Hi, I've just bought myself an A200 with the standard kit lens from amazon for the very nice price of £248..bargain. Anyway, I've got a couple of items on ebay finishing in the next few days which should give me about £75-£100, the idea being to use this to maybe ditch the kit lens in favour of another. Are there any lenses I should be on the lookout for? or perhaps use the kit lens as a general purpose lens and then be on the lookout for some specialist lenses? Obviously new ones are out of the question bearing in mind my budget, so I don't mind the whole ebay route. Sorry for the very noobish post I'm taking my first steps into the dSLR world and there's alot to learn - though the one thing I've been told is replace the kit lens asap.
Don't be in too much of a hurry to ditch the kit lens. As kit lenses go, it's none too shabby. I used mine for a fair while after buying my A100 2 years ago and I've still got it.
ok thanks alot for the advice..I've just read that it can be a bit soft. So kit lens for general purpose? and then maybe spend the £75-£100 on a different type of lens? My main subjects will be, well, primarily my son (he's only 2 so very active so a few 'running' shots will need to be done plus some nice portrait shots), plus some landscapes and I really like closeups of plants and wildlife edit: should I be looking for a 'beer can'?
The 70 - 210 f/4 lens is one of the good ones from Minoltas line up, last made some 20+ years ago and originally designed over 30 years ago. The only down side, is the weight, it is heavy. but have only praise for the lens here is a recent example from the MRW file, rotated resized and nothing else other than saving as a jpeg and uploaded
I don't have any experience of the Beercan, but I've heard nothing but praise about it. Also the Minolta 50mm f1.7 is held in high regard and can be had for around the £50 mark.
ok thanks guys, seems I'll have to wait till I get the pennies then do some serious searching because a quick google reveals the beercan for £100 (ebay) to £150 quid. The 50mm f1.7 is around the £80 mark from what I can see
yea tell me about it so the 50mm f1.7 is good for what type of pictures? sorry, like I said..ubernoob over here
I have one of these, which is a reasonable lens for general use. www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1012468
No need to apologise. The 50mm is generally good for portraits and low light photography due to the wide aperture.
Indeed Gordon, I have a previous version of that lens and it does do a decent job, for what it is, just not great at the extremes, if I were going for a modern equivalent I'd get the Tamron 28 -300 although at the price difference I'd probably think twice about the Sigma
ok cheers, was just reading this review: http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2008/06/06/tamron-70-300mm-f4-56-tele-macro-ld-di/ and not a bad price new either: http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2008/06/06/tamron-70-300mm-f4-56-tele-macro-ld-di/ although for the price this seems to get nice reviews: http://www.jessops.com/Store/s36279/0/Le...amp;ManIds=1538
The first lens I used with my Sony A100 was a 28-80 and a 70-300 (both Sigmas). I am now concentrating on band work, not using flash, using f2.8 Sigma and/or Minolta lens and the Minolta 50mm F1.7, which I got off of ebay.
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s26770/0/Le...amp;ManIds=1518 and http://www.microglobe.co.uk/catalog/prod...or-sony-minolta ?? liking the price for the 28-80mm
I've just bought a Minolta 35-70mm f/3.5 for £24.95 delivered. It seems to get pretty positive reviews on Dyxum (4.2 overall from 17 reviews IIRC) and I found a brilliant flickr album using this lens and an A100. Build quality isn't meant to be fantastic and its in a similar range to the kit lens but meh I paid £25 for it and its supposed to give a nice sharp image so I'm happy
hi there don't discard the kit lens its great for the specified distance.but if your looking for another lens which will give you greater distance then look at a 75-300mm lens with auto focus i have one and have been to the BSB last race at oulton park and took some great action shots on the sport mode with this lens. also look on youtube for info vids for the lens you are looking for.hope you find what your looking for.
