lack of sharpness; lack of consistency; very slow auto focus; very loud.

The lack of VR makes it a little trickier to use as a plain walk-around lens, though.

The only downsides are the lack of VR (but most good macro shots I make are with tripods), the focusing is slightly louder and slightly slower than the internal motors for AF-S, and it won't autofocus with the Nikon D40, D40X, D3100 and D5000.Important settings the instructions did not mention: Some new users had issues with error message "EE

It is very easy to focus and lack of vibration reduction is not an issue

Telephoto shots were encouraging, but not quite as sharp as I'd expected

As good as, if not better than, the Nikon equivalent... and less than half the price.