General purpose lens for Nikon DSLR

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240
Location
Cumbria
I'm not a keen photographer and know little about mid and high end camera gear, but my teenaged son has always loved taking pictures, some of which have impressed people far more knowledgeable than I am about these things. A couple of years ago we bought him a second hand Nikon D3200 DSLR, supplied with an 18-55mm kit lens, with which he has taken thousands of shots.
We've now got him a used Nikon D7200, body only, and plan to sell the D3200 and its kit lens (which is sort of ok). That means he will need a new "general purpose" zoom lens, hopefully in the 18-70 or 80 range, but he has a limited budget to work with. One lens he's spotted is the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4 DC Macro, which can be had second hand in decent condition for around £150, which he could just about afford.
So, has anybody on TSR had any experience of this lens, or of similar ones around the same price point used? Any comments or suggestions will be gratefully received.
Just to add, one of my son's mentors, who's a leading light in the local photography club, likes the look of the D7200, even though he's not a Nikon man. However, he's a real enthusiast and quite well off, so the only lenses he's been able to recommend cost well north of £250, which is just too much atm.
 
You should have no trouble with Sigma lenses many of which are better built than Nikon's cheaper lens lines. The Nikon lens mount gives you access to lots of stuff on the used market. Might be worth looking at Tokina as an option. Lots of stuff on Ebay as many folk constantly swap lenses in the pursuit of "sharpness"!
 
my overall most used lens on my d7200 (fantastic camera) was my sigma 18-200mm walk around, rock solid general purpose lens and relatively cheap and very nimble.
still have the lens, no longer the d7200 (now replaced by D500)
 
I'm usually a Canon shooter with DSLRs, but the Nikon 18-200 that a friend of mine had always impressed me for a zoom lens with such a range of focal lengths.

I don't really use zoom lenses as I prefer the sharpness of primes; but talking of Nikon lenses, the old manual focus Nikkor 55mm macro lenses are about as sharp as it gets. I get some odd looks with one mounted on my Canon.

The Sigma 17-70 used to be my main lens about 10-15 years ago. My wife has it now.
 
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