Bought a lens, doesnt fit...

[Gavjenks]

being 1.1 ft away vs 7 ft will probably make quite a difference.

The 70-300 at 300mm in macro mode focuses at just a hair over 3 feet.

And a 100mm macro 1:1 will be a lot closer than that.

Working distance is just a property of focal length and magnification (and very slight differences for physical design of the lens, i.e. distance from its "optical center" to the physical front of the glass).



Anyway, don't give up on a lens just because they shipped you the wrong one, that's silly. Return it and buy from a different seller is what I'd do. So if you got it from Adorama, go to B&H next or Amazon, etc. They won't both have their stocks mixed up in the same way, probably.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Thats the thing, I like the versatility this lens would give me to test out my camera. Seeing as I'm new to all of this and still learning how to properly use my camera and its settings, it would be nice to find one that would work, however I'm afraid to buy the lens again even if its listed as Sony and Minolta SLR cameras, considering I just did so and the product didnt work. I'll probably just go for the straight macro lens that I know will fit. We are sure this minolta macro lens is compatible? I don't mean to doubt your advice, just wondering why a minolta mount type works?

You need minolta maxxum series lenses for A-mount. And dont be so worried. YOu didnt screw up when you bought the lens, the seller did. Not everybody is that dumb. So actually do know how to figure out the difference between lens mounts. But you can always go to adorama or b&h and get good quality used items.

 

[DiskoJoe]

If you bought a lens for "Sony-Alpha" and it doesn't fit your Sony Alpha A-58, then someone other than you screwed up. Return it for a refund, they sent you the wrong lens.

If it fits but some functions don't work, well, that might be on you. This seems like an extremely cheap lens, so it's possible it doesn't have all the features of a more expensive lens.

Go on a well reputed photo products web site, there are several out there. Seach for "A mount macro lens" and look through the ones that fit your budget for the word "1:1" which is a good basic magnification for proper macro work. But that lens. If you hate it, return it -- the good photo products web sites should have decent return policies.

I just thought about something else. A while back when Sony released the a65 and a77 the mount was changed very slightly and a lot of lenses have to have modifications made. If this was an older model sigma that may have been the problem or at least part of it.