Lenses and Sony A300

andromedakun · May 23, 2008

Hello everybody :hail:

I recently bought a new Sony Alpha 300 to use with the standard lens (sony 18-70) and my older Minolta lenses (28-80 and 75-300). After some tests, I'm not so stasfied with the quality of these and wondered how to upgrade them. A few idea's came to me:

- One 28-300 lens from Sigma, but the image quality doesn't seem to nice
- One 70-200 lens from Sigma (F2.8) but i'm not sure 200 will be enough.
- One 28-70 lens from Sigma (F2.8 also)
- One 105 lens (F2.4) lens from Sigma for portraits.

On the points that need to be available:
- Compatible with the Sony Alpha 300 (obviously)
- Compatible with the Minolta Dynax 505 Si (my older camera for B&W photgraphy)
- Less than 700$ / lens (well, closer to less than 550's as I live in Brussels

)

So, the question I had here is:
- Would 200 be enough as a zoom?
- Is there any 70-300 lens with something better than F3.5 - F6?

The idea would be to have 1 or 2 all rounders (for portraits, landscapes, a little macro and such on (the 28-70 and the 70-300) and one for portraits (the 105 lens)

Many thanks for your advices

mike55 · May 23, 2008

Hi andromedakun

The Alpha 300 is a nice digital camera you got. You can by the Sigma 105mm f2.8 lens for portraits and Macro or the Sony 50mm f2.8 macro this might work with the Sony and Minolta cameras. Sony 75-300mm lens and Tamron 28-300mm Di VC zoom lens is a brand you might want to look at.
Hope this help.

mike55

andromedakun · May 24, 2008

Thanks mike55,

I just checked the Tamron lenses and I must say it does 28-300 doesn't look bad. I'm just not sure which of the tamron or sigma lenses would be best

. I'll probably go to a shop and try them.

As for the Sony 75-300, I'm quite sure it's the same one as my Minolta 75-300 and I was hoping to better my equipment.

Thanks for the advice

mike55 · May 24, 2008

andromedakun said:
Thanks mike55,

I just checked the Tamron lenses and I must say it does 28-300 doesn't look bad. I'm just not sure which of the tamron or sigma lenses would be best . I'll probably go to a shop and try them.

As for the Sony 75-300, I'm quite sure it's the same one as my Minolta 75-300 and I was hoping to better my equipment.

Thanks for the advice

Hi

Yes you are right the Sony and the Minolta 75-300mm are the same but I have read that the Tamron 70-300mm lens is good, the optics is a little better and so is the price. But I am not sure on price in Brussels, so just ask the price differents on the Sigma to Tamron when you go to the shop.

mike55

LuisAugusto · May 26, 2008

If you can spend more the Sony 70-300mm G SSM seems to be amazing, it isn't faster, but it's sooo sharp, I saw some pics took with it in flickr.

ChickenFriedRyce · May 26, 2008

First of all, congrats on the A300, as I have an A200.

About the 7x-300mm zoom, you won't find nothing better. If you look for a Minolta 70-210mm f/4 aka "BeerCan", it has rave reviews and great sharpness and color. The A300 has a digital teleconverter so with a 210, so if you go 1.4x, you're already at 294mm STILL f/4.

If you can't find one of those, the Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro has recieved many good reviews.

As for replacing the kit lens, I would suggest a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8, or a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. They're all in a fair price range but the 28-75 is cheapest.

LuisAugusto · May 28, 2008

ChickenFriedRyce said:
First of all, congrats on the A300, as I have an A200.

About the 7x-300mm zoom, you won't find nothing better. If you look for a Minolta 70-210mm f/4 aka "BeerCan", it has rave reviews and great sharpness and color. The A300 has a digital teleconverter so with a 210, so if you go 1.4x, you're already at 294mm STILL f/4.

If you can't find one of those, the Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro has recieved many good reviews.

As for replacing the kit lens, I would suggest a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8, or a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. They're all in a fair price range but the 28-75 is cheapest.

The beercan is quite good, but the digital teleconverter is far from being anything more than a crop, you'll get the same results shooting with the viewfinder and then cropping the area you want, it won't ever be a 294mm F/4 (and, as a crop, I guessed it will be something around 5 Megapixels, which is useful and good).

The new G from sony looks so sweet, but it's slow, designed for outdoors, but definitively the beercan is amazing, I've been looking for one in Mexico, I hope I could find one, it's old and has a slow AF, but it's price tag makes it an impressive option.