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I picked up the 16-85mm lens last week along with the 50mm f1.4 and love both of them. The 16-85 has great optics and can give you great portrait shots while zoomed all the way to the 85mm. I also like the 16mm wide angle look as I shoot a lot of architectural/interior shots. Good luck on your decision.

Thanks. I'm going to Zanzibar (beach) and the next year I would like to go to Thailand and/or Hang Kong.

by interior I mean memories pictures (family events, new year friends homemade party, Weddings, etc)

Both are great for travelling. I have been on holiday with just the 18-70. Its fine. The best "holiday" lens has to be the 18-200... but it really depends what YOU define as a holiday! I have the 18-200 for my holiday lens. Its fun to bring along and capture memories and images. Its sharp enough for me for those situations and really flexible. at 18mm its F3.5 which is really quite acceptable indoors with VR ( BTW it has always been VR2 both the new and the old version are both VR2 ) ( ohh.. and I brought a 12-24 nikkor along as well and a tripod and my SB800.)

However the 16-85 is sharper and wider which is great for scenary and indoor architecture.

Where are you going? and what do you think you will be shooting most?

Some "holidays" need specialised lenses! a trip to africa for instance, or the amazon. will need very different lenses and cameras. Tell us more...

Hello!

For me, I prefer fast lenses, lenses with a max. aperture of f/2.8 or bigger. Since you're travelling, I won't suggest any crazy bulky zooms like the 24-70 or 70-200. But, zooms are ideal for travelling anyway, here's what I'd go for :-

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (own it, love it) - cheap, small, not the fastest AF in the world but sharp
Nikkor 16-85mm - you mentioned this, would be a good choice. not the biggest max. aperture, but the VRII will help with that

if you're looking for one lens to do it all, there's nothing wrong with the Nikkor 18-200mm. I had the VRI version, loved the range. Again, the VR helps. but you mentioned you shoot interiors, so I wouldn't go for anything with a smaller aperture than an f/2.8

thats just my opinion anyways, good luck! :)

regards,
Ihsan

Hello Everybody,
I searched and I didn't find a topic on this subject,
I'll go on holidays at the end of june and I'd like to buy my first DSLR
I know that the D90 will be replaced soon but I want a camera for my holidays and I don't want to wait. My dead line is June 15th.
So, I'm going to buy a D90.

My question is which lense will I buy: Nikon 16-85, Nikon 18-200 or something else? My Budget is about $800 for lenses.
Most of my pictures are Landscapes, people, interiors, family pictures. Do I need to have more than 85mm? I have no idea. On my compact camera I never paid attention to that.

Thank you in advance for people who will try to help me.