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Archive 2013 · Sony setup for wildlife

  
 
nugeny
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony setup for wildlife


I am looking into the possibility to go to Sony for wildlife. Long lenses but not so big and heavy. I am wondering what is available for Sony!


Apr 16, 2013 at 10:13 PM
freaklikeme
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony setup for wildlife


If you want AF, you'll need to look at Sony (300/2.8, 500/4, and the recently updated 100-400) or Minolta (lots of great APO teles- I've used the 200/2.8, 400/4.5, and 600/4, all of which are excellent). The 100-400 and 200/2.8 can be had relatively cheap. The Minolta APO extenders are optically excellent, but I've never used the Sony models so I can't comment there.

If you are comfortable with MF, look at the Leica teles.



Apr 16, 2013 at 11:09 PM
xbarcelo
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony setup for wildlife


Sony has a 70-400 ssm, which apparently is stellar (and with the renewal, it has fast autofocus). If you need something cheaper, the Tamron 200-500 is very good. With the focus limiter on camera of the a99, it is a viable option. Without it is VERY slow to focus (BIF is kind of unnerving, but feasible: see the pic attached). Then there are the usual Sigmas (150-500 and 50-500), with which I don't have any experience. Sigma's got a 500 4,5 and I think that a 300 2,8. The minolta 100-400 is good optically but it also suffers from slow autofocus and hunting at 400 (at 350 is fine, though). Another lens worth considering, albeit a bit short, is the 70-300 G. Great sharpness and wonderful rendering (great for butterflies).

Some reposts from various threads

Tamron with the A900
http://pcdn.500px.net/30854295/9d8622682bde12ea83d1f15b34436c8bed2abbb2/4.jpg

http://pcdn.500px.net/30853931/283ff7f0759b0735ed5a8123cc17abe27a76c182/4.jpg

http://pcdn.500px.net/27360545/e4f1f38199424ddf3bad309e4f399b79a5241e8c/4.jpg

Tamron with the A700
http://pcdn.500px.net/21862131/160fa5dc962df75c3057c5dc5fcfebe6e25ac71c/4.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5179/5550620237_a38a2aea49_b.jpg

Sony 70-300G with A900
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6084/6074109324_f1f3b04216_b.jpg

Sony 70-300G with NEX-5N (yes, weird, I know, but the results are quite nice!)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7705332604_55d1a7efc7_b.jpg





Edited on Apr 17, 2013 at 03:52 AM · View previous versions



Apr 17, 2013 at 12:19 AM
carstenw
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony setup for wildlife


Be sure to compare prices to other systems. Some of the big Sony lenses are so overpriced that you could buy the equivalent Nikon or Canon and throw in the camera too.


Apr 17, 2013 at 02:04 AM
philip_pj
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony setup for wildlife


The 70-400 v2 is an interesting and apparently truly excellent lens. Sony Alpha Rumours had a video of the chief lens designer explaining their improvements to the big zoom with MTF and lens element diagrams, and a demo of it's output including a bird shot from memory. Worth you looking. I'd steer clear of the fast primes unless you are made of money.

The 200/2.8 APO is extremely good in almost any company, and it has its own 1.4 and 2.0 APO TCs which is a good way to go also, yo ulose very little at 280/4.



Apr 17, 2013 at 03:17 AM
nugeny
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony setup for wildlife


It seems that the zooms should cost more. it is for sure a more complicate mechanics. But the primes the ones that cost many times more.??!!
I used to shoot 500/4 IS, sold it and got all my money back after 5 years of shooting. Now i have 400/2.8 vr, that costed a fortune, but at 400 the big games are great and with all the tcs, it gives excellent IQ.

But it is mightily heavy, big and travelling, specially internationnally it is a big pain. If Sony has something similar to Canon 400/5.6m I would buy it in a heart beat.
I have had a number of zooms and invariably I shot at the longest end.



Apr 17, 2013 at 09:23 AM
OwlsEyes
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony setup for wildlife


If you're a Nikon shooter why not use their new 80-400vr. There is a lot of positive press about its capabilities. On the Sony side, the last version of the Minolta 400 f4.5 APO is a great compromise between aperture speed and lens mass. The optics are great, it is only limited by the lack of an ssm motor. I think many Sony shooters wish that Sony would reintroduce this & a 300 f4


Apr 17, 2013 at 09:35 AM
xbarcelo
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony setup for wildlife


Yes, most definitely, but there have been comparisons between it (400/4,5) and the zoom (70-400) and it seems that the zoom was about equal (and, no, the 400/4,5 is not rubbish, before you get to that conclusion). So it seems that the flexibility of the zoom and stellar image quality kind of compensate the stop you lose (it seems it's miles better than the old Nikon and I've read that better than the new one and cheaper, although without VR)


Apr 17, 2013 at 10:07 AM
nugeny
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sony setup for wildlife


Can some one answer this question:"It seems that the zooms should cost more. it is for sure a more complicate mechanics. But the primes are the ones that cost many times more.??!!"

Is the glass--optic-- of all zooms so inferior?



Apr 17, 2013 at 11:47 AM
JimUe
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sony setup for wildlife


so what exactly are you comparing?

the primes that cost more (Sony 500/4, Sony 300/2.8) cost a fortune because of they are new, new designs, fast aperature and low sales volume.

the zooms that cost less (Sony 70-400, 70-300) are slower aperature and thus smaller and lighter, and thus presumably cheaper to build compared to the big heavy primes. as some have said, the new zooms seem to be comparable to the old primes in terms of IQ.

the minolta primes (200/2.8, 300/2.8, 300/4 & 400/4.5) are much less than the Sony primes but are still very good.



Apr 17, 2013 at 12:42 PM
mawz
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Sony setup for wildlife


JimUe wrote:
so what exactly are you comparing?

the primes that cost more (Sony 500/4, Sony 300/2.8) cost a fortune because of they are new, new designs, fast aperature and low sales volume.

the zooms that cost less (Sony 70-400, 70-300) are slower aperature and thus smaller and lighter, and thus presumably cheaper to build compared to the big heavy primes. as some have said, the new zooms seem to be comparable to the old primes in terms of IQ.

the minolta primes (200/2.8, 300/2.8, 300/4 & 400/4.5) are much less than the Sony primes but are still very good.


Note the 300/2.8 SSM is not a new design, it dates back to the Minolta era (originally introduced as the Minolta 300mm f2.8 G SSM). But it is a low-production lens which is hand-assembled and thus expensive to produce. The 500/4 is in the same boat albeit a very recent design, Sony sells an order of magnitude less of those than Nikon or Canon, and that drives the price up sharply.

The 70-400's are best-in-class (although the new Nikkor 80-400VR does rival it, the 100-400L and old 80-400 do not). Ditto the 70-300G which remains the best lens in its class by a fair amount.

The Minolta's can be real steals, even the rare 600/4 HS G can be had for significantly less than 300/2.8G SSM money. The exception here is the Minolta 300/2.8G SSM which is significantly more expensive than the older G and HS G versions, unsurprisingly as it is both the rarest A mount 300 and identical to the expensive Sony version. With a 7, 8 or 9 series bodies the HS G lenses focus reasonably fast as these bodies have very muscular AF motors (comparable to a single-digit Nikon), I've had no problems shooting an airshow with a 300/2.8 HS G on an A700 (lens was borrowed, the owner was using the 600/4 on his A900 at the same time).



Apr 17, 2013 at 07:25 PM





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