An awesome lens for distance photography. For new comers few thing I must share1. As the aparture is not so wide, lowlight shot will dissapoint you. So it is a lens for bright light photography. Dont use it at night.2. Auto focus need to travel from 55 to 300. It takes little time. So it is not good for fast photography.3. It is a heavy weight lens. Your arm will start paining if you don't use tripod.4. Excellent delivery by amazon. I bought 35mm lens from flipkat but the packet was opened but this was nicely packed.

Most of the folks looking at this review will be either those who graduated from a bridge camera to a DSLR recently or just took the plunge and bought a DSLR (yes with all capitals!) few days/ weeks/months ago. It is even likely you own a Nikon D5x00 or D3x00. (Experts and professionals would not be reading this. Heck, they shouldn't even be on this page!) So while we are all in a good company, let's talk about the lens itself.Now want those with quintessential starter DSLR with 18-55mm glass piece, want next? Of course, more zoom! Unless you are in a 1.8G Prime vs. 300mm Zoom mode. Frankly, 55mm does not simply cut it, and I am putting it mildly. It's like 3x Zoom on digital cameras (I know it is bit misleading but that's what it is). We all grew up comparing cameras on shopping sites and once we learned the difference between 'optical' and 'digital' zooms, zoom capacity is something we learn to see just behind megapixels. So when you bought your first DSLR you already had made up your mind to get a zoom lens asap. Those on a budget will settle for 55-200mm? Still others will wonder how much 'extra' zoom we get for 100mm difference between that and 55-300mm zoom? Is it worth spending extra 12,000 Rs odd? And what about those sub 10,000 Rs 300mm lenses? And the ultimate question - How much X is 300mm equivalent too. Well, let's try to answer all those deeply philosophical questions, shall we?Firstly, 300mm is not a lot of zoom IF you are comparing it with a long zoom digital camera which sport 50x, 60x zooms. Product description says 5.5x zoom. Don't go by that. If you really want a comparison, thing of the widest your DSLR goes. If you have kit lens, it would be 18mm most likely. So after buying this, you will have zoom capability of 300mm/18mm = 16.7x approx.But since you are in DSLR category, you should stop comparing your camera with digital cameras. This is a whole new ball game. It is like comparing top scores of county cricket with test cricket. Performance matters here and so bigger things come to those who can wait. What you DO want to know is that, 300mm is starting telephoto category for birding, wildlife and sports category. Mark the word - outdoor. This thing is made for outdoors. If you start shooting around in your living room because you can't contain yourself, prepare to be disappointed. Anything below this will be a compromise. And anything above it will burn a deep hole in your pocket. It is just the sweet spot. You are upcoming photographer - you want zoom - you get 300mm. if you can't afford it right now, start saving. If you are not into birding, wildlife, sports, you can save and be done with Nikon 55-200mm. Skip cheaper 300mm lenses without image stabilization. They may work well, but not for all. If you have extra cash, get Nikon VR/ Tamron VC 70-300mm. It performs better and is built better. Although I would advise to get this one and a good tripod if you already don't have one. Good tripods are not that cheap, ya'know.Pro's:1. Made by Nikon. For those who want to maintain brand homogenity.2. Good build quality. Metal mount. Feels good in hands.3. Not too heavy, works fine for handheld.4. A step up for image quality compared to kit lens. Sometimes you would just want to use this instead of kit lens.5. Zoom starts, just where your kit lens leaves i.e. 55 mm. Crucial for those who want to use 55-70mm range.6. Very little chromatic aberrations at max zoom - telephoto end. It is there, but not much.7. Works well for portraits too. Best results in open areas, where you can zoom on the face and turning background to natural blur. You can impress your not-so-aware-about-photography friends with this.8. Image stays sharp till 300mm.9. Bundled with decent hood. Not flower shaped though.10. VR (Image stabilization is good). Will stay with you at 300mm @ 1/60 shutter speed easily.11. Will make you realize how cool is 18mm wide-angle on your kit lens :) Now remember most of the digital cameras don't go as wide as 18mm! Most are like 28mm at widest. Camera's are not all about zooms. DSLR will soon teach you this.12. Sheer value for money.Cons:1. DX Format. If you don't know what this is, just think that it does not works very well with 1,00,000 Rs+ cameras.2. Slow autofocus in low light/ low contrast. If you are shooting fast moving subject, they may disappear before your lens beeps.3. If you are sticking with your bundled camera bag, this will push you to upgrade.4. Since it is likely to be your second lens, you will have to buy a cleaning kit as soon as you discover the joys of changing lens on the fly.5. This is not equivalent to having a zoom lens of 18-300mm as many feel. You already have a 18-55mm, and now you have two lenses. That's it. Many times it is not easy to swap lenses. When visiting monuments you go in and out of open and closed spaces randomly. You can't just keep on swapping lenses.6. If moonshots are in back of your mind, you'll be disappointed. Not enough zoom for moon. Sorry.Now if you have made up your mind, good luck! You may not be a serious photographer yet, but who knows. Cheers!Note: Used on Nikon D5100, also purchased from Amazon.