I recently bought a used Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR II from KEH.com for $650.00. I wanted a lens with a big zoom range, and this lens is a do-it-all lens with a few compromises. At 28 mm, this is an f/3.5 lens, and at 300, it is F/5.6. The build quality is prosumer, and it is pretty sharp. It will not be as sharp in the corners wide open versus a lens like a Nikon 24-70 F2.8G. As a rule, the more range a lens has, the less sharp it will be. This lens will also not focus as fast due to being slower and it has a lot of distortion. However, the distortion can be easily corrected in Lightroom or Photoshop.
The good thing about this lens is that since it has a big zoom range, it is a very convenient walk-around lens. You don’t have to change lenses anymore, which is a pain, and you now can carry around less stuff. The vibration reduction on this lens is excellent and allows you to shoot up to 4 stops slower than a non-VR lens. In real-world photography, this lens is very sharp. Only if you blow up the picture to 40×60 and look at the corners from a distance of 12 inches or less would you be able to tell the difference. Here are some photos I took with this lens.
Overall, I recommend this lens if you are going to be doing casual photographer. This lens would not be a good option for professional photography since it is a slow lens. However, most photography is done for fun and this is why this lens is a great choice for most people.