best walkabout lens for my nikon D50

[TG.]

i'm looking for a good walkabout lens for my nikon D50, does anyone have any ideas, i was thinking of one of the following.

sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6 DG
sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6 DG macro
tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6 3XR DI

any other ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[Ross]

Nikkor 17-55DX f/2.8, might be slightly out of your price range though

 

[PaulBoy]

sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6 DG

- I used one of these for a while before I got my hard to find megabucks VRII Nikon version - The Sigma is great lens IMHO (mine is on Ebay as we speak & comes with a few extras like UV & Polarising filters if you're interested ...)
Paul

 

[TG.]

Nikkor 17-55DX f/2.8, might be slightly out of your price range though

yes way above budget that one , does anyone else have any thoughts or ideas on this or is the sigma 18-200mm probably the best all round walkabout lens for the price ??

 

[mrgubby]

I use a Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspheric (IF) Macro (it's full name ) as my general walkabout lens on my 300D and get some very good results

IMO etc

 

[Joe T]

The 18-200 lenses are supposed to be better quality than the 28-300 lenses. Possibly something to do with having less compromises in their design.

The sigma should be a good bet. The Nikkor 18-200 VR is a great lens also, but likely to be out of your budget?

 

[leoedin]

As far as I've heard, the Sigma 18-200 isn't very good. (I think the Nikon 18-200 is an exception to this): AFAIK, most 18-200's make such a compromise in optics they are quite poor in image quality.

However, having never used one, I wouldn't really know. Have you considered shorter range and faster lenses, such as a 17/18 - 70/80 lens?