Better lens needed

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TripleD

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David
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Hi all,

Took the camera out today when walking the dog, and wow the 18-55 is rubbish for the shots I wanted to get. I had to more or less sit on the swans back to take a photo of it!
And with the dog running about it doesn't really get the zoom shots I wanted.

So looked about for a Sony A mount 70-300, i'm hoping that would be better?
But being a novice I'm confused between a Sony one £200, a sigma one £130, or a tamron one £130. Which one is better? Also some are worded as a "70-300 macro", are these purely for close up shots?
Is it worth looking at second hand from eBay? Or any suggestions on other places?

Thanks :thumbs:
 
A friend recently bought the Tamron 70-300 for Canon, he dislikes the auto focus, its loud and slow. Saying that, he got some good shots of birds in flight.
 
TripleD said:
Hi all,
"70-300 macro", are these purely for close up shots?
Click to expand...
They will operate as a normal lens but the minimum focussing distance will be a bit closer than normal allowing you to get a bit closer for a bit better magnification. I say 'a bit' as they aren't proper macro lenses. I did have a shot of a £1 coin taken with my Tamron 70-300mm macro (Canon 500D), which I can't find at the moment, and was dissapointed with how close I couldn't get. I needed to crop fairly heavily to fill the frame.
I've since tried reversing rings and extension tubes and been happy with the results. They are more hassel to use than a single lens but they are a far cheaper way to get very close very cheaply. Auto focus tubes cost more but are on my shopping list.
 
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The sigma 70-300 APO DG macro is a fantastic lens for the money. Sample shot below and more on my flickr page if you want some images for reference purposes.

John.

5448556992_b28650b398.jpg
[/url] frog_2 Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
 
That looks pretty good, will have a look at sigma's.

Is it worth buying 2nd hand or new?
 
You can pick a good 1 up on ebay for around £90
 
Had one of these a few years ago and it was a lot of lens for the money. You wouldn't regret it. :)
 
I had the Sigma 70-300 APO & it was rubbish.
Slow to focus, just plain soft & generally very poor. I actually gave it away as I was too embarrassed to take anybody's money for it :(

However I did get a couple of Faux Macro tulip shots I quite liked but that was it

Try before you buy I reckon...
 
I use a Tamron 70-300 and I love it. Use it on all motorsport events. No issues at all
 
Just brought a Sony SAL75300 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens so hopefully that will be okay.

Thanks for the help
 
I'm confused between a Sony one £200, a sigma one £130, or a tamron one £130. Which one is better? Of the three, the Sony will probably be the best. Also some are worded as a "70-300 macro", are these purely for close up shots? No, they can be used as normal telephoto zoom.
Is it worth looking at second hand from eBay? Personally, I avoid e-bay but then again, I can afford to buy new from the High Street (then, if a lens goes wrong or is a soft copy, I can return it face to face.

If you want a true Macro lens (please note, no final "e"!), you can do a lot worse than the Tamron 90mm f/2.8, £347.95 from WEX photographic according to their latest ad in AP magazine. Other retailers may have it cheaper but I have my copy of AP open on their ad!
 
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Sony lens turned up today, had a quick play, but I seems so much better now.
Looking forward to using it properly
 
As a general rule, the original manufacturer's lenses will be the best but whether they're worth the extra cash can be debateable.
 
Very true I was looking at tamron/sigma, but currys had a cashback offer making the Sony £150 so was only £20 over the price of a tamron.
 
I wouls say it's almost certainly worth the extra £20!
 
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