First ever post: I'm Upgrading my setup and I'd appreciate your input :)

[Fragomeni]

Hello everyone! I've been browsing the forums for a little while now and there seems to be a good amount of valid information being shared here. I haven't been on a photography forum before and I figured this would be the place and the time to start.

So I am upgrading my setup soon and I'd like your input on the setup that I will most likely be going for. I shot with Konica Minolta for years and then Sony for years as well and I'm very happy with them. The new Canons and Nikons are truly excellent cameras, the HD video capability is a really attractive bonus, and Nikon's less expensive lens selection are attractive points but between my happiness with Minolta/ Sony over the years, the photographic applications that I will be using the camera and lenses for (large amount of HDR, art-photography, wildlife, product photography, and photojournalism), and the logic of being able to plug and play with the Sony and Minolta equipment that I already have makes the decision kind of a no brainer for me. Everyone has their brand, mine is Minolta/Sony so lets just leave that at that.

I am not a blind Sony diehard (I just want the best for my applications and I test a lot of equipment) and I did consider moving over to either Cannon or Nikon but after extensively testing the cameras I was interested in (Nikon D3 and D700, Cannon 1D mark III and 5d mark II, and the Sony a900 and a850) I've decided to stick with Sony and go with a new Sony a900 camera body along with some combination of the following lenses:

Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lens OR Sony 28-75mm f2.8 zoom lens: There is a major price difference between these and I have compared them. I dont care about brand names so the fact that the Zeiss carries that name doesn't mean much to me but I can't ignore that I was very impressed by the Zeiss. Thoughts?

Sony G 70-400mm f4.5-5.6 zoom: I was impressed by the quality of this lens and the crisp clarity. I'm thinking about having a 2.0x teleconverter lens nearby but I have little experience with these and Im still not 100% sure of the effect of the teleconverter on the image magnification and quality. Little help with this please?

Sony 100mm f2.8 macro lens OR Minolta 200mm APO f4 G macro (that I believe I have in storage): I think I have the Minolta in storage but Im not sure. Either way I have access to another one or the Sony, thoughts?

I would hugely appreciate everyone's input on this set up, especially those that have long-term experience with the above equipment and those who shoot with Sony/ Minolta set-ups.


Thanks everyone for your help and I'm excited to become more involved in the conversations on the forum! :mrgreen:

 

[rpm]

id get the Zeiss hands down. you said it yourself, you can tell the difference, Zeiss knows glass, lens and light down to skill and technique. my friend has a Zeiss Nikon mount 50mm 1.4 prime and WOW is all i can say compared to my Nikon 50mm 1.8 - F stops aside, IQ is just another league on its own. also build quality is amazing...while the D-lenses are plastic, they still felt solid but the Zeiss lens felt like it was something else entirely. solid is not even how id describe it.

the other two i cant really tell you. as i shoot Nikon and those would require a Sony user to help you there..

 

[AlexL]

Can you post a lot of your photos? I am so used to seeing pictures from either Canon or Nikon, I don't even know what the Sony DSLR pictures look like! The lens you mention sound good, but do you have any 2.8 stop telephotos?

 

[rpm]

AlexL let me help you out: Flickr: ? - Sony Alpha DSLR Cameras thats just one group. check their pool. all the pictures *should* be from Sony cameras. if you search groups based on specific DSLR models im sure you'll find dedicated groups too.

 

[AlexL]

thanks rpm

 

[Fragomeni]

Yea, at this point I cant seem to find any reason not to go with the Zeiss. Between my own feelings toward the lens and most of the reports I've read/heard its a no-brainer. Anyone else have any opinions on the topic? Sony users, how about the other lenses I mentioned?

 

[Fragomeni]

So I went ahead and got the Zeiss 24-70mm zoom lens and I am so glad that I did. I got the opportunity to spend some time with the Zeiss and some similar Sony and G-series lenses in addition to equivalent lenses mounted on friend's 5d mark ii and D700 and Im pretty solidly convinced that the Zeiss is by far one of the best lenses I've ever come across. Its the main lens on my a900 now and I cant image any other lens (for its particular purpose) being there. In addition to the Zeiss I also got a G-Series 70-400 Telephoto which is also quite impressive. Im definitely excited to go out everyday and shoot with these beasts.

If you want to see pictures there should be some showing up on my website soon (keeping in mind that I do post-process my images to my style). Im currently coming back from shoulder surgery so it'll be a few weeks at least until there are images from the Zeiss added to my site. Theres nothing new there yet but the address is www.FrancescoFragomeni.com

Thanks for your input everyone