Camera Labs

Hallo guys,
have not posted for ages on this forum. I would like to know if anybody could help me with selecting a good lens for Sony A700. For two years I have been using Tamron 18-250 but I started to get annoyed with this lens recently. First of all, it has really high distortion at 18 mm so I have to correct it all the time in Adobe Lightroom. Secondly, at 250 mm, especially with polarizing filter, vignetting is quite obvious striking one's eyes, so it also has to be corrected with image processing programs afterward. And the image quality is also not that good at the farthest zoom range. Generally I think this lens is not on par with the image capability of A700 body, so I am thinking of selling my Tamron 18-250 and buying some other lens. I heard Sony 16-105 is a good choice and the price fits my budget. Any other suggestions?
The second question is what from currently available on the market cameras best corresponds to the image quality and dynamic range of Sony A700? Not in terms of different functions but only image quality.
I saw there was a whole bunch of new A500 x series on the market but honestly am not sure about their sensor specifications. It seems my A700 could be dying soon (bought it used and also heavily used for the past two years), so I need to come up with an idea what to buy next.

I really liked the 16-80 image quality when I had it, although it was borderline hard vignetting corners at 16mm especially if you use filters. I did always wonder about the 16-105, which also had good reviews too.

Is that range all you need? Or do you fancy something longer too? On a low budget, I loved the Tamron 55-200, so that or the rebadged Sony equivalent may be an option.

Image quality wise, Sony have come along so don't worry about the A5xx generation if you need another body in the near future. Just keep away from the A3xx and lower and you'll be fine. The A700 successor is rumoured not to be far off if you want to look for something of a similar positioning.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks for the comments Popo, I think I will get myself Sony 16-105, seems like the best option for me as I make a lot of wide anle shots.

Note too that the shorter the zoom range you go, the better the distortion control tends to be - it's much easier for a lens manufacturer to correct for the specific image quality issues in a very small focal range than it is over a larger range. The 16-105 should be better, but a shorter range might be better still. Of course, a prime lens will usually be best overall, since they don't have to account for moving optics. If you know for sure that wide shooting is something you need, it might be best to look for the shortest zoom or nice prime that suits your needs there. Same goes for the telephoto range - the less focal range, often the better the optics and specific distortion/flare/IQ corrections or issues.

Personally, I absolutely love the 18-250mm lens - and it's my go-to travel and all purpose lens. But I also have 4 primes and 3 other zooms that have specific duties to cover most-needed focal lengths when I know what focal I need and want maximum quality.

As for bodies - the A5xx series cameras have excellent sensors and feature content - they aren't a7xx build quality or have the higher-end weather sealing or such, but they do have better low light performance and faster focus motors and excellent accuracy, plus some nice newer features not available on the A700 - so where you may lose out a bit on the overall semi-pro build and weatherproofing, you make up for it in much lower price, better sensor performance, and very nice feature improvements and additions.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

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