Telephoto/Zoom Lens

[Roy03]

I have a Sony A350 DSLR and I am considering buying a telephoto or a long Zoom lens Any recommendations or advice what to buy and what is suitable with an aps-c sensor. the lens will be mainly used for wildlife and bird watching.
Many thanks for any advice or ideas
Roy

[Chris Cool]

I have a Sony A350 DSLR and I am considering buying a telephoto or a long Zoom lens Any recommendations or advice what to buy and what is suitable with an aps-c sensor. the lens will be mainly used for wildlife and bird watching.
Many thanks for any advice or ideas
Roy

Hi. What is your budget?

[Roy03]

I would like to keep it as low as possible, but what do you suggest up to £500
Roy

[Chris Cool]

I would like to keep it as low as possible, but what do you suggest up to £500
Roy

I know what you mean lol... well £500 is a couple of hundred under some of the best long toms available. However, I might be tempted to go with a mid priced one to see what the A350 sensor can cope with. So, have a look at the http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamron-70-...13366917784749 from Camera Centre Cardiff LTD...

You will have 7 days (starting from the day after you receive it to test it out).

Read all about it here http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showp...p/product/1339 The lens will be a 112mm-480mm (equivalent 35mm film). At 480mm. Stopping down to at least F8 will improve sharpness. I have read that F11 and F13 are used on tripods with good light.

Of course, post processing is an important part of digital photography and should be used to sharpen and enhance pictures taken with any camera. If you don't have an imaging editor, then use the one in my signature below. There are 32 video tutorials to get you started. The most useful is the http://ictpublish.com/pixlr/Videoes/...06_Levels.html and for the advanced user. The http://ictpublish.com/pixlr/Videoes/...07_Curves.html is a must (it's my favourite all-in-one adjuster). My Resize-Crop-Sharpen tutorial below, will get your pics ready for the internet


Cheers!


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[Phil Hall]

If you’re on a budget, then take a look at Sony’s 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DT lens for £189. Optically there are better options out there, while the focus can be noisy, but its hard to grumble at considering the price.

Stretching the budget further, and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SP Di USD at £329 is a great lens for the price and features a Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) for reduced AF noise. Because the A350 has an anti-shake system built in to the camera, the lens doesn’t feature Tamron’s Vibration Compensation (VC) that’s found on Canon and Nikon fit examples. Results are very good, while ergonomically its very good too – in our recent group test of telephoto zoom lenses, the Tamron 70-300mm was the pick of the bunch.

[Chris Cool]

Hi Phil

Good to know that I reached the same conclusion with the Tamron as WDC did ;-)

[wave]

this tamron lens gets some good write ups on other sites too

[canismajor]

Hi Roy.
Have you considered buying a used Sigma 120 400mm with OS(optical stabiliser), These can be bought from Mifsuds for £499. I have one, and for wildlife it's a cracker!. I also use it for Motor Cycle Racing and it performs very well indeed. I haven't taken a bad shot with it yet and I would recommend this lens to anybody. All the best, Mike.