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Finally Taken the DSLR route (1 Viewer)

TheBirdGarden

TheBirdGarden

I don't have the money
After years and years of sitting and thinking with the occasional sniff I have taken to the DSLR route. For my first camera I have chosen an Sony A200, why? because I am a simple man with a simple mind when it comes to cameras and this sounded like the camera for me.

It will take a while before I could get a lens for it that would be suitable for wildlife shots but I would like to know what lenses you would recommend it would of course need to be a zoom lens because my budget will never stretch to a prime lens at this current point in time. I ask because in this book I have the guy say to try to avoid zoom lens with a wide range such as 40-400mm as the quality is usually poor, bare in mind the book also said digiscoping would never produce quality results.
 
I will take a look at that website when I get to a computer. When looking for lens i have been looking art the aperture thing e.g f 4.3 I guess the lower the better as it will let in more light etc. The tam ron so far seems the best one to start with at this current moment
 
The Tamron 200-500mm is an excellent and versatile lens, with great range for the price and quite usable throughout the range. I've had one and used it across 3 Sony bodies so far, starting with an A300, then an A550, and now an A580. Here's my gallery of all shots taken with the Tamron 200-500 for reference:

http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/tamron_200500mm_f563

In general, the more zoom range the lens has to cover, the harder it is to make it great throughout the whole range - however that doesn't mean there aren't excellent lenses that manage to do just that - such as the Sony 70-400mm G lens, which is excellent throughout the entire range. But that's a much pricier lens - the Tamron does a reputable job for half the price.

I also shoot with a Minolta 300mm F4 APO G lens, which is as good as it gets...and the Tamron is still a great lens and holds its own. The Minolta prime is faster (F4) and ultimately sharper when wide open, but the Tamron isn't embarrassed when compared to such an excellent lens, and I still shoot with both lenses on my A580.
 
Zackiedawg said:
The Tamron 200-500mm is an excellent and versatile lens, with great range for the price and quite usable throughout the range. I've had one and used it across 3 Sony bodies so far, starting with an A300, then an A550, and now an A580. Here's my gallery of all shots taken with the Tamron 200-500 for reference:

http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/tamron_200500mm_f563

In general, the more zoom range the lens has to cover, the harder it is to make it great throughout the whole range - however that doesn't mean there aren't excellent lenses that manage to do just that - such as the Sony 70-400mm G lens, which is excellent throughout the entire range. But that's a much pricier lens - the Tamron does a reputable job for half the price.

I also shoot with a Minolta 300mm F4 APO G lens, which is as good as it gets...and the Tamron is still a great lens and holds its own. The Minolta prime is faster (F4) and ultimately sharper when wide open, but the Tamron isn't embarrassed when compared to such an excellent lens, and I still shoot with both lenses on my A580.
Click to expand...

Lovely photos, nicely framed and a big help! the information on the tamron is greatly appreciated.
 
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A quick question, what kind of lens would you recommend for zoo trips? My studies do require me to travel to many locations and zoo trips are one of them so might practice while there.
 
This is a lens that is very highly praised by Sony photographers. It's rated as amazingly sharp even wide open and is supposed to be as good as anything Canon or Nikon have on offer in this category, as far as optical quality goes.

It's on the heavy side for a walk-about lens, and for hand-holding, and only you can tell whether the weight would put you off. Sony have just released a Mk 2 version of that lens, and so one would hope that there should be some movement in the used market for the original version, if price is a concern. (The original version was highly rated as well, and I'm not sure whether there is a good comparison of the two out there.)

People who have compared it with the Tamron tend to say that you get better images from the Sony and cropping.

This lens is top of my lens wishlist.

For zoo visits 400mm is probably overkill (unless you're photographing passerines), but this lens would give you a lot of flexibility since it goes down to 100mm.

Andrea
 
kitefarrago said:
This is a lens that is very highly praised by Sony photographers. It's rated as amazingly sharp even wide open and is supposed to be as good as anything Canon or Nikon have on offer in this category, as far as optical quality goes.

