Lens for the Sony Users

[rasputin]

Got one of these last week: Sigma DL 70-300mm f/4-5.6 "Macro"

Quality - no not fantastic. I would say at lower focal lengths it is equivalent to the 18-70mm kit lens. At 300mm it's not the sharpest but not bad. Chromatic Aberration is as bad as any cheap lens.

But... 70-300mm is quite a handy range. Lens feels nice to use, and manual focus is a million times easier than the kit lens.
And - Macro(ish)!
Between 200 and 300mm you can flick a switch to enable closer focusing. At 300mm and closest focus you'll get 1:2 magnification. And because that's still about a foot away, the lens won't create a shadow in the on-body flash .

Quite a handy lens IMO. And under £70 new with warranty

Recommended if on a budget. Sample shots to follow...

[Juicetin1]

Under £70 new, is that the non-APO version I take it?
I was thinking of getting one, as opposed to older Minolta 70-210 beercan.
Cheers.

[rasputin]

Yep it's the non-APO version. I'm sure the quality of the APO is noticeably better, but the price is noticeably higher too

I already have a Minolta AF 100-300mm xi that I got off eBay for £95ish.
Image Quality is too close to call, really. Neither of them are fantastic at 300mm. The xi has a nifty "power zoom" feature which is actually very nice to use. But accurate manual focus is impossible, and with a minimum of 100mm and only 1:4 "macro", I did find I was changing lenses quite often.

[Woza]

im looking to get a 70-300 too, was looking at this lens, nice to hear a pretty decent review of it.

next on the list!

[clonmult]

I picked up one of these a few weeks back - stonking lens for the price.

Macros are reasonable (went out and got a picture of a bee, some flowers, normal boring stuff), then on an evening attempted to get a picture of the moon .... I just need to be able to hold the blighter steadier (yes, will get a tripod).