Obviously everyone else is confused too or you'd have some comments here.

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alis aquilae

Haha

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Please take a look ~xlnt89

"A big shot is a little shot that kept shooting"

i recommend the sigma 18-50 2.8 ([link]). having never tried it myself, just the specifications right there really give it its real gold given that it has a max aperture of f/2.8 at ALL ranges (trust me, that is seriously versatile) i have a d50 too with the kit lens, and generally i hate working at that 3.5-5.6 range...it just blows. so the sigma here gives you that opportunity to work with some pretty fast glass.

oh another one is the tamron 17-50 2.8([link]d_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199271673&sr=8-2). this one is sort of like the little brother (in comparison) to the nikon 17-40 2.8 but for sure
the tamron wont compare (i mean, for the nikon's $1600 price tag nothing will) but it does the same job in essence...plus you get pretty good bang for your buck!

and finally if you want to stay pure to your lens...you can shell out a bit more money for the nikon 12-24 f/4 ([link]) this one is about as pricey as the 18-200 VR but probably twice as better in the artistic sense. its a super wide so you really get what you pay for.

you kind of have to keep in mind that if you want like super good nikon glass, you're gonna have to fork over thousands...but if your down for budget glass that really does the job well, go for 3rd party lens makers (sigma, tamron, tokina) because they make good lenses too...just doesnt carry the nikon name which puts the price on the lenses.

hope that helped and thanks for the feature/fav i really appreciate it!

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[link]

everyone else is doing it.

oh and sorry one more thing: its best to stay away of the wide-to-telephoto-ranged lens because, like you said, certain aspects of the zooms really hinder the quality of your image. its best to invest into a quality standard zoom (somewhere around 17-70) and then a good quality tele as well (around 55-300 or something) although tele's are only useful for nature and sports...

haha yea lots of pros and cons but as long as you budget right and shop the right lenses, it shouldnt hurt so much.

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[link]

everyone else is doing it.