calling Mr fizzwheel or anyone with DSLR knowledge

ive been looking around for a zoom lense to fit my camera but i dont know much about them would 75 -300mm be a good one? mines only 55mm at the mo, would that do the trick or do i not know what i'm talking about how much would that be than the stock one i already have?

[jambo]

Which camera have you got mate?

The Sigma 70-300 APO, has had very good reviews and is available in Nikon, Canon and Sigma fit.

At 300mm it has a Macro mode that seems to have got rather decent praise too.

For the money it's what I'd buy
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-...a-fit/p1011619

Jambo

camera is a sony alpha a230, i'm watching a lense on ebay now its the 75 - 300 one

i presume its a Sony lense? its in a Sony alpha box or do someone else make their lenses?

[Bluepete]

Don't get hung up about powerfull zoom lenses. You would be amazed at just how usefull a wide angle lens is. I started with an 18-55mm, but have splashed out on a Sigma 18-200mm, stabilised zoom. Paid £300 for it.

http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lens...s/18-200mm.htm

This is it in your fit.

With a decent DSLR, you can use the zoom at 200mm, then crop in a bit if you need to in Photoshop etc. You can't make the image wider though.

[fizzwheel]

Depends what the subject matter is you are planning on photographing.

Cropping is all very well, but if you are a long distance away from the subject matter, you'll in my experience anyway end up with a grainy picture once you've zoomed and cropped it.

If you are planning on taking motorsports pics, then IMHO go for the biggest zoom you can get and even then at some locations you might find what you have isnt enough. Particularly at Donnington Park if it ever gets going again...

You've seen my pics, all taken on my 70-300mm Zoom, not cropped, not photoshopped not messed about with at all.

If you can get the 300mm at a good price then get it. Its better to have it and the wind the zoom back from the maximum than to miss a good photo because your zoom wont you to where you want to be...

two pics below taken at the same sequence of bends at Thruxton. Dont know if it helps at all to try and illustrate my point.

The cropped pic to my eye looks a bit grainy, whereas the non cropped to my eye the picture is sharper and clearer. OK the weather conditions arent quite the same but I hope you get what I mean.

Pic 1 is zoomed in slight and taken at max zoom on the 55-200mm lens



Pics 2 is taken on the 70-300mm lens and I'm stood a little further back from the fence, is not cropped, or zoomed in at all

I would in your case only bother with either the latest version Sigma APO 70-300 or the Sony as seen here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Alpha-7...8842822&sr=8-6

I have owned several 70-300 lenses in the past and the Sigma was the better one of the sub 200 quid lenses. The Sony one does get good reviews it seems. I would not bother with a 75-300 as they tend to be older models. I also owned a Tamron 70-300 but it seems i was the only person who had a great copy of that lens as many complained of purple fringing (when you can see purple around an edge on something against a high contrast area ie. branches agaist a white sky)
Whatever you do see search google for reviews as a lot of lenses are just crap so be choosy. If not sure post up a link and i am sure a few of us should know something about that particular model that interests you
The 300mm end can sometimes be a bit soft on a lot of these lenses so shoot at around 270mm if that seems the case.

ok all thanks for the advice

Ive have used my dads Sony Alpha 100 and I bought him the lens linked below, I think its a great lens and some cracking photos have been taken with it. Ill see if i can get him to send me a few photos he has taken with it to give you some idea of how good it is.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-70-300...8845813&sr=8-4

Originally Posted by ravingdavis

Ive have used my dads Sony Alpha 100 and I bought him the lens linked below, I think its a great lens and some cracking photos have been taken with it. Ill see if i can get him to send me a few photos he has taken with it to give you some idea of how good it is.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-70-300...8845813&sr=8-4

Thats the Sigma i had too