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got myself an sony alpha a350!

  • 28-06-2009 6:46pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭


    Hi all!
    Excited about my new purchase.
    Just wondering about lens compatibilty such as minolta etc.
    anyone give me some pointers?
    thanks
    john


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭Rainbowsend


    Minolta A mount lenses will be compatable, and other Minolta lenses can be used with an adaptor available on ebay for a few euro, though these will only work on manual focus. Sigma do Sony fit lenses also. Best of luck with it I use Sony myself and love them, started with the a100 and now have a700 great cameras :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    Minolta A mount lenses will be compatable, and other Minolta lenses can be used with an adaptor available on ebay for a few euro, though these will only work on manual focus. Sigma do Sony fit lenses also. Best of luck with it I use Sony myself and love them, started with the a100 and now have a700 great cameras :)

    knowing my luck i will buy the wrong one!
    thanks
    john


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭Rainbowsend


    The mount to fit the Sony is A Mount and some of the older Minolta lenses are D Mount so you will need MD to MA adaptor.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    hi there!
    new to dslr and would love to know what you would recommend aside fomr the kit lens i got with the a350 18-70mm.
    i was thinking a wide angle lens and a zoom maybe?what about macro fro close ups?
    thanks
    john
    what you think of these?
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330341848735
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=170353990610

    ps cost is an issue!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭Rainbowsend


    The first lens is a mirror lens, 500mm nothing wrong with them....can you sense a but?.....But they are fixed at f8 so need loads of light to get good
    results and they also have this doughnut effect on the backgrounds, which you either love or hate, I have one but rarely use it and must say I do like the doughnut effect.

    The second lens you already have covered in the lens you got with the camera, so not much point in doubling up.

    I wouldnt be in a mad rush to gather a collection of lenses, get used to the camera and the lens you have first, you may find that you will lean to a certain type of photography be it portrait, landscape, wildlife etc and this will determine what lens you will go for, it is very tempting to rush out and buy all the cheapo lenses just because they sound good, but buying lenses is far more important than deciding on the body in my opinion.

    Hope this helps some :)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,393 ✭✭✭AnCatDubh


    You already have the wide angle range covered - the one you've linked to is 19 - 35mm, but your kit lens is already 18-70 so your kit lens incorporates the range of your intended purchase. At its widest, your kit lens isn't bad at all. To go wider you would be looking for something like 12-14mm - fish eye perhaps but these are reasonably specific lenses. I'm wondering whether you will need it in the short term? Anyhow that's for you to decide but the point is that the one you've selected from eBay won't do anything much for you.

    The 500mm doesn't look wonderful to be honest. It's a fixed focal length so you won't be zooming much. At f8 (again fixed) it's quite slow and will need loads of light to be effective. A worrying point - do a google for "falcon 500mm review" and you only get one relevant result in the first page - that's kinda telling that it isn't too popular. These kind of lenses come up all over the place. They usually have a 'cheap' manufacturer and don't perform effectively. Chromatic aberration can be a problem with such lenes. The enlarged sample picture hadn't got the detail to allow you to judge - you'd really need to pixel peep at 100% to get a better indication. Focus on this one is manual only too - not the end of the world but not particularly nice either. Again, it will be up to you. It won't brankrupt you but buyer beware - i don't think it will be a good purchase.

    I could be wrong and happy to be proved wrong if so.

    My advice if budget will be tight would be to look for something in the 70-300mm range - that's not a super zoom but 300mm aint bad either. Try stick to something with a reasonably known brand. For about €150ish you might pick up the Sigma 70-300 DG model - a few €'s more and you might get the APO model. That i'm thinking would be infinitely better than that which you've sourced. Even if it took a little longer saving for it, i think it would be worth it.

    EDIT: Cross posted with Rainbowsend. I should have waited so all i needed to type is "What Rainbowsend said" ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 813 ✭✭✭dave13


    I have the tamrom 70-300mm lens on my a200 and i find it great for the money. Should be able to pick up new for €150 and a lot of people seem to recommend it over the sigms.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    looking all over the place but cannot find one,any one point one out for me?
    thanks
    john


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭Rainbowsend


    Sigma do an OK one with a sony fit (the hot shoe on the alpha's are not standard) but you can get an adaptor on ebay which will allow you to use a standard hot shoe flash, Metz are good or you might find a Minolta one though you will still need the adaptor with it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    Dont discount the 18mm-70mm lens either, I have one as well, there a great all arounder lens. Dont forget with higher zooms you have to take things like shake and the amount of light into account, Im guessing but I would imagine you`d need a tripod in many cases. Your not going to leave a 500mm lens on your camera all day, and if your constatly swapping you risk ingress of dust.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,313 ✭✭✭Mycroft H


    Sigma do an OK one with a sony fit (the hot shoe on the alpha's are not standard) but you can get an adaptor on ebay which will allow you to use a standard hot shoe flash, Metz are good or you might find a Minolta one though you will still need the adaptor with it.


    I had the sigma 70-300 before and the auto focus motor in the a200 is too strong, it will strip the plastic gears in the sigma and you will be left with a lens that cannot focus. I was able to get my money back under the shops warrenty luckily.

    Get the the tamron 70 300 or a minolta version.


    Dont bother with the flash adapter you will be left with a flash that can only work in manual. There is plenty of aftermarket flashes in the minolta flash mount


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 163 ✭✭gerkeo


    i got the sony Sal18-250, very good all purpose lens i find, since i got it its been a constant fixture on my alpha.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    landyman wrote: »
    I had the sigma 70-300 before and the auto focus motor in the a200 is too strong, it will strip the plastic gears in the sigma and you will be left with a lens that cannot focus. I was able to get my money back under the shops warrenty luckily.

