I tried out a mates Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 a few weeks back, and it's a cracker of a lens. It unfortunately falls too short for nature (birding) and it's too long for standard family shots.

The majority of the time my 17-50mm is the lens I use, but I'd like to be able to take a longer lens on afternoon bushwalks or trips to a park.

I currently own the kit 55-300 Nikon lens, and my question is this... is the jump to the Tamron 70-300 a jump forwards, or just a jump sideways? It will predominantly used for birding only.

Budget and time precludes me from going big into big 300mm+ primes. Should I just wait until the time and funds arrive before buying again?