It's on the heavy side for a walk-about lens, and for hand-holding, and only you can tell whether the weight would put you off. Sony have just released a Mk 2 version of that lens, and so one would hope that there should be some movement in the used market for the original version, if price is a concern. (The original version was highly rated as well, and I'm not sure whether there is a good comparison of the two out there.)

People who have compared it with the Tamron tend to say that you get better images from the Sony and cropping.

This lens is top of my lens wishlist.

For zoo visits 400mm is probably overkill (unless you're photographing passerines), but this lens would give you a lot of flexibility since it goes down to 100mm.

Andrea
Click to expand...

Big thanks, weight is not much of a problem with me, I'm still young enough to carry. Thanks for the information, I think I will save towards the Sony instead!
 
If you save for the Sony 70-400, then the next tough choice is do you save for the version II, which is improved - faster focusing, quieter operation, and possibly some work on the coatings and build? Or buy a version I cheaper? It is indeed a very good lens - the only problem it has is that the bokeh is not always great depending on background distance - keep backgrounds far away and it's perfectly smooth and subjects always sharp, but when backgrounds are closer it can get a bit ugly in the background patterns.

I personally prefer the Minolta and Sony primes for this type of shooting, but that's up to each person - I shoot typically with a Minolta 300mm F4 APO and a 1.4x converter, and am looking to pick up a 400mm F4.5 Minolta or waiting to see what's coming soon with the rumored Olympus-built Sony mount 400mm F4. But primes are often heavier and much more expensive - you get what you pay for with brilliant sharpness and gorgeous bokeh. The Tamron is still quite good - I find it comparable to the Sony 70-400 much of the time, with the Sony having a slight edge at being faster, and possibly a touch sharper at 400mm wide open than the Tamron at 400mm or 500mm wide open. I can't say for sure whether I'd agree that the Sony cropped is better than the Tamron at 500mm, but they're close enough to not matter much either way - both lenses are good, and neither will likely disappoint you.
 
regarding the Minolta 300mm F4 APO, I did find that to be an option, but I did find it is impossible to find...anywhere. I am told that primes do give better bokeh than that of a zoom lens and if given a choice i'd choose a prime over a zoom any day.

However your response has given me some more questions, I have been looking at teleconverters, am told they degrade quality, of course it depends on the telconverter you get but are they something you would reccommend?

and also, where do you primarily shop for lenses? I have only relied on amazon & eBay, although eBay can be useful amazon is absolutely awful for sony lenses.

Oh and also, do lenses have a region code type thing? example being, if i got a lens from america, would it work on my British DSLR.
 
There's no region coding, so you're safe to get your lenses from anywhere. As for teleconverters, indeed it depends on the one you choose. The very best ones are the 'matched' TCs, those that are specifically built by the lens maker to work with a particular lens or series of lenses. The one I use is a Minolta APO II 1.4X TC, which only works with the Minolta APO lenses and is specifically designed for them - so there is little to no loss of image quality. If you go with independent teleconverters, one of the most respected ones is the pro-level Kenko 1.4x version. In general, stick to 1.4x as anything more does tend to see more of a loss of quality.

One place you may want to shop for used lenses, which is a very reputable and trustworthy source, is KEH.com. They do have a decent selection of Sony and Minolta lenses (look under Minolta Maxxum) - including a 300mm F2.8 APO and two 400mm F4.5s, among others. I don't know if they currently have a 300mm F4, but keep an eye on them.
 
You may also want to consult the Dyxum forum, which is speficially about A-mount cameras and lenses. It has a very good lens database. There's also a forum for equipment sales where you might be able to glean useful information (including a price guide for lenses). (I mean the `external sales' forum, not the direct sales by members one, where you'd have to be really lucky to get one of the Minolta primes.)

Andrea
 
I know you are probably all dying to know what I took the plunge on, went with the Sony AF 70-400 F4-5.6 G SSM SAL-70400G. CeX had one for £850 which I thought was quite a bargain, the body is a bit scratched but the lens itself is free of any scratches.

Sample shot, cloudy day but quite like the quality and colours. The bokeh isn't the best but ah well.
 

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