Newbie: Help needed to decide on a Zoom Lens

[theexplorer]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie at photography and have a Nikon N55 SLR camera. I'm planning to buy a Zoom lens for the same and am confused on which to buy. Can you please help me on deciding which to buy?

Following are the choices:

1. Nikon - 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED Lens
http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langI d=-1&productId=30365&bct=t1004%3Bc1022%3Bc915144
2. Nikon - 70-300mm F4-5.6 'G' Autofocus Zoom Lens
http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langI d=-1&productId=9570126&bct=t1004%3Bc1022%3Bc915144
3. Tamron Autofocus 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD 1:2 Macro Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006I5X2/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_1/103-3537813-4985458"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006I5X2/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_1/103-3537813-4985458[/ame]
(Will this work with a regular SLR camera, even though it says for DSLR cameras)
4. Tamron - 70-300 AF Zoom Lens w/ 1:2 Macro f/Nikon
http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langI d=-1&productId=13209960&bct=t1004%3Bc1022%3Bc915144

Not sure what the difference between 3 & 4 is, but 2, 3 & 4 are priced similarly, whereas 1 is a bit pricey. Considering that I'm just a novice and would rather buy a cheaper lens, can you please rate the above choices in the order of preference and also state some reasons for doing so?

Any help is much appreciated.

[TPF Sponsor]

[Rob]

Hi there,

I'd suggest a bit of research on the internet, as it's reasonably unlikely anyone would own both of these lenses (imho).

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/70300g.htm

Good luck

Rob

[DocFrankenstein]

What are you shooting?

[ksmattfish]

#1 may be a manual focus lens?

#2 is a typical lens of this sort.

#3 probably doesn't have enough coverage for 35mm film.

#4 is like #2, but has some sort of gizmo that allows it to focus closer.

You probably want #2 or #4.

[theexplorer]

...Shooting for distant shots like sports.

[Ant]

Simple. Buy the Sigma 70-300mm APO II Super macro.

I don't know anything about the Tamron's but I'd recommend it over both Nikkor lenses.