Victory!!! ... or ... It Pays to Ask ...
Late last year I blew my entire Tax Cheque, plus a little more, on a new digital SLR! I've always had an SLR and taken a gazillion photos with it ... way back in the days of film, but eventually the old Olympus OM-1 packed it in, and even with a full service, never quite came back to it's former glory.
So ... research ... shopping ... finally I decided on a Nikon D5100.
It was so damned beautiful, I wasn't even game to open the box! Truly! It sat there for two days, waiting .. tantalising ... calling me ...
I even took a photo of the unopened box with my tiny digital Pentax.
Finally I did the deed and carefully lifted the lid on the treasure chest, put it together, and started shooting ... Wow! What a JOY!!
Over the past six months or so, I've taken a lot of photos, and on the two Seaglass groups I belong to, people seem to like my photos.
But in my mind, I have a very long way to go.
HOWEVER ... the package came with two lenses, and while I didn't have problems with the first lens, [the 18-55mm] there was no way on God's Earth I could get a decent photo with the 55-300mm zoom. And I tried ... and tried ... and tried!

Yes! There's a bird in this tree!

Finally, I gave up and contacted Nikon Australia about my terrible shots and asked could it be the lens? Still under warranty, I wanted to send it back!
                                         "What else can I try", I asked!
"If you have a filter on this lens, remove it! That would be the first thing to try!" was the reply I got back.
Well, OF COURSE I had a filter on it! First thing I did! Wanted to protect that gorgeous Nikkor at all costs.
But ... when I took the filter OFF ... well ... welcome to the world of ...
                                             Nikon Zoom Photography!

I still worry that the lens is 'naked', but will replace the filter with a dedicated Nikon NC.
Ahh ... but I'm so glad I asked!

Thank you so much, Steve, at Nikon Australia. It pays to ask someone who knows!