The experts say it has vignetting and distortion, but I haven't seen any of those in normal shooting.But I can see the clarity and sharpness in every shot, even if I shoot wide open. It's light and small and nothing is moving while zooming or focusing (the front glass element is moving in and out just a fraction while zooming, but it all happens behind the filter, so no problem there)
The zoom is so nicely dampened that it makes you play with it for the sheer fun.
It's the most inexpensive new wide zoom from Nikon but they made it awesome (for the price) I'm happy :)