What next? Spend my £200...

bobiscuit

bobiscuit

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Have around £200ish to spend.
Right now I have:
Sony A300
Sony A100 (backup)
Sony 18-70mm F/3.5-5.6 kit lens
Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 lens
Couple of old M42 lenses (50mm and 135mm)
Old manual flash - never tried, but could maybe use this with some kind of wireless trigger
Various Filters, tripod, and other accessories.

I'd like to try some more indoor/portrait photography. Maybe even help out at some events/weddings if I find someone with low enough expectations :lol:

I was thinking of getting a Sony 50mm F/1.8 for some narrow DOF shots and for shooting with less light - but is it usable wide open? Or will I find I always want to stop down for more quality/sharpness?

I also wanted some kind of flash unit. The Opteka EF-600 looks promising - tilt and swivel head, auto zoom, etc. and cheaper that most other options. Is it any good?

If I'm going to be disappointed with that lens wide open, and the flash is too crude... Would I be better going for a Sony 50mm F/1.4 and just using the old flash with a wireless trigger and a bracket?

Thanks for any advice :thumbs:
 
I mainly use a Minolta 28mm prime and it is a fantastic lens! Highly recommended. Only cost me 80 quid off ebay but the sony equiv is 180 :)
 
Now that I think about it - maybe another option is to replace my kit lens with the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8

About £250 on eBay and the 18-70 lenses are selling for £50ish.

Slightly wider, probably a fair bit sharper, and two stops faster at the long end so probably decent for portraits.

Any comments on this lens?
 
tamron f2.8 are good
 
fancy a battery grip and an official sony flash for a little over your budget?
 
sony 50mm 1.4 or 50mm 1.8 indoor/portrait photography bigger aperture first choice.
 
If you're wanting to do more indoor and portrait work then I'd stick with the lenses you have for now and replace your manual flash with a more advanced one with TTL. Your lenses aren't fantastic and may need replacing in time but for portrait work you need to get the lighting right and that's a lot easier with a better flash.
 
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