My dermatologist said you get enough vitamins from the sun by walking around the block on a sunny day (best later in the day, after 4 or even 6 or so, depending on its intensity).
You don’t need to bathe in the sun to get the vitamins.
They ran the news on the ‘sunscreen study’ over and over again when it first came out and were telling people that sunscreen will block your production of vitamin D. The news missed the part about how this was really a concern for wintertime Boston, not Texas.
Unfortunately, I'm located in "the Gret Northwest", where for about half of the year, sunny days are few and far between. Add to that that my work is pretty much all indoors, thus my exposure to sun is limited. I'd rather take a supplement and know that my level is adequate all year round. It seems that a level between 1000 and 2000 IU per day is sufficient. With my nutrient regimen, I currently get 1500 IU/day, so I think I'm OK.