Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
p.1 #1Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I'm fairly new to Sony, less than 6 months. I love my A1ii and have accumulated quite a few primes. 24 1.4, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 135 1.8, and 300 2.8 OSS. I love primes but do shoot my kids a lot and thought of the 50-150 f2 for flexibilty. I ordered it, sitting in the box, yet to open and I realized, do I really want this to replace my primes? I really enjoy shooting with primes. I always had a 70-200 2.8 with my canon gear and used it quite a bit but then started using a 200-400 more. This sony 300 though is incredible with how light it is and can hand hold it all day. So I'm thinking of getting a 70-200 2.8 or maybe even just a second body that I can use to keep another prime lens on when needed. Another A1ii would stretch my budget too much so didn't know if there were any other suggestions? Thanks!
Jul 25, 2026 at 09:33 AM
p.1 #2Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Keep buying until you have everything.
Jul 25, 2026 at 09:34 AM
p.1 #3Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
No, you don't want to replace your prime lenses with a zoom lens but add the flexibility of a zoom lens into your line up if changing lenses is not convenient for whatever reasons. The difference in the aperture speed of the 50-150mm lens compared to the 135mm lens is not that much. Actually, having both lenses almost doesn't make much sense in terms of aperture. The rendition of the 50mm f/1.2 lens at its widest aperture is something that the 50-200mm f/2 couldn't touch.
You can either sell the 135mm lens and keep the 50-200mm or sell/return the 50-200mm and get a 70-200mm f/2.8. You have more zooming flexibility with a 70-200mm f/2.8 and give up a little aperture speed. Just my opinion...
You can either sell the 135mm lens and keep the 50-200mm or sell/return the 50-200mm and get a 70-200mm f/2.8. You have more zooming flexibility with a 70-200mm f/2.8 and give up a little aperture speed. Just my opinion...
Jul 25, 2026 at 09:54 AM
p.1 #4Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
mattchu wrote:
I'm fairly new to Sony, less than 6 months. I love my A1ii and have accumulated quite a few primes. 24 1.4, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 135 1.8, and 300 2.8 OSS. I love primes but do shoot my kids a lot and thought of the 50-150 f2 for flexibilty. I ordered it, sitting in the box, yet to open and I realized, do I really want this to replace my primes? I really enjoy shooting with primes. I always had a 70-200 2.8 with my canon gear and used it quite a bit but then started using a 200-400...Show more →
Honestly for your kids running around doing sports or general activities, I’d look at the Tamron 35-150 or 50-400. While not as ideal optically as Sony GM zooms, they still offer excellent IQ and are super flexible focal ranges — and you can buy both for about the same price as the 70-200 GMii. Oh, and both are about the same size as the 70-200.
I get the ethos of primes and love using them myself. But you can’t beat a wide-range zoom for general people event shots.
One downside of any 3rd party lens on a Sony, is your framerate is limited to 15fps. For general people/event shooting I haven’t found this to be an issue AND the flexibility these lenses offer more than makes up for that limitation. However for serious sports events it probably would be. So if you’re doing serious professional work, then I’d stick to native Sony glass—but even for professional non-sporting event purposes, these two Tamrons are pretty awesome.
Edit: If you need faster, then a second body with the 50, 135 or 300 makes a lot of sense paired with either slower zoom. Or one body with the 50-150 and the other with the 300 if you want to stay 100% Sony and money is no object.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 10:09 AM · View previous versions
I'm fairly new to Sony, less than 6 months. I love my A1ii and have accumulated quite a few primes. 24 1.4, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 135 1.8, and 300 2.8 OSS. I love primes but do shoot my kids a lot and thought of the 50-150 f2 for flexibilty. I ordered it, sitting in the box, yet to open and I realized, do I really want this to replace my primes? I really enjoy shooting with primes. I always had a 70-200 2.8 with my canon gear and used it quite a bit but then started using a 200-400...Show more →
Honestly for your kids running around doing sports or general activities, I’d look at the Tamron 35-150 or 50-400. While not as ideal optically as Sony GM zooms, they still offer excellent IQ and are super flexible focal ranges — and you can buy both for about the same price as the 70-200 GMii. Oh, and both are about the same size as the 70-200.
