Best telephoto for the A100

[lareinagel]

Hello all,
New to the club here, want to upgrade my telephoto lens for the DSLRA100 now that Sony is offering more... wanted to see if anyone had an opinion.

I am looking at the SAL500F8 lens as a good compact telephoto that will work with my auto focus but I want to see if anyone has done any testing.

I work a lot of outdoor motorsports events (varying light) and want to see what the fixed F8 aperature on this lens would do in catching cars, motorcycles etc...

All opinions welcome :thumbsup:

[payn817]

That's a very slow lens. In addition, reflex lenses tend to have weird spots in the out of focuse areas, very ugly. For less money, you can get the following:

Sigma 400mm 5.6 at KEH.com for $165 like new.
Minolta 100-400 Apo at KEH.com for $546, in excellent condition.

I have yet to see anything worthwhile from a 500mm reflex.

However, the absolute best will be any of the G series. Like the 300 2.8 G, but it's several thousand dollars. Try B&H.com, and Adaroma.com

[lareinagel]

Thanks for info, I'm glad to hear the honesty. So if I get a fixed aperature then I want 5.6 or faster like that Sigma u mentioned?

I have a Minolta Maxxum 100-200mm that works beautiful and give me ~300mm on the A100 but its ohhh 15 yrs old? I want to be able to travel light and still get a bit longer zoom spending say $600 or so. Does anyone like converters?

[payn817]

The teleconverters are fairly good, but get a good one, don't go cheap on it. I just realized you're in Georgia, where do you shoot motorsports? I'm in the Macon area. What focal length are you seeking? One of my favorite combos is the 70-210 f/4 with 1.4tc. It will give you a little over 300mm (450 35mm equiv) and cost much less, still give nice results, and you'll still be around f/5.6.
If you are close to me, I wouldn't have a problem meeting you for a race so you can try out the Sigma 400.

Well, as fast as cars move, you want a large aperture for faster focus.(answer to your edit)

I know everyone is tired of seeing these, but here's a couple examples from the Sigma 400. These were shot at f/5.6, very low light at the concert (1/80 sec.) However, I think it shows that the lens is acceptable considering it's price, and it isn't stopped down. Don't get me wrong, there's better, but not at that price.

[lareinagel]

My husband races with semra.org...a mini- supermoto roadrace league. We travel from VA to FLA to races. Some of my picts can be seen on http://lareinagel.dotphoto.com. I sell picts to the racers as a hobby and to pay off the toys, so I'm no pro and I did like what I got from the old Maxxum lens, I'm just thinking into the future. I am also off to Daytona in 19 days so I my love of getting the good shot overrides my budget sometimes

[payn817]

Looks like your getting pretty good results with what you have.

[lareinagel]

Looks like your getting pretty good results with what you have.

Thanks, I appreciate that. I do have Aperature so it helps me tons

My best quick shot to date: f/8, 1/640 @ 100mm

[lareinagel]

And this one is totally untouched: f/5.6 1/60 @24mm

[SCOOTERINSLC]

My all arounder is the Minolta 80-200 f2.8 APO/G. I don't know what your willing to spend, but for a fast telephoto zoom, it's hard to beat this lens. It covers (arguably) the most common telephoto zoom ranges and is fast for low light work. Great for sports and portraits. They are getting hard to find unless you want to pony up for the new Sony version....yikes! I found one on E-bay in mint condition (paid too much) and it is a version from the late nineties. Works just dandy on my 7D and Alpha. Minolta 70-210 f4 a.k.a. Beercan is also excellent for alot less $$. Good luck.

This shot with Alpha and 80-200 APO/G last weekend.

[Chickenhawk]

The 170-500mm f/5-6.3 DG is a cracker. Cost is around £500 in U.K.

[rosalee]

Continuing on the same type of thought....I've had a "cheap" Quantaray 75-300 f4-5.6with "macro" switch for my Minolta Maxxums that appears to have bit the dust today. The zoom/focus mechanism is kaput with the camera. While it may have one more month under warranty, that could take a while to repair. I'm game to upgrading to a Sony D zoom equivalent since I am primarily shooting with the Sony alpha now, but I wonder if it would still work with my Minolta bodies. I've really liked my other minolta lenses but I also enjoyed that "macro" switch on the quantaray (I know, I know... it isn't a real macro, but it can make fabulous close-ups anyway). Any help is appreciated...I don't do a lot of action but I do like the extra zoom for wildlife and portraits from a distance.

[payn817]

To be completely honest, and with no bad intent, any brand would likely be better than the quantaray.

Sure, the switch may be cute (?) but cute and image quality rarely come in one package. My best suggestion is to go ahead with the Sony (if you wish), although it does leave a bit to be desired. If you want to do macro, you can get a lens for around $200 used. Better than the Sony 75-300 would be the minolta 70-210 f/4. Sure, it's shorter, but the quality difference is very obvious.

[Hoffy]

Sorry If I am dragging up old threads here (being new & all), but I gave my a100 a workout on the weekend with the Minolta 75-300 f4.5/5.6. This is the "New" lense (check it out on dyxum http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/detail.asp?IDLens=53). Like I have mentioned earlier, this is more of a Kit lense then a high quality lense.

That being said, the results I have got over the weekend (I was shooting mainly at 300mm) are more then enough for me.

This shot was done at 300mm & is full size (as taken by the camera, 1/2500, f7.1). OK, not 100% sharp, but I think acceptable (for the price you can pick one of these babies up for on ebay, its worth it)


This was also shot at 300mm (1/160, f29)


I am sure there is sharper, but when beercans are asking top dollar & newer higher quality are in the thousands, this will do me