I meant to buy the Nikon 55-300mm VR lens but after the sale ended on 12/31/2011 the price of that lens was unaffordable. I wanted to get something in time for my son's music concerts and Spring baseball season. I researched this one and the similar Sigma lens, but this one had better reviews and plus a 6-year warranty so I decided to buy this one. I'm a beginner DSLR user, and I'm using this with my new Nikon D5100. This is my first telephoto lens purchase so I don't have anything to compare against. I've used this lens only for the past week or so, for a birthday party and for a music concert. I haven't used the Macro mode yet. Here are the pros and cons I've noticed so far.

Pros:
o Reasonable price
o Reputed manufacturer
o 6-year warranty
o Comes with a lens hood, and front & rear lens cap
o Light-weight
o Not too large
o Quick auto focusing in good light
o Clear, sharp pictures
o Skin tones come out very nice
o Nice bokeh
o Smooth zoom in and zoom out
o Solid build quality
o Metal mount
o Mounting is smooth and locks into place effectively
o Grip is good
o Video comes out nice, but it's better to shoot video with a tripod
o Fits perfectly into my Nikon camera bag

Cons:
o Trouble getting to auto focus in poor light
o No vibration reduction (VR), so any moderate shake could lead to slightly blurred pictures
o You might need a tripod to shoot at 300mm zoom due to lack of VR
o Auto focus a bit noisy during video shooting and can be heard in the video
o Pictures and video not as sharp as my Nikon 18-55mm VR but pretty good

Overall, I think this lens is a real value for money compared to the Nikon lens. If you work around its shortcomings you will love this lens. I would strongly recommend this to any beginner photographer with a small budget.

Recommended: Yes