Beginner Sigma 70-200 2.8 or Sony 70-200 2.8 V1/V2

T

theghostie

Messages
144
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
I am thinking of selling a couple of lenses to fund one of the titled lenses - any ideas on the quality versus each other versus cost???

Currently going to sell:

Sony 70-200 F4 boxed/mint
Sigma 85 Art boxed/mint

Both of these lenses have probably about 100 photos between them.

I tend to stick with my Sigma 24-70 Art and Sony 20mm.

I am tempted to sell my Sony/Zeiss 50mm 1.4 which although I use a lot - and the clarity/colour is amazing - I also only want to shell out minimum cash on the new lens!

Any ideas which one to go for - advice on which combination of lenses as well?

Trying to make portrait, children’s and I am going to try to branch out into smaller weddings - a main earner so I can be more flexible with home life?

Let me know!

Thanks,

Paul
 
Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GMii is the best in class. If you can afford it you won't be disappointed.

Having said that I don't think wedding photographers use that lens so much. Other wedding togs here can comment on that. If it were me I'd rather keep the 50mm f1.4 or even upgrade that to a 50mm f1.2 instead of the 70-200mm f2.8 lenses. Especially more so considering you use this lens a lot.
 
I have been using the Sigma 70-200 2.8 Sport for 3 years now on various Nikon bodies and I am entirely happy with its performance.
IMHO it is very fast to focus (even with the matched 1.4TC) and has great Bokeh, it is my goto lens for sport and butterflies and does a good portrait.
Only downside for me is that its is heavy, but I can forgive that for its performance...... and at £1200 new its a 'real' bargain

I am sure others will be along to extol the virtues of the Sony ........
 
Last edited:
nandbytes said:
Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GMii is the best in class. If you can afford it you won't be disappointed.

Having said that I don't think wedding photographers use that lens so much. Other wedding togs here can comment on that. If it were me I'd rather keep the 50mm f1.4 or even upgrade that to a 50mm f1.2 instead of the 70-200mm f2.8 lenses. Especially more so considering you use this lens a lot.
Click to expand...
I would say there are plenty of uses for 70-200mm in a wedding, but definitely would always want to have 50mm and also ideally 85mm primes. At that point you can argue whether 135 completely negates the need for a zoom.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I would say there are plenty of uses for 70-200mm in a wedding, but definitely would always want to have 50mm and also ideally 85mm primes. At that point you can argue whether 135 completely negates the need for a zoom.
Click to expand...
didn't say it wouldn't have any use, just saying based on what I have read on here and other places wedding togs don't seems to use it much in comparison to 35-50-85-135mm primes.
So I wouldn't advice trading in his nice 50mm prime which OP claims get a lot of use.

Also he says he doesn't use his 70-200m much. Yes i know f4 is not f2.8 but to me it doesn't feel like he isn't using his f4 zoom because its not f2.8. Feels more like he prefers to use his other lenses like the 50mm f1.4, so more the reason not to trade that in for another 70-200mm.

There is a tamron 70-180mm f2.8 that OP could consider also, if he wants cheaper.
 
Last edited:
nandbytes said:
didn't say it wouldn't have any use, just saying based on what I have read on here and other places wedding togs don't seems to use it much in comparison to 35-50-85-135mm primes.
So I wouldn't advice trading in his nice 50mm prime which OP claims get a lot of use.

Also he says he doesn't use his 70-200m much. Yes i know f4 is not f2.8 but to me it doesn't feel like he isn't using his f4 zoom because its not f2.8. Feels more like he prefers to use his other lenses like the 50mm f1.4, so more the reason not to trade that in for another 70-200mm.

There is a tamron 70-180mm f2.8 that OP could consider also, if he wants cheaper.
Click to expand...
From experience you don't even need f2.8 zoom when you have some good primes. I used f4 for a few weddings, predominantly for outdoors portraits and it was absolutely fine.
The main advantage is you can go from 70/85mm to 200mm instantly. Iq and bright aperture is where primes win every single time.
At the end of the day you really need 2 bodies to do a reasonable job
 
@nandbytes @Compuwight @LongLensPhotography

I think part of the problem is that the Zeiss 50mm was the first lens I got and it spoilt me a little bit - I just don’t find the Sony f4 as sharp - don’t get me wrong I got some nice pictures off of it - but it just seemed to lack a bit.

I then got a 100-400 Sony off Amazon warehouse which was a bit faulty - but the picture quality seemed sharper.

Also did the Sigma loan thing they offer and used the 60-600 which was great but just too heavy and the 150-500 think it was which again was great but too big and heavy for what I would use it for.

Think the Sigma/Sony will give me best balance between size/quality/usefulness - probably leaning more towards the Sigma due to price even though it’s heavier - however have seen the Sony at £1910 from Panamoz……

So potentially I have the:

Sony 20 1.8
Sigma 24-70 2.8

Sell/Keep Sony/Zeiss 50 1.4 / Sigma 85 1.4 / Sony 70-200 f4

These would be used for portrait, weddings, cake smash etc

Again - all advice is helpful!

Thanks,

Paul
 
@LongLensPhotography please don’t suggest another body!!

The wife would KILL ME!!!

So you would say - keep the selection of lenses and go with a second body?

Currently I have a Sony A7RV as I upgraded from a Sony A7R3

Would you think a second handy body such as the Sony R3 or the Sony IV or wait and get a second Sony RV?
 
theghostie said:
@nandbytes @Compuwight @LongLensPhotography

I think part of the problem is that the Zeiss 50mm was the first lens I got and it spoilt me a little bit - I just don’t find the Sony f4 as sharp - don’t get me wrong I got some nice pictures off of it - but it just seemed to lack a bit.

I then got a 100-400 Sony off Amazon warehouse which was a bit faulty - but the picture quality seemed sharper.

Also did the Sigma loan thing they offer and used the 60-600 which was great but just too heavy and the 150-500 think it was which again was great but too big and heavy for what I would use it for.

Think the Sigma/Sony will give me best balance between size/quality/usefulness - probably leaning more towards the Sigma due to price even though it’s heavier - however have seen the Sony at £1910 from Panamoz……

So potentially I have the:

Sony 20 1.8
Sigma 24-70 2.8

Sell/Keep Sony/Zeiss 50 1.4 / Sigma 85 1.4 / Sony 70-200 f4

These would be used for portrait, weddings, cake smash etc

Again - all advice is helpful!

Thanks,

Paul
Click to expand...
right. Keep sharp lenses, get rid of all the others. Should be self explanatory really.
 
theghostie said:
@LongLensPhotography please don’t suggest another body!!

The wife would KILL ME!!!

So you would say - keep the selection of lenses and go with a second body?

Currently I have a Sony A7RV as I upgraded from a Sony A7R3

Would you think a second handy body such as the Sony R3 or the Sony IV or wait and get a second Sony RV?
Click to expand...
For a wedding you really really want to have 2. It is not about your wife after all but about the wife to be!

All that really matters is you can deliver about 20-24MP sharp in focus image. A7RV is an absolute overkill for weddings, except maybe where you need to produce very large wall art of say a group shot. You will want your 50mm for that.

You could get a mega budge option of say D810 or even 5D3 and stick a reasonable Sigma ART prime or tele zoom on it and be done for well under £1k for the whole thing, then upgrade after 2-3 weddings.
 
Thinking now to get rid of the f4 - use the money from that and a bit extra to pick up a 2nd body - then eventually pick up a 70-200 Sigma/Sony when I see a bit of a bargain or 2nd hand?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top