It fills a gap in Nikon's lens line up giving DX camera owners the popular 300mm focal without leaving a gap after the 18-55mm kits lenses provided with most of Nikon's entry-level SLRs. With the lens set to its maximum aperture, there is a bit of light fall-off in the extreme corners, but it won't really affect your real-world shots.

Two ED (Extra low Dispersion) glass elements and one HRI (High Refractive Index) element ensure outstanding optical performance.

This product has been thoroughly tested by our team of photographers and we are happy to give a 6 month warranty as a result. It moves too fast for precise focus at the longer focal lengths where you need it, and almost OK at the short end, where you don't. The zoom ring is gigantic, occupying almost half of the lens barrel, which makes it easy to zoom in and out with your left hand, while holding the camera with your right hand. Like all Nikkor lenses the VR switch works well and you are going to need it if you're taking photos hand held. This is certainly a drawback, especially if you need to quickly switch from Autofocus to Manual focus (most current Nikon lenses have an “A/M” mode on the lens, which allows to override autofocus by simply rotating the focus ring).

Autofocus is excellent and responsive in good light conditions, it snaps right into focus on your subject. So like me you are probably an amateur photographer with delusions of grandeur and have been trying to work out how much more zoom do you get for your money and compared to the 18-55mm kit lens.As you get to 70mm, distortion completely disappears, reappearing as pincushion distortion at 105mm all the way to 300mm.

Fall-off of illumination towards the corners is very well controlled and will not be noticeable in most normal shooting situations. Similar to the Nikon 28-300mm VR lens, the Nikon 55-300mm VR comes with two Extra-low Dispersion (ED) Elements, which due to fewer air bubbles and glass deformities within the glass elements help minimize chromatic aberration and deliver sharper images at large apertures.It also has two lens elements made of Nikon's Extra-Low Dispersion Glass (ED) (which denotes the "ED" on the lens body) to remove any chromatic aberrations that occur.

They mention that the VR function works superbly, it works well with auto and manual focus, and it works fine hand-held.Nikon's sales literature claims it recognizes when it's attached to a tripod, yet the instructions suggest turning off VR when on a tripod. The build quality of this optic is typical of Nikon's mid to higher end consumer lenses, with the lens barrel constructed from high quality plastics sporting a textured finish. Perfect for travel, sunsets, or sporting shots, the shallow depth of field and dramatic telephoto compression effects achievable also make for a beautiful portrait shot creating a soft background and attractively flattening facial features. Nikon’s exclusive Silent Wave Motor (SWM) converts travelling waves into rotational energy to focus the optics.