I get the ethos of primes and love using them myself. But you can’t beat a wide-range zoom for general people event shots.
One downside of any 3rd party lens on a Sony, is your framerate is limited to 15fps. For general people/event shooting I haven’t found this to be an issue AND the flexibility these lenses offer more than makes up for that limitation. However for serious sports events it probably would be. So if you’re doing serious professional work, then I’d stick to native Sony glass—but even for professional non-sporting event purposes, these two Tamrons are pretty awesome.
Edit: If you need faster, then a second body with the 50, 135 or 300 makes a lot of sense paired with either slower zoom. Or one body with the 50-150 and the other with the 300 if you want to stay 100% Sony and money is no object.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 10:09 AM · View previous versions
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM
p.1 #5Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I'll go along with AGeoJo. If I could afford the 50-150/2 I will trade my 135GM----for the versatility. I just have to put a black sleeve on that zoom lens.
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:01 AM
p.1 #6Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
No one can tell you what to do here. You could look at this as a super expensive 150/2 prime (with a little duct tape). 
I haven’t used my 70-200 GM II at all since I got the 50-150. Conventional wisdom from most people will say send it back. I suspect those that have shot the 50-150 will say keep it. It is special.
As others have said, it slots in super nice with the primes you have. (although the 135 being a bit redundant.)
I haven’t used my 70-200 GM II at all since I got the 50-150. Conventional wisdom from most people will say send it back. I suspect those that have shot the 50-150 will say keep it. It is special.
As others have said, it slots in super nice with the primes you have. (although the 135 being a bit redundant.)
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:06 AM
p.1 #7Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Appreciate the feedback so far, thank you! Now I'm tempted to open up that box and give it a try. Oh man!
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:27 AM
p.1 #8Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
mattchu wrote:
Appreciate the feedback so far, thank you! Now I'm tempted to open up that box and give it a try. Oh man!
If that doesn’t cause a problem with returning it, if it isn’t for you, I would suggest you try it. At the end of the day, others can give you different perspectives, but they don’t take the place of trying things yourself. Everyone is genuine in giving their advice, but we all have different styles and preferences.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 11:07 AM · View previous versions
Appreciate the feedback so far, thank you! Now I'm tempted to open up that box and give it a try. Oh man!
If that doesn’t cause a problem with returning it, if it isn’t for you, I would suggest you try it. At the end of the day, others can give you different perspectives, but they don’t take the place of trying things yourself. Everyone is genuine in giving their advice, but we all have different styles and preferences.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 11:07 AM · View previous versions
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:44 AM
p.1 #9Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
It sounds like opening the box negates being able to return the lens. If not the case, then try it and see what you think. The value of this lens is the f/2.0. 50mm @ f/2.0 will not compete with your 50mm @ f1.2, but given the room to make the shot at 150mm, f/2.0 will compete with the 50mm @ f/1.2, but with a bit more compression. The weight and balance while hanging around your neck is decided heavier and quite front heavy, but it probably weighs less in your bag vs your two primes. My new travel kit is the 16-35mm F/2.8 GMii, 50-150mm f/2.0 GM and the 24mm f/1.4 for use in low light/interiors. This is new for me in that I am a prime only shooter for a good while.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 10:56 AM · View previous versions
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 10:56 AM · View previous versions
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:51 AM
p.1 #10Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
This is great stuff everyone, thank you. I can open it and return it. I purchased it from B&H and I believe I have 30 days before returning it. I got it about 10 days ago.
Jul 25, 2026 at 10:56 AM
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p.1 #11Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Hmm... 10 days staring at an unopened 50-150 ƒ/2 
I couldn't wait to get mine opened the day it arrived. This is a special lens and I don't see myself parting with it any time soon.
I couldn't wait to get mine opened the day it arrived. This is a special lens and I don't see myself parting with it any time soon. ILCE-1M2 FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens 150mm f/2.0 1/2500s 125 ISO +0.3 EV
Jul 25, 2026 at 11:16 AM
p.1 #12Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I rented the 50-150 for a photo conference rather than take a lot of primes. Granted, I was shooting a lot over a lot more hours than normal but I couldn't wait to return that lens due to how heavy it is. Yes the photos were great but not any better than my primes. If you're only shooting for 20 minutes the 50-150 is a lot easier to handle.
