According to Ken Rockwell " It's the best manual focus, general purpose telephoto zoom ever made by Nikon." I can't really compare it to anything then my own lenses. I enjoy using it for the sense of going old-school.

Weight for some, but then again this lens is almost older then I am.

I grabbed this lens simply out of curiosity to see how it compared to my 18-200. I had used it in the past before digital was even thought of, but didn't really know what I was doing at that time. The lens is heavy, which I like...I wish all my lenses were this solid. I haven't done any significant testing, but the best thing I've noticed is that at it's long end it reaches a lot further then my 18-200. I'm sure the IQ is probably better too, but have only taken a few shots to compare them with. I basically like it for being forced into having to think manually rather then rely on my cpu's, and the idea that it's probably sharper then my normal gear.