Need some advice on gear

Hello everyone,

I would like some advice on gear choices.

My current camera is a entry-level Sony a200 with the 18-70 kit lens and a Tamron - AF 70-300 F4-5.6 Di LD Macro. I am starting to outgrow the camera and especially the lens. As I am not a super fanatic photographer I use it primarily to shoot aviation. This is on the one hand because of the restrictions the camera has and on the other hand my lack of time to go out and shoot.

I did a lot of research online and found out that a new lens (Tamron - SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD) would be a good solution to one problem which is the general bad quality my current lens provides. I do alot in post. But it is no solution to the lack of features on my Sony.

So after some more research I came up with a few options. The Nikon D7000, the Canon 550D and the Sony A900 or A580. I like the Sony cameras but I am afraid that they cannot handle low light situations well.

As my budget is quite limited I am optioning the new lens for my Sony. The reason I am posting all of this is that I am not quite sure about what to invest in.

Should I satisfy my current needs and buy a new lens or do you think the Sony a200 is too much of a entry level to invest in?

Or can anyone give me some new insights about cameras and lenses with great low light performance and high fps on a budget? As said I am not really a fanatic photographer yet.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Twan van Baaren

Hi,

I don't know how much money you're willing to pay, but the new Sony A77 sounds really good! ISO range is 50-25600 , 12 frames per second and 24,7 megapixels. Price is about 1400€ / 1900$ in Austria. It's a bit higher than expected because of the floodings in Thailand. I guess the A77 will be cheaper in a few months :-)

A very good lens I can recommend is the Sony 70-400G. It's really brilliant but also a bit expensive.

Cheers

Emanuel

Thanks for your response Emanuel. I really love most of your photos. Couldn't believe they were made with a Sony. The 70-400G is really worth her money apparently.

But I wanted a Nikon all along so I think I am going to regret another Sony. In the back of my head it will never be quite up there with Canon and Nikon.

Anyway my first option at the moment is the Nikon D7000 + AF-S DX 18-105 VR with the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 / 4,5-5,6 G ED. So my budget is about € 1500.

I went to a shop that sells the D7000 and held it in my hand and played around with it a little I also took some shots inside the store. It felt like a really great camera and I think I fell in love with it.

Does anybody know a better lens than the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 / 4,5-5,6 G ED for aviation photography?

I have also looked into the Canon 550D and the D7000 has a better feel to it.

Most of my shooting will be done in normal sunlight and mostly during the day.

With that said I would also like to shoot in low-light and night situations when they occur without having to worry about the performance of the camera.

According to most of the reviews this should not be a problem for the D7000.

Does anyone here have experience with the D7000? And if so do you share the problems Tony Scruton encountered?

I do not think this is a Canon vs. Nikon problem.

With limited budget I would rather buy a better lens and cheaper body. Lens will outlive your body and also the quality of your photos depends more on your lens than on the body. When I see the picture in screening I cannot usually recognize if it was taken with entry level DSLR or a professional one, but you can usually recognize a good lens.

Most people are primarily after sharpness when they buy a new lens, but the contrast is also a major issue. When you resize your images to 1024px for the web you can always sharpen it somehow to acceptable quality even with lower end lens, but good contrast and crispness is something you will not achieve with cheaper lens. With lenses you simply get what you pay for.

Yeah, I second that...upgrade the lens.

So if I understand things correctly it is better to choose a camera that fits my needs than to go all out. The D7000 is fancy but I will not be using a lot of the features.

So if I take away all the features of the D7000 I will not be using and still want the same image quality and low-light performance the D5100 jumps to mind.. and spend the money I save on better glass?

Is the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED any good?

And is the Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD Nikon a good alternative?

Thanks for your help so far, it is really being appreciated!!

Hi Twan, I don't know Nikon well. But where are you shooting at? AMS? It all depends on your focal length and needs. If I had Nikon gear I would own the the 70-200 2.8 first and then the 200-400. For wide I would eventually add the 14-24 2.8.

The good thing about the 70-200 2.8 is that as your budget allows you can add the Teleconverters to get more range. A 2x TC will give you 400MM.

So cheaper camera and then add the high end glass.

As Martin said above the Glass is the investment.

Hi Ronald,

Thanks for your advice! I sadly don't have that kind of budget to spend that much on a lens. But it is definitely in my future plans. I know it's wise to invest in glass but I would like to use the camera in next year and maybe the end of this one if I can make up my mind.

I shoot mainly at AMS indeed. Quite spotter friendly and I do most of my shooting at 200-300 mm. I use my bicycle to get around the airport so I use the focal length mainly to create some nice compositions and try to get some different angles. I currently use a 70-300 on my Sony and I like the space it gives me. With the A380 (coming to AMS next summer) in mind it might be useful to get an even shorter lens like the 55-300 but I am afraid that the image quality will drop. According to reviews the 55-300 isn't the best lens.

The reviews I read about the Nikon 70-300 told me that the lens is softer over 200mm. So that is why I started looking at the Tamron.

