Question about a lens

[mistwalker1006]

Hi I am in the stage where I am looking for a lens in 70 - 300 range for my A77 camera, and I think I narrowed to two candidates
1) Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 Di USD
2) Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO

Which one would serve me better for the type of pictures I am taking? ( mostly of my little girl in motion , but some landscaping and some interesting geographical features).

Or is there are another lens I should be looking for? ( I don't want to brake my budget I can get Tamron for less then 350 and Sigma for 200) but also I am getting my first prime Sony DT 50 1.8 lens for portraits.

Any advice will be appreciated.



Greg

[TCav]

The Sigma 70-300 APO is not a very good lens. The Tamron 70-300 USD is a much better choice.

Another option, btw, is the Sony 55-200. It's smaller, lighter, cheaper, and has almost the same angle of view. It has more vignetting and distortion, but less chromatic aberration than the Tamron 70-300 USD, and they're about equally sharp.

[mistwalker1006]

What about Sony 70- 300 4.5-5.6 lens?

[TCav]

Originally Posted by mistwalker1006

What about Sony 70- 300 4.5-5.6 lens?

It's an excellent choice, if you can handle the size (3-1/4 x 5-3/8 in.), weight (26.5 oz.), and cost ($1,150).

[mistwalker1006]

Originally Posted by TCav

It's an excellent choice, if you can handle the size (3-1/4 x 5-3/8 in.), weight (26.5 oz.), and cost ($1,150).

lol no I was talking about SAL75300 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 not SAL70300G 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM which I know has an excellent reviews but way above my budget.

[TCav]

Originally Posted by mistwalker1006

lol no I was talking about SAL75300 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 ...

Not as good as any of the lenses you've mentioned thus far.

[mistwalker1006]

Originally Posted by TCav

Not as good as any of the lenses you've mentioned thus far.

so looks that my choices are either Tamron 70-300 or Sony 55- 200, hmmm for the price of Tamron I can get both Sony 55-200 and Sony DT 50 1.4 I think I have my choice, Thank you TCav for your help

one more thing just for my peace of mind Sony DT 55-300? how this compare to Sony DT 55- 200? It is worth to get it for a little more range? Or just get something later for 200- 600 range? When my budget is bigger.
Greg

[TCav]

Originally Posted by mistwalker1006

one more thing just for my peace of mind Sony DT 55-300? how this compare to Sony DT 55- 200?

I never really took a close look at the 55-300 because objective test data on it is sparse, but Dyxum user reviews rate the 55-300 higher than the 55-200, and DxOMark.com likes it better as well. So it might be a good choice.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day mate

Can I second TCs comment about the poor quality of the Sigma 70-300 APO

I bought one several yrs back for my Pentax, to find the IQ worse than the IQ from my Panny FZ30, whose sensor size was 1/8th the Pentax

When I compared it with the Panny FZ30's 12x zoom lens [about 35-420mm equiv], the Sigma lens IQ for both sharpness & colour fringing etc was poorer than the FZ30

I was glad to get rid of it
Phil

[Streets]

Why not the very nice Minolta 100-300 APO? Check it out on the dyxum site along with some of the others in your zoom range. Those are very good reviews by Sony users.