Lens suggestions

Ben johns

Ben johns

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I'm primarily a landscape photographer shooting Sony. The lenses I have at the moment are the samyang 12mm, Sony 16-50 kit lens and the Sony 35mm.
On a recent trip I found that the 12mm was too wide do I wound up using the 16-50 kit lens and the 35mm. Because of the kit lens kit being that good I want a lens that will do what the 12mm can do but also go tighter like the kit lens. I've been looking at the Sony 10-18mm or the Sony 16-70mm.
My issue with the 10-18 is I'm not sure 18 is wide enough but I've also heard that the 16-70 isn't amazing, not all that sharp. Ideally I'd get the 16-70 but if the quality isn't there the 10-18 should be fine
 
I don't have a Sony so of no particular use regarding their lenses, however I have read a couple of Sony users saying they take adapted lenses from other systems really well, so that could be an option
 
I have thought about that but not looked too much into it. Ideally I'd want a 12-35mm lens, somewhere around that. I've seen ones for canon and Nikon but they've been expensive so far. I wouldn't be against getting a metabones adaptor and using one but I'd only do it if it were cheaper. The 10-18 is meant to be sharp just doesn't zoom in quite as much as I'd like.
 
Yeah, that's why I was thinking of an older manual lens and adapter, for landscape and with focus peaking I imagine you could get this all sorted pretty cheaply, but again I don't know just theorising.
 
JohnN said:
He's an article I just dug up (http://phillipreeve.net/blog/manual-lenses-sony-a7/), lol at this rate I'll be considering an A7!

Edit: oh, how did I forget, have you considered Samyang? Manual again but very good and decent pricing
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Cheers for the link :). I actually already have the samyang. It's very good but my 12mm can be too wide. I went to the coast recently and only use my 35mm with the 16-50 with I wanted it a bit wider. I really want an all in one sharp landscape lens but failing that a lens that compliments the 12mm, like the 16-70. But I've heard good and bad about the 16-70
 
Ben johns said:
I'm primarily a landscape photographer shooting Sony. The lenses I have at the moment are the samyang 12mm, Sony 16-50 kit lens and the Sony 35mm.
On a recent trip I found that the 12mm was too wide do I wound up using the 16-50 kit lens and the 35mm. Because of the kit lens kit being that good I want a lens that will do what the 12mm can do but also go tighter like the kit lens. I've been looking at the Sony 10-18mm or the Sony 16-70mm.
My issue with the 10-18 is I'm not sure 18 is wide enough but I've also heard that the 16-70 isn't amazing, not all that sharp. Ideally I'd get the 16-70 but if the quality isn't there the 10-18 should be fine
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I'm a bit confused by this, what do you mean when you say you want a lens to go tighter?

Also you state that you've looked at the 10-18mm but the 18mm isn't wide enough, but 10mm is the wide end which is plenty wide?

Which Sony system are you using, a-mount or e-mount?
 
snerkler said:
I'm a bit confused by this, what do you mean when you say you want a lens to go tighter?

Also you state that you've looked at the 10-18mm but the 18mm isn't wide enough, but 10mm is the wide end which is plenty wide?

Which Sony system are you using, a-mount or e-mount?
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Ah I made a mistake. I meant 18mm might not be tight enough. My concern is that when I went away when using the 16-50 I was using 16mm to around 25mm. I don't want to spend a lot of money on the 10-18mm just to go back to the kit lens. I'd rather keep my 12mm samyang and get the 16-70 but I've heard mixed reviews. The kit lens is ok but seems a bit soft.
I'm using e mount, a6000
 
snerkler said:
I'm a bit confused by this, what do you mean when you say you want a lens to go tighter?

Also you state that you've looked at the 10-18mm but the 18mm isn't wide enough, but 10mm is the wide end which is plenty wide?

Which Sony system are you using, a-mount or e-mount?
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What I mean by tighter is in an ideal world I'd have a lens that was say 12-24 or 12-34 for when I don't want to go as wide. Sony don't make that. I'd use and adaptor but those lenses also cost a lot!
 
JohnN said:
Damn, sorry you did say - I forgot the second time round :)
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Lol no worries. I do like the 12mm, I used it exclusively when I went to Scotland last year. But there was a lot of things in the foreground that work well with very wide angle lenses. Although I have noticed it's a bit soft in the corners even stopped down
 
Ben johns said:
What I mean by tighter is in an ideal world I'd have a lens that was say 12-24 or 12-34 for when I don't want to go as wide. Sony don't make that. I'd use and adaptor but those lenses also cost a lot!
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Ahh, so you mean 18mm isn't long enough/doesn't give you enough reach. Unfortunately it's always a compromise, there's no one do it all lens that goes from super wide to a decent length AFAIK, and if there was I doubt image quality would be very good. For a general walkabout lens 16mm (24mm eq) should be wide enough (it is for me anyway), and then just use the 12mm for specific ultra wide angle landscapes. By the nature of the ultra wide angles they do tend to be a bit soft in the corners.
 
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snerkler said:
Ahh, so you mean 18mm isn't long enough/doesn't give you enough reach. Unfortunately it's always a compromise, there's no one do it all lens that goes from super wide to a decent length AFAIK, and if there was I doubt image quality would be very good. For a general walkabout lens 16mm (24mm eq) should be wide enough (it is for me anyway), and then just use the 12mm for specific ultra wide angle landscapes. By the nature of the ultra wide angles they do tend to be a bit soft in the corners.
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Yea. I'm sure most of the time 10-18mm would be fine. But as I said I found myself using 21mm and even my 35mm. Ideally I'd have both the 10-18 and the 16-70 :). Think I'm going to rent them both at some point see how I feel. If the 16-70 isn't all that much of an improvement on the kit lens then it's a no go
 
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