I might look at a good qualtiy 55-200 and a TC. Any suggestions?

PS: Ronald, you make awesome photos. Really inspiring!

i would go for the Sony A77 and the Sony 70-400 G SSM, I use now a A700, but I will switch to the A77 soon as it will be delivered

Cheers

Twan, thanks for the compliment. If you want to upgrade your lens with your A200, I would go 80-400G, 70-300G or that new 70-300 Tamron VC. I was told that the 70-300G and new tamron were similar IQ and an upgrade from what you have. I definitely think upgrading lenses is a good idea.

Sounds like you are not that happy with Sony though. I think they are great cameras, and love having built in IS in camera. Not sure if the a200 has this. Plus, the chip is the same as Nikon, isn't it? Ive used the a700 and it is a great camera. A77 looks great too.

BUT, if you want to change bodies, now is the time before you invest alot of money.

Thanks again for your input guys!

As far as bodies go I've decided to go for Nikon. I am really leaning towards the D5100 which is kind off a D7000 stripped down. I really don't need all of the advanced features the D7000 offers and it's quite a price difference. The D5100 uses the same sensor and has better metering and focussing.

The only thing I am struggling with is the choice of lens. I currently have a budget Tamron which is really showing the budget part in image quality.

I've read that the new Tamron 70-300 VC is a lot better and is even ahead of the Nikkor 70-300 in some aspects. As I am shooting quite a lot in the 200-300 mm area of the lens I am concerned about the softness the Nikkor has near the end of the range. Haven't read any negative reviews about the sharpness of the Tamron at 300mm.

The Tamron is quite up there but the Nikkor well, it's a Nikkor... I know I shouldn't be making my choices based on brand names but I am kind off a brand name guy :P

So it's basically Tamron vs Nikkor..

I've decided!

I went for the Nikon D5100 with the Tamron SP70-300 F4/5.6 DI VC USD lens. After a few test shots I am completely blown away by the results. It is definitely a step up from what I owned before and I can't wait to go to AMS with them. Shame about the weather and the winter nearing.

But I'm in camera heaven with my new stuff!!

Thank you all for your kind help and constructive replies!

Looking forward to seeing your photos taken with the new equipment at A-P.net!

If you're after a superb tele-zoom the Sigma AF 100-300mm F4 EX DG (IF) APO will be the one unless you can find either a Tokina 300/2.8 or 100-300 F4, though are quite hard to find, but equally as good as the Sigma, but for much less cost. Sig 100-300/4 is far superior to the Tamron Di USD (I have both). It's said that that A580 is the best of the optical viewfinder DSLR's Sony made, though I wouldn't discount the A700 with it's mag-alloy body, but the A580 is arguably better under low light conditions with a better noise algorithm, but compared to the A700, the viewfinder is very small. I fitted the Sony 1.2x eyepiece which makes a lot of difference to your FoV on any body.

A850's can be had for under £1000.00 these days (I have one), and it's an A700 on steroids, but as long as you're happy with 3 FPS and huge file sizes, full frame requires bigger CF cards, and you can buy 16Gb 2000x or 266x for under £20.00. Make sure you have a laptop or PC that has plenty of memory and a decent processor.

Also consider that if you go FF, you'll have the entire Minolta back catalogue of FF lenses to choose from, thou my camera bag is full of Tamron and Sigma optics.

I too shoot aviation and you can see some of my efforts of which 99% are with the A700 and a variety of lenses, but the tele's are either the Sig 100-300/4 or Min 300/2.8. The rest are generally with the Sigma 17-70 DC Macro. My early stuff was with an Olympus Evolt E500 and kit lenses and Sony A100 with kit lens and Sigma AF 70-300mm APO DG Macro (red ring).

If you want to talk kerosene and aircraft, ping me a PM and I'll see what and where else I can send or advise you if that's what you want. No need to change brands.

JetPhotos

MyAviation

Airplane-Pictures

They will be a bit 'samey', but hope it will give you something to work from.

Regards,

Mark

This post has been edited by Mark J Kopczewski on 15th December 2011 - 00:47

Attached photos:

Hi, Twan, you definitely made the good choice!

I just bought the D5100 with the Nikkor 16-85 and I'm "blown away" as well with the quality. I used a D90 which is a good camera but the new "little" is really a big level higher.

If anybody is in the "Classic Dilemma" with buying the new "camera-which-gonna-make-eyecatchers", you'll have with the D5100 a perfect tool. It's not an expert camera just because some functions are a bit hidden compared to D90 or D7000, but once you become accustomed to, it's an easy go gear.

Quality/price :5 stars...

Twan,

Congrats on your decision. I am a Nikonian myself and after some deceptions on Tamron and Sigma glass, I went for Nikon glass and, although it is expensive, I have never regretted it since. I would strongly advise to save for some Nikon glass the next time you have Euros to spent.

Have fun with your new outfit!!

Brgds, Peter