Review: Nikon 18-55mm VR By
Andrew Alexander (Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - 02:54 EDT)The 18-55mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G VR was introduced in December 2007 as a new kit lens for the Nikon D40 and D40X cameras.
It's easy to dismiss this lens as ''the old kit lens plus VR,'' but in fact Nikon has reconfigured the lens design, replacing and re-arranging a variety of lens elements. Nikon has added four elements, going from 7 elements in 5 groups to 11 elements in 8 groups. There is still one aspherical element, but Nikon has dropped the ED element in favor of the new VR group.
On a Nikon digital body with an APS-C sized sensor, the lens will give an effective field of view of approximately 28-80mm. The lens vignettes when mounted on a full frame body; you'll see black corners with the lens set to below 24mm. As a G-series lens, there's no aperture ring, so it may not work properly on a film body that can't set the lens aperture.
The 18-55mm isn't a ''constant'' lens, in that as you increase the focal length, both the minimum and maximum aperture sizes increase. Dealers tend to make the lens available as part of a D40, D40X or D60 body and lens kit, or on its own for around $200.
Review: Nikon 18-55mm VR