Budget zoom lens - opinion on ebay listing

TomWoozle

TomWoozle

Messages
217
Name
Tom
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,

I just got my Sony A200 a week ago (with 18-70mm kit lens), and in a weeks time I'm going on a horse riding holiday in France and really want a zoom lens to take, but am totally poor.

I've just found this Sigma Minolta AF fit 60-200mm, which seems to fit my criteria (cheap, at least some zoom ability, autofocus, not really bad).

It is £44 delivered which seems cheap but I still don't know much about lenses. Is this a good deal? Am I missing anything I should be thinking about?

Thanks in advance!
 
Can someone please confirm I understand properly the equivalent focal lengths.

I think the Sony A200 has a focal length multiplier of 1.5, making the 18-70mm kit lens equivalent to 27-105mm lens for a 35mm film camera.

So the 60-200mm lens would have almost twice the zoom of my kit lens and at the wide end would be the same as the midway point of my kit lens.

Is that correct?
 
I wouldn't worry about sensor size (multiplier as you refer to it).

You have an 18-70mm lens and you want to add this, a 60-200mm lens. That means you will have a 10mm overlap (which is fine btw).
 
Hrm - I thought the 18-70 and 60-200 were not comparable?

I thought 18-70mm was Sony's measurement, which was not equivalent to measurements of 35mm film lenses (like the 60-200mm).

I'm going to have to read more about this subject it seems (especially before buying any lenses on ebay!). Thanks for the advice.
 
18-70 is the 35mm equivalent, so the 18-70 and 60-200 are directly comparable in terms of focal length. Both lenses would function on your A200 as 27-105 and 90-300 respectively.
 
Ahh, ok. I was getting a bit baffled. Got it now.

Thanks a lot to you both, that helps loads. :)
 
leaky5 - wow, from the reviews I've read that lens looks great and exactly what I'm looking for!!

Thank you!! Not only am I almost certainly going to grab that lens, but I didn't know about College Cameras either so will know to look there in future too. Really appreciate it!
 
That Sigma lens on Ebay looks quite old. It certainly isn't one of the current models or one of the newer discontinued ones. I think this is reflected in the asking price.

Don't know about your camera but some of the older Sigma lenses don't work on the Canon bodies giving error messages so if I was you and was thinking about buying this lens I would email the seller find out how old it is, what model it is and then search on the net to see if this is compatible with your camera.
 
To clarify:

The focal length printed on the lens is the actual focal length. It is not adjusted to take into account of a cropped sensor, it is a reference to the lenses optical design.

So an 18-70mm sony lens is an 18-70mm lens however you look at it. Those numbers are directly comparable to the 60-200mm of the Sigma lens.

I had one of those Sigma lenses for my old film SLR (Canon) and it was built like a tank. AF was noisey and slow, but worked and it was pretty sharp too. As Sinbecks said, make sure it is fully compatible before buying, I think it wa sonly Canon that bad backward compatibility issues with Sigmas though.
 
Well, having decided to bite the bullet, I transferred some money yesterday so I could buy the Tamron 55-200mm that leaky recommended today, and of course it had gone up from £59.99 to £101.99.

Phoned them and they said they have none left. Am totally bummed and fed up, as had read loads of reviews and was totally excited about the lens, and can't afford it elsewhere. :(
 
TomWoozle said:
Well, having decided to bite the bullet, I transferred some money yesterday so I could buy the Tamron 55-200mm that leaky recommended today, and of course it had gone up from £59.99 to £101.99.


Phoned them and they said they have none left. Am totally bummed and fed up, as had read loads of reviews and was totally excited about the lens, and can't afford it elsewhere. :(
Click to expand...

Its £69.99 at http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product1...6 AF Di II LD Macro (Sony Fit)&ProductID=6605

I know its more but its better than £105.00

Although I notice its now out of stock :(
 
Thanks chrism_scotland, but yes - out of stock there.

Best I can find delivered is £89 from Bristol Cameras.

Problem is I could barely afford it at the price before! Completely bummed! :(

Was really excited about my first zoom lens, and in time for my trip too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top