I would like opinions on the lens 18-105? - 1

I'm about to buy a Nikon 18-105 VR lens with D3000… I know all the technical features as focal or aperture, but I want to have an opinion from people who tested it: how it behaves in the area of brightness, sharpness, color?

I've borrowed it from a friend for my summer hollidays. At 18mm it's ok, rather distorting. At 21mm already it's improved a lot and stays that until well in the 80mm range. Contrast and sharpness is fine. One thing I did notice is that you really need ot use the included lens hood, it's quite flare prone.