New lens for my Sony A200?

George7

George7

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George
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At the moment I have a Sony A200 with the standard kit lens, but I'd like to purchase a lens which is good for macro but also quite cheap! I've been looking at Minolta 50mm lenses which I've been told are quite good for macro (or if not, what are they good for?) but they're quite expensive. I'd ideally like to spend less than 80 quid :) Any recommendations for a decent macro lens that will fit an Alpha 200?

Also, I wouldn't mind getting a telephoto (75-300 or something?) for around about the same amount of money (less than 80) so recommendations for both would be great!

Thanks (y)
 
Not a Sony user but I would think you will be hard pressed to get a decent macro lens or a 70-300mm for £80 so why not spend £160 on something like a Sigma 70-300mm which has 1:2 macro capability.

A 50mm is no good for closeup unless it is a macro lens to start with or you use an addon such as tubes or some kind of closeup filter.
 
Cheers. What is the BEST lens possible for macro photography?

I'll definitely check out the Sigma 70-300mm. Is that the price for it brand new?

Thanks
 
for macro,i'd recommend something like the sigma 105 or the tamron 90,although either will cost you over £300 new or approx £250-ish second hand..if you can find one in sony mount.you could put a set of extension tubes on your kit lens and get 1:1(i think),but these will cost you £135

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1011650

as mike has said...it might be a good idea to go down the sigma 70-300 which will give you a good compromise (y)
 
you should be aware though that the Sigma 70-300mm APO has a reputation for breaking it's AF gears on Sony Alphas due to the high torque body motor.

You might want to look at the Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro instead which should be a bit cheaper (£130) too. Also 1:2.
 
Sorry but you're not going to get either a macro or a sigma 70-300 for £80, not anywhere close to it. Like has been stated above i would save up a bit more and get the 70-300, it's a decent lens for the price and even though it doesn't give true macro capability, it's a starting point. As for the Minolta 50mm f/1.7, i wouldn't contemplate using it for macro but it's a good lens for portraits and low light photography, i love mine.

you should be aware though that the Sigma 70-300mm APO has a reputation for breaking it's AF gears on Sony Alphas due to the high torque body motor.

You might want to look at the Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro instead which should be a bit cheaper (£130) too. Also 1:2.
Click to expand...

Is this still happening? I've heard of the sony body's stripping gears before but i'm surprised it's not been sorted out. I use the Tamron 70-300mm quite a bit and it's got it's quirks and issues but for the price it's good enough for most jobs. You have to learn it and how it works, yeah it suffers terrible CA at times but once you know you can compensate. It's certainly another option.
 
George7 said:
Just seen this. Seems a good deal but how good would it be at doing macro from a distance (for taking pictures of birds and stuff?)

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1011620
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the lens you've linked to will give 1:2 or half life size,so not true macro as sigma state on their lens of this nature.it will however,be just the job for birds/wildlife/motorsports etc etc...

personally,i'd get this one..the APO version,and although it costs a little more,it will produce better images..

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1011618
 
Sarin said:
Sorry but you're not going to get either a macro or a sigma 70-300 for £80, not anywhere close to it. Like has been stated above i would save up a bit more and get the 70-300, it's a decent lens for the price and even though it doesn't give true macro capability, it's a starting point. As for the Minolta 50mm f/1.7, i wouldn't contemplate using it for macro but it's a good lens for portraits and low light photography, i love mine.



Is this still happening? I've heard of the sony body's stripping gears before but i'm surprised it's not been sorted out. I use the Tamron 70-300mm quite a bit and it's got it's quirks and issues but for the price it's good enough for most jobs. You have to learn it and how it works, yeah it suffers terrible CA at times but once you know you can compensate. It's certainly another option.
Click to expand...

Sigma are doing something about it but there is a lot of stock out there without the imroved gears. I had a 24-70 go through this recently as well as a 105 macro last year (As did stan). The 24-70 was repaired with new parts to ensure that it didn't happen again. The problem isn't restricted to the 70-300 so you may be taking a chance with any of the Sigma lenses. I have 4 Sigma lenses with which I am very happy although with the A700, I can reduce the AF speed which will prevent the problem occurring.
 
Save the money up! get the apo version, cant comment on the non apo but the apo one would be better optically, i have a canon fit one and i have not had 1 bit of chromatic abberation (purple fringing) you can get a 58mm filter from sigma which takes you to 1-1

heres a couple of close ups, these are hand held by the way. I have a shaky hand at times!

Cromford018.jpg


Cromford038.jpg


002copy.jpg
 
Cheers for the pictures and advice so far!

If I'm going to be spending 170ish, I was wondering if it was worth going for something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000GT11H6/ref=s9_simz_gw_s2_p23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=01VDRTTH758FAMDK27G2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294

It looks pretty good but I'm not sure how it compares to the other lenses. However I guess it'll be designed for my particular camera so there won't be any problems like gears being stripped but I'm a total noob so I really have no idea :p
 
with regards to the sony lens, it wont offer you the 1:2 magnification that the sigma or tamron would give you. If you are going to consider the sony version, i would urge you to try one out, I may be wrong, but as far as i know is just an older minolta lens rebadged, my brother has sony and we tried for a while trying to get info of quality of it. To be honest I would stick with the sigma, but it might be worth double checking with your local dealers and sigma, but i have not heard of any problems recently.
 
i fancy a minolta 50mm for portraits
 
get the sony f1.4:love:
amazing!
 
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