Buy this lens for the fantastic build quality. The optics are nice and sharp and it's perfectly balanced on my D200. I've treated this lens badly, it's been up mountains with me and to some seriously cold places (Svalbard). I've even slipped and had it smash down on hard rocks taking out a small chip of metal from the casing, the body suffered no dents (besides the chip) and the focusing and zoom rings are still as smooth as the day I brought it, optics unaffected. This lens is built amazingly well and will probably last longer than me.