Been a long time for me to post on here, work eh, got to be done to pay the bills

Thinking of getting a 18-200mm VR lens for the S5, but been told by a few wedding photographers that the better lens would be the 17-55 nikon lens, its a f2.8 where the VR is f3.5 Trouble is, no one i know has this lens, so i cant test it or get hands on views and its £702+VAT.... alot of money to spend on a lens without havign someone else say ya or nay about it..
So, anyone used this lens before?
let me know how it preforms please.
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