Buying First New Lens

Ronnie Mutch

Ronnie Mutch

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Ronnie
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I have a Sony a5000 and I am considering buying a new lens. I am still very much a beginner, but a few times I have found myself going to places where I could not get close to my subject (sea birds on cliffs, for example).

I am also very tempted to book the photography workshop at Edinburgh zoo. They recommend having a telephoto zoom lens in the 70-200mm or 70-300mm range. http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/events-and-experiences/nature-photography-workshops-faqs/

Would this be a good buy or can you suggest something better? This would be the top of my budget for now unfortunately.
http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sony-e55-210mm-f4-5-6-3-oss-lens-black/p1557922

Should I be looking at second hand perhaps, or an older model of roughly the same thing?

Thanks all :)
 
Hopefully someone more familiar with Sony will be along soon to advise :)
 
Hi Ronnie,

I bought a secondhand 55-210mm for my A5000 from of all places CEX (the same one in your link). I bought it secondhand for £105 and it arrived within two days and in excellent condition. Previous to this I also bought a Sigma 17-70mm (for Nikon) from them for £100 and again it was all in perfect condition.

I was a bit dubious about using them, but never had any problems and would use them again.

They have one of the Sony lenses in stock - https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku=SLENSON552104563A#.VzOFZPkrJhF
 
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I bought one for my daughter late last year. I seem to remember getting it for about £120 2nd hand with a free Nex 3N included...

My daughter works at Edinburgh Zoo and we had a trip there recently. This is a sample shot at 200mm, just to let you see what a 200mm image looks like with a wee critter, ( about 10 feet away):

008e by Ken, on Flickr

This was taken with a Nikon D5200 rather than my Nex, but the sensor is the same size. It was a grab shot as it was a bit busy. I'll have plenty opportunities to go back and get his paws in shot :)
 
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I had the 55-300mm for my A77's and it had very good image quality, and is dirt cheap used. The Tamron 70-300mm VC would be another great choice.

The 55-210 you list isn't for your camera as is an e-mount.

Edit: Ignore, got the threads mixed up ;)
 
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snerkler said:
I had the 55-300mm for my A77's and it had very good image quality, and is dirt cheap used. The Tamron 70-300mm VC would be another great choice.

The 55-210 you list isn't for your camera as is an e-mount.
Click to expand...

A5000 is E mount :)
 
Barrie0 said:
Hi Ronnie,

I bought a secondhand 55-210mm for my A5000 from of all places CEX (the same one in your link). I bought it secondhand for £105 and it arrived within two days and in excellent condition. Previous to this I also bought a Sigma 17-70mm (for Nikon) from them for £100 and again it was all in perfect condition.

I was a bit dubious about using them, but never had any problems and would use them again.

They have one of the Sony lenses in stock - https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku=SLENSON552104563A#.VzOFZPkrJhF
Click to expand...
Thank you! I may just grab it at this price.
 
It's also not E Mount. That's a typo on the website.

The only telephoto lens options for your A5000 are the Sony 55-210, which is actually a very good lens, or the new FE mount (full frame Sony) 70-300 which is around £1400.

The other option for autofocus is to use a Canon EF adaptor like a Commlite or Metabones then use a Canon fit lens like the 55-250. While the adaptor gives you the use of the Canon lenses, they won't focus as fast as the native Sony lens so I'd recommend the Sony E mount 55-210.
 
stevelmx5 said:
It's also not E Mount. That's a typo on the website.

The only telephoto lens options for your A5000 are the Sony 55-210, which is actually a very good lens, or the new FE mount (full frame Sony) 70-300 which is around £1400.

The other option for autofocus is to use a Canon EF adaptor like a Commlite or Metabones then use a Canon fit lens like the 55-250. While the adaptor gives you the use of the Canon lenses, they won't focus as fast as the native Sony lens so I'd recommend the Sony E mount 55-210.
Click to expand...

OK, thank you.
 
Thanks all - I ordered the one from CEX that Barrie0 suggested. Second hand, but saves me a lot of cash and I can maybe look at a nice prime lens with the savings :D
 
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