Lens help needed

[softballdad]

Need help finding the right lens. I am not a lens or camera expert, I bought a Nikon D5100 two years ago to take photos of my daughters playing softball and general daily life photos (kids playing, holidays, etc...). The camera came with a factory 18-55 lens, I need help finding a lens to help take photos when I cant be close up to the field. My oldest plays center field and when I take photos with the 18-55 lens you can barely make out who she is. What lens would you recommend I upgrade to? Thanks for your help.

[TCav]

I wouldn't recommend that you replace the lens you have; just supplement it. The very nice thing about having an interchangeable lens camera is that you can change lenses whenever you want. And to be honest, jack-of-all-trades-and-masters-of-none lenses aren't really very good at anything, and frequently cost as much or more than multiple lenses of less ambitious zoom ranges.

The two lenses I recommend that you consider are the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR ($587) and the Tamron SP AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD ($349 after rebate.) The Nikon is sharper, especially at the long end, and has better image stabilization, but the Tamron isn't bad and it's less expensive.