Need some advise .. Sony A200

[GouroB]

hey all... am a total noob on this ground ... i just always wanted to take photos ... so finally i managed to get myself a SLR .... which i always wanted ... i know its not one of those highly recomanded gears ... but still for a noob i think its not a very bad thing to start off...


anyways my main subject is nature and i like wide/long shots more... so can anyone suggest me which lens wud be best for me .... i havve the basic one now ... 18-70 mm

[LightBright]

Hi there

Well one thing a noob and a experienced photographer have in common is that they both have to start somewhere to get better. Btw thats a great camera. I think the photographers skill is more important than what gear he or she uses.

I too actually want to get into nature photography and will be needing a telephoto lens. I was thinking about the 70-200mm f2.8 lens but it was around $1500! Maybe next time lol. But I know for a fact that people with Sony and Konica Minolta cameras love the 70-210 f4 (aka beer can) lens. That’s the one I will be purchasing soon. It’s around $300 and obviously used, but seeing that everyone loves this lens here, I think I will as well. Good luck

[OldClicker]

Wide and long are opposites. What are you trying to capture?

Check out the beercan thread and see if this is what you are looking for.

The Beercan (70-210 f/4) thread..

TF

[DennisT]

I use Apha 900 and sigma 50-500 zoom for most nature / wildlife work. If this size is "too far too soon" first off you might seriously consider the Sony G series 70 - 300 SSM zoom. Its versatile and reasonably fast. I find that with this lens coupled with your in camera anti shake you can achieve remarkable action and distance shots with relatively lower expense (In lens anti shake as in Nikon and Canon just make these lenses prohibitively expensive for we amateurs). Living in Africa we have great wildlife and bird photographic opportunities so its as good a testing ground as any - and I am very happy with results achieved even in harsh mid-day light. Be careful about going the 2x or 4x converter route to get extra distance as Sony's converters only fit a limited number of lenses (availability here is a problem but that should not trouble you in London). Good Luck.

[GouroB]

Hey thanks a lot guys ... i really appreciate .... took one advice from here and ordered these 2 lens

TAMRON AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD Macro

&

Sigma 70-300 mm f4-5.6 macro

[Anbesol]

Please tell me you are kidding. You bought two lens that do the exact same thing? I hope you can return one.

Get yourself the 50mm, whether its the 1.4 or the 1.7, that lens is a must and its cheap. The 70-210 f/4 is a bargain price at ~$250, its a lot of fun to use but its not as practical and general purpose as the 50mm.

By the way those "Macro's" are 1:4, not 1:1 (true macro).

[LightBright]

Anbesol is right. Even though there different brands, there exactly the same focal range.

[Andybilt1]

I hav ethe A200 + kit lense and as I am keen to get some wildlife/bird photos and close up pond insects I also got the Sigma 70-300 APO DG.

I am quite dissapointed with the Sigma - perhaps I expected too much for £150 - but it is noisy and struggles to lock on autofocus - hunting far out of range., e.g it can't get single birds in the sky and really struggles with Damsel flys by the pond (on the macro at 300mm) if I move around too much. I have tried various autofocus modes but none seem to improve things.

Any advice would be appreciated - I am loathe to shell out £600 for the Sony G lense but if that is so much better then I will consider it.