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!
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...
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 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!...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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
ILCE-1M2FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens150mmf/2.01/2500s125 ISO+0.3 EV
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.
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.
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.
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. 