutting measure. For users of this lens, this shouldn't be an issue as you can always switch over to manual focus anyway via a switch on the lens or camera (save the D40/X which doesn't have an internal focus motor and as such no switch on the camera). However, more experienced users will find the manual focus ring quite distasteful. Also, since the front element rotates, use with a polarizer will be annoying.

With a variable aperture of 3.5-5.6 you can easily get available-light shots for outdoor daylight photos, and well-lit indoor photos without jacking up the iso too high at the wide end, but near the long end, you're going to need to use a flash unless you use a relatively slow shutter speed or high iso setting. You're going to get some vignetting (darkening of the corners) on the wide end, as with any wide-angle lens, but this can be corrected with most post-processing software, like Photoshop. Also, there will be CAs or purple fringing with high contrast images.

The range is quite short, though not as bad as say the 17-35 or the 35-70 (which outclass this lens in every way, shape and form), and will definitely have you wanting for just a little more reach at the long end. The Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ($199.95 Amazon) is an excellent compliment to this lens, or if you can afford it, the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR ($473.32 Amazon). The difference between 55 and 70 is fairly small and won't be missed (but the difference in price will hurt a little more). 18mm will most likely be plenty wide allowing you take large group, landscape shots, and even some fun distorted portrait shots due to the barrel roll at the wide end.

All in all, this is a lens to get you started, but leaving you wanting for more. More range, faster light gathering, better construction, etc. Its cheap construction is enough to keep price down, but won't take very much abuse. Also, being a kit lens, you'll be hard pressed to sell it unless packaged with the camera if you ever upgrade lenses in the future. It is what it is, with the only alternative at this price being the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D ($109 Amazon) aka, the nifty fifty.

Slow lens, acceptable optics but very lightweight. If you're crazy enough to consider buying this passable lens included in the Nikon camera kits, save up instead for the 18-200 mm with vibration reduction. The latter lens is incomparable in its utility when compared to the former.

I got this lens as part of a package with a Nikon D40x camera. While the 18-55mm range is a bit short for my taste, I do like using this lens.

Pros:
-very light weight
-reasonably fast auto-focus
-high quality image resolution

Cons:
none

There is a vibration reduction ("VR") version of this lens, but at this focal length I don't miss it.

I got this lens as well as the 55-200mm VR lens as a kit for my D80. For the price you can't beat what the lens does, but you will not be getting a lens that performs well. It is slow to focus at times, and pictures are not as sharp as I would like them to be. I use the 55-200mm VR lens and it is outstanding. If you are on a budget then it will get the job done, but don't expect superior quality from a budget lens. The saying goes.....you get what you pay for.

For experienced shooters, don't expect much. For those just starting out with digital SLR photography, it's the best kit lens to use. This lens can really deliver great pictures. Provided you know what you're doing. That simply means understanding how to use aperture, shutter speed, white balance, ISO, and lighting among other things to achieve the best results. That also means you have to minimize using "toink" (auto) mode to learn. Not that the different auto modes don't take great shots. They actually do, except, they don't always come out the way you want them to. I use this along with a D40x body. And most of the time it has helped me take great pictures. I say most of the time only because this lens does have its limits. When you understand this, you should be just fine. For shooting distant objects try the 55-200mm VR lens. For shooting objects in low light conditions try the 50mm f/1.8D lens. In any case, hope this helps.

I am very pleased with this lens. I mostly bought it for macro photos, but is gave me a whole new perspective for a "normal" lens for digital 35 mm SLR. Very pleased indeed.