A remarkable lens and perhaps the best DX-oriented zoom ever made.
It is especially good at close distances, making it good for 'semi macros' and event photography. It's rendering qualities have made it perfect for photo-journalism and weddings, not to mention travel photography. The downside? It's quite heavy and expensive- yet it balances very well on the Dxx cameras and with the move to FX, it has become avaliable for much less. In the world of DX zooms, nothing else really competes, partly due to the difficulty of making lenses that perform well at the neccessarily wide angles.