Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm an advanced amateur photographer shooting landscapes, nature, animals, fast cars and faster jets. I've owned Nikon DSLR's and lenses for the past five years, always upgrading as I make new purchases. I use a Nikon D300 camera body. I bought this lens to replace the Nikon 18-200mm, even though I gave up some range on the low end. As soon as I opened the box I could tell by the weight and feel of it that it is a high quality lens. I started taking a variety of shots of my dogs, inside, outside, and in a park. I was very happy with the results - even my wife complimented me on the pictures which is hard to come by. I used it last night, in the dark, zoomed all the way out to take a few shots at an outdoor symphony concert, with the ISO set at 3200. I didn't use a tripod since there wasn't room; I handheld it so I didn't expect good results. I'm amazed at the sharpness of the images. The VR II works as advertised too. Today I took it out to run it through a few comparison shots to see how well it works under nature/landscape settings on a tripod and handheld. I also took some images to merge into HDR images. The results were crystal clear and exceptionally fast set at ISO 200, even zoomed out to the max. Although it weights more than the Nikon 18-200mm lens, it's a fair exchange for the speed, reach, and clarity that result. I'm planning out my weekends around using this lens at a NASCAR race, air show, and fall foliage in the Shenandoah Valley. This lens is well worth the price; I highly recommend it.