Sony A77 mk1 with Tamron 150-600mm

[linearamp]

Hi all

Does anyone here have any experience using the above combo?

i have a A77 Mk1 with a 70-400G mk1 which im finding its not long enough to get decent shots of smaller birds like Kingfishers..So was looking at the Tamron 150-600mm which is in my budget.

i was also looking at another body with the same lens ,Maybe a Nikon D500 as i have seen rave reviews and shots taken with this combo ,dont know if it will be any better than the Sony combo ?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Martin

 

[gramps]

I have a feeling that @Lez325 had that combo in the past ... lots of good experience from wildlife togs using the D500 +200-500 but there are issues with the AF spread when using it with the Tamron at full reach.

 

[chris malcolm]

Hi all

Does anyone here have any experience using the above combo?

i have a A77 Mk1 with a 70-400G mk1 which im finding its not long enough to get decent shots of smaller birds like Kingfishers..So was looking at the Tamron 150-600mm which is in my budget.

i was also looking at another body with the same lens ,Maybe a Nikon D500 as i have seen rave reviews and shots taken with this combo ,dont know if it will be any better than the Sony combo ?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Martin

The Sony 70-400G is sharper with more detail resolution than most zooms are at its long end. Most zooms are optimised for best performance at their shorter wider end, with the long end going a bit softer. If the Tamron at 600mm is a bit soft then it might be the case that you'd get the same or perhaps even more detail resolution from cropping down a Sony 400mm image than the Tamron gives at 600mm.

I've tried shooting a kingfisher with my 500mm lens, and generally found that if I wanted the bird to fill most of the image I'd need something like a 2,000mm lens. The step up in bird magnification from 400mm to 600mm is not a lot, just a 50% increase.

 

[snerkler]

I haven't used the A77 with Tamron 150-600mm but do have the Tamron and have owned the A77 Anyway, the above info is true, I sent my D500 back as the outer AF points don't work with the Tamron (and Sigma) 150-600mm beyond around 500mm as not enough light reaches the outer points due to how wide they're spread. It works well on the D7200 though which is also a very capable camera. Also, the Tamron is slightly soft at 600mm, but it's sharp at 550mm. I can crop to 1:1 using this lens on my D750 and still get usable results.

Can you not try one out in store for yourself before you commit to a purchase? Another thing to bear in mind is that the Tamron weights nearly another 500g which might not sound a lot, but it makes a difference. Especially as the 150-600mm is quite long when extended.