Newbie Lens Question

Daysleeper40

Daysleeper40

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Excuse my newbie status here but how exactly do you tell what lens fits what camera?

I get the obvious Canon lens = Canon Camera but what about third party makes - do they make lenses for each type of fit?

Really my question is - if I get a Sony Alpha camera, what other makes of lens will fit it. The only one I know is Minolta - and my understanding is the lens would have to be Auto Focus. Am I right, or am I terminally confused?!

:thinking:
 
sigma,tokina,tamron are the main three that make lenses in most fitments(dont have a sony so not sure) they will be marked as minolta fit or sony fit. a old lens that fits your camera will work, but if it doesnt have autofocus, then you will have to use the manual focus ring on the lens.
 
Thankyou :thumbs:

I don't even have the camera yet but I am trying to understand the lenses that I am likely to want / need.

I like taking trips to animal parks and generally taking pics of wildlife so am trying to see how much a decent telephoto lens that I can walk around a zoo or bird of prey centre with will set me back.
 
you gonna need a bit of length there i think, best wait for a few of the people who shoot that to come along and advise. but i guess your aiming for a 300mm to get close to flying birds and distant animals.

Good luck, and dont forget to post some pics when you get it:thumbs:
 
Thats what I thought too - I was looking at this one (and hoping you can get it a bit cheaper elsewhere!):

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s29451...kuOfferingPriceASC&IsInStockOnly=False&comp=n

It seems to have a very wide range though - I don't know much (well anything really) about lenses but I'm assuming a lens that is designed with a more specific focal range would be better?

I would only have the 18-70mm kit lens initially so should I be looking more for 70-300 ish to add to this?

Sorry for all the questions - just trying to get my head round this :bonk:
 
you should be able to get it cheaper i would have thought, jessops tend to be at the higher end from what i have seen.

you should google the lens and look at a couple of reviews to see what they are like, there will probably be a similar lens from sigma as well. on the whole, i would guess that is a bit too much in one for brilliant IQ, butnever used or looked at it, try looking on www.dpreview.com or www.photozone.de . they tend to have a few reviews on most things.
 
I have the A200 with the Kit 18-70, plus a Sigma 55-200 and a Sigma 70-300 and also a wide angle 10-20.
Love it all, although for cash reasons I will be selling the 70-300 soon.
I have also just upgraded my Kit Lens, so if you are thinking of getting the sony I may be able to do you a deal on the 70-300, and throw in the kits lens, allowing you to buy a body only.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Excuse my newbie status here but how exactly do you tell what lens fits what camera?

I get the obvious Canon lens = Canon Camera but what about third party makes - do they make lenses for each type of fit?

not all canon lenses fit all canon bodies
Click to expand...
 
Hi Daysleeper, whereabouts are you? It may be worth asking about locally to see if anyone else is into the hobby or maybe a local club, then tag along and try out a few lenses to see the differences. If your local to me I'd gladly help out as I think most decent folk would.

Gary
 
celery said:
I have the A200 with the Kit 18-70, plus a Sigma 55-200 and a Sigma 70-300 and also a wide angle 10-20.
Love it all, although for cash reasons I will be selling the 70-300 soon.
I have also just upgraded my Kit Lens, so if you are thinking of getting the sony I may be able to do you a deal on the 70-300, and throw in the kits lens, allowing you to buy a body only.
Click to expand...

Well that does sound interesting - how much would you be looking for - together & seperate?

Donutagain - thanks for that! I simply mean that if you have - for instance - a Sony camera, a good place to start for lenses would probably be Sony.

Garynlea - I am in the Berkshire area and if I get up enough courage when I finally get my DSLR I may try your suggestion! It would be great to have some friendly encouragement as I fear this will be me: :help:

Thanks everyone else - I'm just glad I was thinking along vaguely the right lines! Off to do more research...
 
Daysleeper £50 for the 70-300. It's a Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 DL zoom lens
£60 with the Kit Lens. Although on warehouse express the A200 with Kit lens is the same price as the body only (£289) !!!!
 
celery said:
Daysleeper £50 for the 70-300. It's a Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 DL zoom lens
£60 with the Kit Lens. Although on warehouse express the A200 with Kit lens is the same price as the body only (£289) !!!!
Click to expand...

If I do get an Alpha that 70-300 sounds like a definate possibility. I will let you know - don't hang onto it if you have another buyer though as this is still very much a possible camera purchase for me rather than a done deal.
 
I'll put in on the TP for sale forum, but will hold off fleabaying it for a couple of weeks.
 
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