70-300 ish for A99

morph1909

morph1909

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Hello im looking for some advice on a telephoto lens to compliment the Tamron 28-75 I have currently. Im considering something like the - Tamron 70-200mm F2.8 SP or maybe a second hand Sony 70-300mm G. Alternatively i could get an all in one lens around the 28ish to 300ish although they dont seem to review to well. I am planning to use this mainly for some wildlife shots, birds in the garden, maybe some nature just to give a bit of a different dimension. Not especially looking for something that needs to be good for low light or portraits. Budget would be around the £500 ish. Any advice from people using the lenses mentioned or sensible alternatives would be helpful.
 
In that focal range & price I would probably recommend the Tamron SP AF70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD.
I would, however, echo the comment about going longer - if you could find a s/h Tamron 150-600 USD that should fit pretty well.
Also, the best resource for lens for the A-mount is Dyxum http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/
 
I'd agree with Mike about focal length, and the lens he's linked should be good.
 
I didnt know you could get the tamron150-600 in your mount, i would second that lens as a thought.
 
Just to note that the Tamron 70-300 USD or Sony 70-300G should both be fine handheld, the Tamron 150-600 will probably need a monopod or tripod for any extended use.

I've not used the Tamron 70-300 USD, but have both the Sony 70-300G and Tamron 150-600 on my A900.
The Sony is fast to focus, and is sharp throughout the range and wide open - great for ducks, etc, which you can easily get close enough to so that they fill the frame at 300 (or less).
The Tamron has much more reach, but is a lot heavier (~1.9kg vs ~0.75 kg) and with a longer minimum focus (2.7m vs 1.2m).

I would suggest you look at getting either of the 70-300's first, as their weight means they are much more generally useful - you can take the 28-75 and 70-300 out with you, and switch lenses as needed.
The 150-600 is a much bigger beast, so more suited for when you only want to use this lens.
 
In all the time i had 150-600s i never needed a tripod, the image stabilising is great on both these lenses and if you use something like a black rapid strap carrying them is no problem for most people,70-300s often end up being replaced by owners for something longer when they realise just how small a lot of birds are and cant get close enough for a decent size image.

If you where talking Canon or Nikon the prime 300s with them give great results and will stand cropping plus they can be used with a 1.4 converter but they are different beasts than most 70-300s.
 
Thanks for all the replies and feedback, there some good points. My concern with going over the 300mm is the size and weight and if i would end up leaving it at home. On the other hand I have a 200mm lens on my A6000 and do find it doesn't get me close enough. Some more research coming up. Im going to a local camera show this month so ill see if i can try out a few of the recommendations and see how they feel.
 
300mm isn't enough for wildlife/birds. I have the Tamron 150-600mm and even shooting from the minimum focus distance (8ft) I end up cropping when shooting small birds such as bluetits and robins.

I use the peak design slide slimgstrap with mine and it does allow me to go out for the day with it. You do know you've been 'wearing' it at the end of the day but it's not bad. I use mine handheld 99.9% of the time.
 
mikew said:
In all the time i had 150-600s i never needed a tripod, the image stabilising is great on both these lenses.
Click to expand...
The versions for A-mount don't have IS/OS/VC or whatever they want you want to call it.
 
heidfirst said:
The versions for A-mount don't have IS/OS/VC or whatever they want you want to call it.
Click to expand...

As i said not familiar with Sony but according to the blurb on the first one i linked to the 50-500 it has OS.
 
heidfirst said:
The versions for A-mount don't have IS/OS/VC or whatever they want you want to call it.
Click to expand...
That's because Sony has IBIS which I think works better.
 
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