Camera Help Please

maximus0983

Hi,

I am going to buy a Sony Alpha 300 as my first SLR. I regularly take photos for my local cricket club on match days and also some aircraft photos (air - air) while flying.

Can anyone suggest a decent lens for this sort of stuff? I havent a clue about what to get and prices etc! :eek:

Thanks in advance

isofa

If you are going to be wanting to build up a kit of different lenses, then I'd suggest looking at Canon and Nikon first - both have massive ranges of their own and 3rd party lenses from Sigma, Tamron etc.

The sony is a great camera, but for ultimate flexibility you can't beat Canon and Nikon.

I assume you are looking for a decent mid-range zoom, something from around 20 to 200mm? The wider the range of zoom, the worse the optics, the best "standard" zooms tend to zoom no more than 100mm, if most is going to be telephoto I'd be looking for 200 to 300mm, if closer range a good standard zoom from 20ish to 100mm.

Regardless of your choice, best prices: https://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

sharkie

cameras with sensors, motors, stabilizers etc built into the body have cheaper lenses

isofa

sharkie wrote: »

cameras with sensors, motors, stabilizers etc built into the body have cheaper lenses

True, but they don't offer the flexibility nor professional quality of the competition IMO. I've yet to meet a pro colleague shooting with a Sony, nor a Sony lens to come anywhere near the quality of my Canon L series glasses.

maximus0983

Hi,

I understand there is always going to be a better choice, but after looking around and asking alot of people ( some pro - some not) I have decided on the Sony. Also a friend has the same camera so we are able to split the costs of new lenses 50:50 as we normally attend similar functions and matches where it is required.

I will check up on camerapricebuster.co.uk but just want to know what is the recommended lens for the activity of taking good pictures from a cricket boundary!

isofa

maximus0983 wrote: »

Hi,

I understand there is always going to be a better choice, but after looking around and asking alot of people ( some pro - some not) I have decided on the Sony. Also a friend has the same camera so we are able to split the costs of new lenses 50:50 as we normally attend similar functions and matches where it is required.

I will check up on camerapricebuster.co.uk but just want to know what is the recommended lens for the activity of taking good pictures from a cricket boundary!

I agree, everyone has a different choice and opinion. If you are sharing costs then go for similar equipment (as I pro photographer I only use Canon).

From the boundary, you'll want a good 200 to 300mm lens for close up action shots, a 100 to 200mm zoom would give a lot of decent coverage, but good optics are very expensive, one of my professional lenses cost 3 times that of my DSLR body.

You want a fast lens, i.e. one with a wide aperture ideally the same throughout the zoom range, so you are letting enough light in to be able to have fast shutter speeds to capture the action, try and find a good f/4 lens, anything above (f/2 etc) will be prhibitively expensive in a large zoom size.

I'm not sure if Sigma do lenses for Sony, but worth a look for quality and value.

maximus0983

Hi isofa,

Would this be something you mentioned above?

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/74938/Show.html

Thanks

isofa

maximus0983 wrote: »

Hi isofa,

Would this be something you mentioned above?

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/74938/Show.html

Thanks

It's an OK lens, but fairly cheap for a zoom, fine for snaps, but 5.6 isn't that fast, however it's ok! A tripod might be useful. Because it has such a wide zoom range from 70 to 300mm, it's likely at the extremes it'll be softer and not such good quality. The lower the range, the better the image in general.

Have a look at this one: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/tamron_18-270_3p5-6p3_vc_n15/

So a 100mm to 200mm lens will have better optical characteristics than a 100 to 300mm lens, if you compare like with like.

So although travel 18-200mm lenses are great and compact, they can't ever offer such a good image as say 2 lenses, one for 18-75 and another from 75 to 200mm.

Prime lenses (fixed length) offer much better optical definition, but of course you can't zoom to different sizes.

There are good lens reviews here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ (some tamron but not the model you picked)

And more here: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/#manuf