I got this lens to take on my trip to the Southwest. Wanting to travel light and have full coverage, this, plus the lightweight 35-70, and the wonderfully compact 70-300 go in a Slingshot bag along with the D700 and SB400 flash. Everything you need in one small bag. Its a really good lens, and many if not most of the shots taken were using it http://www.pbase.com/lougr/southwest09