Lens advice needed

[edolyne]

I am in need of some guidance on lens selection. Right now my kit consists of a Sony a700 and an 18-200 f3.5-5.6 lens. I am contemplating saving up and getting the Carl Zeiss 24-70 f2.8, however I am wondering if it would be better to look into getting some more consumer grade glass such as a 11-18mm, 16-80 Carl Zeiss and a 70-300 instead. Right now I do mostly landscape, family photo's, architecture, and travel photography but I am hoping to be able to start doing some paid events. With this in mind would it be best to start gathering some professional lenses or would a wider range of zooms work better for me. Thanks for the help.

 

[DizzyV6P]

It depends on what your priorities are.
The f/2.8 lens will give you better low-light capabilities while the 11-18 will be much better for landscape, architecture type shots.

The 24-70 f/2.8 would be good for weddings and large event type settings. The 11-18 will give you some extra wide shots. The 70-300 will probably end up being redundent with your 18-200. Unless the IQ is going to be much better than the 18-200, save your money and ignore the 70-300 unless you REALLY need that extra 100mm.

 

[MICKEY88]

another option would be to get a 28-75 2.8 minolta lens... probably considerable cheaper than the zeiss lens..

 

[DizzyV6P]

You mean this one? The tried and true Tamron 28-75 f/2.8

http://www.adorama.com/TM2875MAX.html?searchinfo=tamron 28-75&item_no=1

It's a great lens on the Canon and Nikon DSLR's. I don't know about it on the Sony's to give an opinon.

 

[MICKEY88]

You mean this one? The tried and true Tamron 28-75 f/2.8

http://www.adorama.com/TM2875MAX.html?searchinfo=tamron 28-75&item_no=1

It's a great lens on the Canon and Nikon DSLR's. I don't know about it on the Sony's to give an opinon.

nope I meant the Minolta 28-75 2.8.

with the newer minolta you gain ADI flash control, I don't know if any 3rd party lenses give yiu that option..

 

[edolyne]

Thanks for the tips so far. How is the Minolta glass compared to Zeiss?

 

[MICKEY88]

I've never seen a comparison between the 2 but minolta was well known for excellent glass, their top lenses were the g lenses, occasionally one pops up on ebay..

I shoot most of my stuff with a minolta 28-75 2.8 it's not the g lens but it works great for me..

I guesss it all depends on how large you plan to print and how critical you are of your shots..

 

[mhutchinson]

The only word of caution about getting lenses to get you by is that once you have gotten by the need for these lenses you will have a closet full of good to really good lenses that you are not really going to use much.

If I were to do it all over again, I would play around with the one (or ones) you already have and discover your sweet spot and then get the ONE or two that you find you really need and want at that point.

The 18mm-200mm you already have covers most of the range you have already listed needs for (unless you want to shoot birds then you'll need the 300-400mm range). You have a Sony with built in VR/IS so that is not a factor for your situation that can add heavier costs to other makers. I thought I needed something in the 11mm start range for wide as well...was wrong, my favorite wide range start is 20-24mm (stitches together better with less distortion).

You can't go wrong with better faster glass, it usually gains better BOKAH as well as speed. The only downside besides cost to faster glass is the weight, might be another factor. Sturdier tripods and heads as well as the need for a stronger back might need to be factored as well.

Michael