Wow--it looks like I can get an 18-55 for less than $80 on e-bay.
there are two versions - you want the "VR" which is far superior - $100 for a nice one. Just remember to turn VR off when you use a tripod as it messes up the image. Handheld, this stuff is gold and buys you two f-stops, so it's really an f2.8 lens without the weight.
http://photography.shop.ebay.com/Lenses-...d=p3286.c0.m282Color saturation - get a good polarizer and play with that - you get skies like this with the right sun angle:
The cheaper VR lenses are not as grand as the $2000 pro equivalents, but close, much closer than cheap lenses ever were to the big boys' toys. I always wanted to get me a 35-350mm Canon on my EOS 1n for hiking, because it is a fantastic film camera lens, but it's also very heavy and $2000+
-- now, years later I am glad I didn't do it. These little VR lenses are just about as good, at a fraction of the cost, heck, they are disposable almost. I could care less if I drop these things or get a scratch on them. In fact, even the D90 is something I don't really worry about damaging. Only when you want "perfect" will you have to address that last level of quality you can get from your photos, and currently I am not willing to pay for that stuff (because nobody pays me to take photos any longer). I used to have $40,000 of lenses in my trunk in the 90s and each weekend I blew $600 in film and processing alone, only to break even at the end of the year... but I had a lot of fun with these toys. Got it out of my system - I now know what you can get if you have unlimited funds, and it really isn't that much better. The guy taking the pictures and minor things like a good polarizer and a tripod at the right time make a much bigger difference.
