Best walkaround lens for a Nikon D7000?
Can you recommend the best walk around lens for a Nikon D7000? I already have the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and want to really stay away from primes for now.
Depends on what you're looking for, a single lens or two lens solution for 18-200mm.
The single lens solution would be the Nikkor 18-200mm VR. For two lens solutions, the Tamron 17-50mm/2.8 has a well deserved good reputation (whether with or without VC is a question on its own… I use the version with VC and seem to have gotten a good one, whereas usually people say that the non-VC version is sharper).
In addition to that, one would then supplement another telephoto lens of one's choice.
The Nikon 18-200 is a great lens for walk around use. I have that lens as well as more capable lenses.
The 18-200 is actually a better lens than your 18-105mm kit lens (which I also have). The 18-105 sits in the closet.
Nikon also makes a 28-300mm lens, but I don't like it as well. I prefer the 10mm difference on the wide angle end over the 100mm difference at the telephoto end.
My wife and like to vacation on cruise ships. For cruises, I don't want to carry my heavier lenses, and want the convenience of just a single - lightweight lens, so I take the 18-200 with me for those times.
It depends on your photographic style really. There are a number of different schools of thought:
1) The All-in-one approach. This is often the choice of most, as it's the easiest to understand. It is always a compromise though as the quality does suffer if you try to put too much zoom in a lens. The only lens worth the money is the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR. Sigma and Tamron superzooms just compromise image quality far too much.
2) The standard zoom. Not quite the versatility in the all in one, but better quality. Again a popular approach because of it's flexibility, the 18-105mm kit lens is a good one, as is the 17-55mm f2.8 for poor light.
3) The wide angle prime. This is the choice of the best photojournalists, and many a Magnum photographer has sworn by the fast 35mm lens. The reason they prefer this lens is because for them it does everything, if they want to photograph a scene it's wide enough to catch plenty of action, and if they want to photograph a person they have to be discreet and close to them, this means their photographs are very empathic and expressive. Most of all the prime lens gives the photographer to apertures of f1.4 or f1.8, 1.5-2 stops more than any zoom, and the prime is almost always sharper. For a D7000, you'll want a little wider than 35mm. You should have a look at the Sigma 24mm and 30mm lenses, both are fast wide angle primes, giving high performance while keep a low profile.
If I were to pick one option, I'd take the Sigma 30mm f1.4.
For sheer versatility I'd recommend the 18-200mm. I have one for my D300. Pretty good for general use, though as a zoom, it's not the sharpest lens in the box.
The 24-70mm f2.8 is a good lens, fast but very expensive and you haven't the range of the 18-200mm.
I'm not suggesting any primes as your question specifically said you weren't considering them.