lens choices....help needed

wrecker1971

wrecker1971

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paul holder
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hi all, need some advice please.

the wife has offered to buy me a new lens for my birthday( in feb) and need advice on what would be best.

am working to a budget of about 150quid so it may need to be second hand.

as i live out the the country a little i like to get out and shoot wildlife (birds etc) am looking for something that will get me a little bit closer. have got a sony a200 with an 18-70 and a 70-300 but want something just a little bigger.

can anyone advise

cheers
 
no between £150 and £200
 
Personally, I think you'll struggle. Maybe save the pennies and get the 500m f/8 mirror lens? Alternatively get a bridge camera?
 
Probably Olympus 520 + 70-300mm will have the best reach per buck due to its 2x crop. It is still far over your budget.

Just get the 50mm prime for the money, surely it is not a wildlife lens, but will be very useful and sharp.
 
hi evo how good are the 500mm mirror lenses?
 
If you want to get closer to the wildlife on your budget get a pop up hide. Have a search on here for mirror lens threads, I've never had one(or ever wil) but I have never seen a good word about them.

Have a look here.
 
wrecker1971 said:
hi evo how good are the 500mm mirror lenses?
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I have no experience of using this lenses, though I have seen some good examples from it. Bokeh maybe a bit strange, and you'll need a lot of light for it to AF properly (fixed f/8 lens). However it is very compact and light for a 500mm lens, thought it maybe worthwhile to consider. Retails brand new at around £500
 
For it's price (about £75 second hand), I think the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro is a versatile lens - and very sharp if my copy is anything to go by. The macro function is an added bonus if, like me, you aren't into macro photography but it takes your fancy on the odd occasion.
 
not an option mate (pop up hide) am usually out with wife and kids so would be used just as an opertunistic lens really
 
have already got a 70-300 but have found quite often that it's just not quite enough
 
ah right, just read your full post! ( whoops! )
 
stan the man said:
you're not really going to get a decent lens with 300mm+ reach for £200 i'm afraid...your best bet is to use what you already have,and a little field craft to get you closer to your subject.if you can strech your budget,then may be worth looking at one of these..
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:plusone:

Even budget zooms like the 120-400mm f4.5-5.6 will be £500.....

and forget about the mirror lens, these ain't good.... soft, very slow focus, will need optimum conditions to get anything decent, save your money....you'll need to increase your budget to around the £600 to get anything worth using for a 300mm + lens.
 
Alternatively consider a 1.4x TC for increasing reach which will be well within your budget, but you'll probably lose AF and some image quality.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Alternatively consider a 1.4x TC for increasing reach which will be well within your budget, but you'll probably lose AF and some image quality.
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Teleconverters will only work on certain lenses, depending which (brand) of 70-300mm lens OP has. If its the Sony 70-300mm then probably not, if its the sigma or Tamron 70-300mm then maybe a sigma or kenko TC might work, but it will make it manual focus only and 1 f-stop of light f8 (which you'll probably need to stop down further) will require optimum light conditions to get anything from it. A TC's not something I would recommend for that lens.
 
thanks for that have been searching the internet and only other i have found is a non mirror 500mm lens around the £120 mark. think its made by opton. has anyone had any dealings with this type of lens. am a bit reluctant to spend too much on one as it will only be used occaisionally
 
Dont you lose approx 2 stops with the teleconverters.

I would save some money and get a lens you know you want.
 
500mm for £120 and all im going to say is, you get what you pay for. IQ will be very poor and you will never be able to hand hold it unless the sun moves 1million miles closer.lol if i were you mate id save the £200 for a few months untill you can afford the lens you want rather than buying a cheap nasty lens that will be of poor quality and a waste of money.
the £120 is better in your pocket than investing in the end of a milk bottle.
i shoot birds with a 70-200 and i find it to be fine reach wise, others will argue but if you have enough time to sit still and wait for a while the birds will come to you.
also a good way of getting them were you want is take some bird food with you and place it were you want them and given time they will come.

hope that helps
Gibbo.
 
Characteristics said:
Dont you lose approx 2 stops with the teleconverters.

I would save some money and get a lens you know you want.
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one stop with the x1.4 and two stops with the x2. :thumbs:
 
thanks gibo but carrying dead mice around would not be very nice....i live out in the wilds a but and kestrals, sparrow hawks and buzzards dont take kindly to people being around and very hard to get close enough to get a nice pic without lots of cropping and stuff
 
I have the Sigma 70-300 too and I'm always impressed by how good value for money it is. Sure its not perfect but its a more capable lens than I am a photographer!
I'm with the other guys, don't buy something you'll regret. Get yourself a 50mm prime if you really do need another lens, or else spend the money on a flash unit. You'll enjoy both of these better than a cheap and nasty lens that you'll use once then put it in a drawer
 
ahhhh i see. i would still wait off though for the lens you want/need, ive wasted money on lenses before and wish id have saved just that little bit more to get the one i REALLY wanted. if you can hire a couple of lenses and see what suits your needs as you may find that a 400mm isnt enough either. that worst thing to do is buy camera equipment halfheartedly.

GIbbo..
 
wrecker1971 said:
thanks for that have been searching the internet and only other i have found is a non mirror 500mm lens around the £120 mark. think its made by opton. has anyone had any dealings with this type of lens. am a bit reluctant to spend too much on one as it will only be used occaisionally
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Avoid anything not made by one of the major manufacturers (or Sigma/Tamron/Tokina) the brands such as Opteka are unknown and unused for a jolly good reason :)

Lenses are expensive and on the whole you gets what you pays for.
 
hi all thanks for all your advice. after messing with my lens (with the help of a friends camera!) and his lenses i have realised the one i have got is faulty....For some reason it is jamming up on the zoom side and not using the full range.

Think i will just go and buy a new 75-300 and see what that does.

Any advice on make/spec etc?
i know a lot of it is down to personal preference but having spoken with the wife we have a little bit more to spend on it now.
Am currently using a sigma lens but with that having faulted on me has anyone got another suggestion.
will be looking for something that is quick

cheers
 
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