For the price of the 50-150 if you did return it you could easily find a first gen A1 in good condition for a 2nd body and still have another $1000 (more or less) in your pocket.
You could also sell the 135mm take that money (and the $1000 from the 50-150) and buy a 70-200. You'd be covered and I bet you would get more use out of the 70-200 than the 50-150. plus you'd have two bodies.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 12:17 PM · View previous versions
For the price of the 50-150 if you did return it you could easily find a first gen A1 in good condition for a 2nd body and still have another $1000 (more or less) in your pocket.
You could also sell the 135mm take that money (and the $1000 from the 50-150) and buy a 70-200. You'd be covered and I bet you would get more use out of the 70-200 than the 50-150. plus you'd have two bodies.
Edited on Jul 25, 2026 at 12:17 PM · View previous versions
Jul 25, 2026 at 12:11 PM
p.1 #13Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Why would you need to put a black sleeve on it?
jojib wrote:
I'll go along with AGeoJo. If I could afford the 50-150/2 I will trade my 135GM----for the versatility. I just have to put a black sleeve on that zoom lens.
jojib wrote:
I'll go along with AGeoJo. If I could afford the 50-150/2 I will trade my 135GM----for the versatility. I just have to put a black sleeve on that zoom lens.
Jul 25, 2026 at 12:17 PM
p.1 #14Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
jakelindsay wrote:
Why would you need to put a black sleeve on it?
I don't like the look of white lenses it attracts attention.
Why would you need to put a black sleeve on it?
jojib wrote
I'll go along with AGeoJo. If I could afford the 50-150/2 I will trade my 135GM----for the versatility. I just have to put a black sleeve on that zoom lens.I don't like the look of white lenses it attracts attention.
Jul 25, 2026 at 12:20 PM
p.1 #15Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I decided to open the box and taking the lens to an event for my son tonight. I'll see how it goes, thanks again everyone for the encouragement!
Jul 25, 2026 at 12:59 PM
p.1 #16Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
2 bodies, one with the 50 and the 135 is going to weigh over 7 lbs while the A1 II & 50-150 is 4.4 lbs. This is whether hanging on your body or in the bag. I've got to think it takes less time to zoom and shoot versus letting one drop and grabbing the other. I agree though that the 50 f1.2 can make images the 50-150 can't but the 50-150 is no slouch at 50 f2.
Jul 25, 2026 at 01:42 PM
p.1 #17Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Low milage a1s and a7rVs are awfully well-priced right now and use the same battery. I'd look at an a1 to back up the a1II.
Of course, you've probably already fallen in love with the zoom, so this may be pointless.
Of course, you've probably already fallen in love with the zoom, so this may be pointless.
Jul 25, 2026 at 02:16 PM
p.1 #18Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I really enjoy shooting primes. Have the 20g, 35GM, 50/1.2GM 85GMii, 135GM. There are times you need the versatility of a zoom. I enjoy the Tamron 35-150, I think the Sony 50-150 would be a bit closer to the primes compared to the Tamron. I think it makes sense to keep the 135GM, that is one of my favorite lenses. There might be times the size of the 135 is just more what you’re looking for. But I could also see selling the 135 if you keep the 50-150.
Jul 25, 2026 at 07:43 PM
p.1 #19Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
I love the image quality of prime lenses, but when photographing kids, I prefer a zoom lens. It’s also much more versatile for travel.
Jul 25, 2026 at 08:59 PM
p.1 #20Sony 50-150, 70-200, or another body?
Had a lot of fun shooting my son at a golf match yesterday evening with the 50-150. I knew I would want more reach going into the event but still the images were awesome! Spent a lot of time in crop mode on the camera. The coach makes parents stay 30 yards away from the kids. My daughter has county fair this upcoming week where the lens will really be handy to be able to zoom in and out. Thanks again for all the encouragement again. Looking forward to using it some more this week!
Jul 26, 2026 at 06:38 AM