    You actually have a good point about AF in the A200. I reckon a good possibilty is not just a strong focus motor though, but the eye piece activated AF, its very sensitive and if the camera is just hanging from your neck it will constantly try to focus, not a good thing when these things are designed only to be AFing a small fraction of the time.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,393 ✭✭✭AnCatDubh


    seclachi wrote: »
    the eye piece activated AF, its very sensitive and if the camera is just hanging from your neck it will constantly try to focus.

    Wow.... while that is incredibly cool :cool: and so Sony like (which is good), the rest of us dinosaurs have to press the shutter release half way to get our cameras to autofocus which if I think about it isn't really auto focus - might be assisted focus or something like that, whereas the Sony seems to be 100% auto. (Its a bit like Sony redefining what it is to offer autofocus ;) )

    My question is - do you Sony guys find it effective for you or just battery draining if your presumption on the 'dangling setting the autofocus into motion' is correct. Serious question. Thanks.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,035 ✭✭✭✭-Chris-


    I presume it's battery draining, but the battery life is so long on my Sony that I don't particularly mind.
    At the same time, I don't want or need this feature - I'd be happy with pressing the shutter button to focus. It's a non-feature.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    AnCatDubh wrote: »
    Wow.... while that is incredibly cool :cool: and so Sony like (which is good), the rest of us dinosaurs have to press the shutter release half way to get our cameras to autofocus which if I think about it isn't really auto focus - might be assisted focus or something like that, whereas the Sony seems to be 100% auto. (Its a bit like Sony redefining what it is to offer autofocus ;) )

    My question is - do you Sony guys find it effective for you or just battery draining if your presumption on the 'dangling setting the autofocus into motion' is correct. Serious question. Thanks.

    I am starting out myself with next to no dslr experience, but I have to say its quite nice for certain situations, namely trying a bit of wildlife photography, where the half a second or so saved makes all the difference.

    Its not much use if you are not doing that kind of stuff, its nice if you are lazy however.

    The main drawbacks in my eyes are the over usage of the AF motor, the battery drain (not a huge issue though as the a200 is pretty good for battery life) and the fact if you are working with a narrow depth of field (ie zoomed on a close object) the focus will shift with your movement of the camera. Its a nice feature though, if any of the above become a problem you can just turn it off.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 156 ✭✭ant_moore123


    AnCatDubh wrote: »

    My advice if budget will be tight would be to look for something in the 70-300mm range - that's not a super zoom but 300mm aint bad either. Try stick to something with a reasonably known brand. For about €150ish you might pick up the Sigma 70-300 DG model - a few €'s more and you might get the APO model. That i'm thinking would be infinitely better than that which you've sourced. Even if it took a little longer saving for it, i think it would be worth it.

    I have the DG Model on a A350, only got it recently so haven't used it much but so far i'm really happy with it


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 523 ✭✭✭Crispin


    AnCatDubh wrote: »

    My question is - do you Sony guys find it effective for you or just battery draining if your presumption on the 'dangling setting the autofocus into motion' is correct. Serious question. Thanks.

    In theory a great idea but it is possibly the most annoying "non feature" (nicely put -chris-). turned it off almost immediately. It did drain battery a bit faster but not hugely.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭seclachi


    hi there!
    new to dslr and would love to know what you would recommend aside fomr the kit lens i got with the a350 18-70mm.
    i was thinking a wide angle lens and a zoom maybe?what about macro fro close ups?
    thanks
    john
    what you think of these?
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330341848735
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=170353990610

    ps cost is an issue!

    That reminds me, dont forget, the focal length on a lens isnt constant across all cameras, its quoted for a 35mm film camera. On the sony A200 the sensor is smaller than 35mm, which means you get a greater zoom effect from lenses, and lessened wide angle effect, for my camera you take the focal length and multiply by 1.5, so a 50mm lens on the A200 is the same as a 75mm lens on a 35mm camera.

    Sorry if you know this, but its nice to know if you like zoom (and horrible to know if you need a very wide angle lens)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 523 ✭✭✭Crispin


    seclachi wrote: »

    Sorry if you know this, but its nice to know if you like zoom (and horrible to know if you need a very wide angle lens)

    Wide angles are pretty easy to come across for sony now.
    Sigmas 10-20mm and tamrons 10-24 mm are 2 of the better ones. tamron & sony both do 11-18mm as well. I have the sigma & it's great!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    just wondering your thougths on these two?
    thanks
    j
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330342257542

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330341832432

    i like the look of the second one.

    I know you get what you pay for,but at that price which as the best functionability?
    the second grip and the official sony alpha are very similar
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B0013RDPSS/ref=dp_otherviews_0?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&img=0


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    whats the best card that i can get for speed v value?
    thanks
    sorry for being a pain!
    slan
    j


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,035 ✭✭✭✭-Chris-


    Crispin wrote: »
    In theory a great idea but it is possibly the most annoying "non feature" (nicely put -chris-). turned it off almost immediately. It did drain battery a bit faster but not hugely.

    You can turn if off? Must RTFM again! :o:D

    Non-feature, begone!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 523 ✭✭✭Crispin


    menu -> eye start AF -> OFF :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 523 ✭✭✭Crispin


    whats the best card that i can get for speed v value?
    thanks
    sorry for being a pain!
    slan
    j

    i use 2x 4gb sandisk extreme III, not too expensive now (off the internet) and hold 256 raw shots on each! (might take a few less on the a350 depending on file size)

    on the battery grip front, I have never bothered with one so couldn't comment. not sure they're worth the money tbh.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 795 ✭✭✭johnnyboy4711


    any thoughts on the second one(similar to sony official)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 523 ✭✭✭Crispin


    any thoughts on the second one(similar to sony official)
    looks fine & a lot cheaper than the official one!:)


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