Nikon 18-55 kit lens v. Nikon 18-70 f/3.5

[redleash]

I have a chance to pick up a Nikon 18-70 on sale. Thinking back to past threads and stuff I have read on line, I thought it would be a step up in quality from my kit 18-55 but the guy at the camera store said "not much difference."

I am looking for a nicer wide angle but the store had none left--it's going out of business and selling everything off but all the best glass is gone. The 18-55 is the lens I use the most and mostly at the 18mm end so the 18-70 is only worth it to me if the image quality might be better than what I have now.

Maybe I would be better served to put that money towards a good wide angle prime or zoom. A couple were suggested to me in another thread.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Lauren

[ziggy53]

My father has that lens and it is a very nice lens and a cut above the more standard (nowdays) 18-55mm (non-IS).

I would rank it as a "prosumer" lens and the only significant fault I have with it is that it appears to be a double-cam design which makes the zoom a bit odd feeling in the middle range. Distortion is also a little strange (complex, curvy) at the wide end, but not so bad for most subjects that you can see it easily.

Like most entry level zooms it is a fairly slow aperture at the long end but I still think it has merit because of the extended range of the zoom.

Altogether a very nice lens to use for its benefits and, if I were a Nikon shooter, it would be in my travel kit for the Nikon crop 1.5x cameras.

Very good review here:

http://www.bythom.com/1870lens.htm

[redleash]

Thanks, Ziggy--I knew you'd have some useful thoughts for me! I'll take a look at that link.

Lauren