Gary Wolstenholme takes a look at this popular budget standard zoom, which is currently offered as the kit lens with the Nikon D7000 camera.

Useful 'walkabout' zoom range; Decent optical performer; Very good value; VR performs well; Lightweight

AF noticeably slower at telephoto end of the zoom; CA at 105mm and apertures below f/11

While I hope to create a full Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S VR DX Lens, my first priority is to include results from this lens in the lens comparison tools available on the site.

I got mine as the kit lens with my D7000. All around I am very happy with the quality and sharpness of this lens. It covers a great range picture possibilities.

In order to do my part in the economic recovery I recently bought a new Nikon D300, a SB-900 flash and wanted to get a good all around lens to keep on it most of the time. My criteria were it had to have wide angle, a decent telephoto range and have VR (VR = Vibration Reduction) - Nikon's...

A budget standard zoom for Nikon DX SLRs with a range equivalent to 27-158mm on a 35mm camera, Vibration Reduction and a silent focusing motor.

Useful 'walkabout' zoom range; Decent optical performer; Very good value; VR performs well; Lightweight

AF noticeably slower at telephoto end of the zoom; CA at 105mm and apertures below f/11

One of the main attractions of this lens is a useful and versatile focal range that goes from true wide angle to true telephoto.

The Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR offers a nice package of a comfortable focal range, optical stabilization and very high resolution figures. On the downside there're rather pronounced distortion and CAs. The build quality is Ok but not really something to rave about either.

I avoided kit lenses from reading comments on the internet, this lead to annoying others by having to change lens a lot and having to move position all the time in this focal range. So I bought this cheaper lens for when I did not care and the others did.

It is a light, versatile lens that can give very sharp images; Value for money is super

The lens has optical disadvantages at the extremes of its range (see real testing results for this); It does feel cheap with the plastic and the focus ring (I do focus manually regularly) does not feel professional

For Nikon DX shooters looking to expand their horizons beyond the kit lens, the 18-105mm DX ED VR f3.5-5.6 lens is an attractive and reasonably priced addition to your collection. Introduced in August 2008 as a kit lens option for the D90, you can find it for AU$669.

Consistently sharp; Lightweight

All plastic construction; including lens mount

Designed for use with Nikon's DX-format cameras, the new AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens will be offered in some Nikon DSLR kits - including with the new D90, which was used for our tests.