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Sony camear conundrum

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 coachio 22 Jan 2017
I've been watching the various new camera threads with interest as I was thinking of an upgrade for something more wildlife friendly. I was initially going to get a Canon 70d with telephoto lense but after reading the mirrorless recommendations I then started to think that way for an upgrade. This led me down the route of looking at the Sony A6300 e mount as I currently have a SEL30m35 macro and an SEL18-200LE lenses for my nex5. But the only teleconvertor for an e-mount lense is for the megabucks 70-200mm Sony.

Anyone got any thoughts on best options?
 AlanLittle 23 Jan 2017
In reply to coachio:

Long teles is one of the niches where SLRs still have the edge for the time being. Even your "megabucks" 70-200 Sony, with teleconverter, on an APS-C body, only gets you to around 450mm equivalent which is only going to be useful for big wildlife. Whereas the Nikon 200-500 zoom, on a cheap APS-C body as a "converter", gets you to ~750mm equivalent for considerably less money.
 The Lemming 23 Jan 2017
In reply to AlanLittle:

I shall let you know today how I get on with my trip to Martin Mere, provided the sodding fog lifts, with my mirrorless camera.
 AlanLittle 23 Jan 2017
In reply to The Lemming:

Your point being what? Whether or not it's already possible to get decent wildlife photos with mirrorless systems - and I'm sure it is - has no bearing at all on the simple & obvious fact that for the time being SLRs still have far more options for long telees for wildlife, whether that be hyper expensive exotic stuff or somewhat more affordable 200 to 400 or 500 zooms.

I would have thought the obvious somewhat budget way to go at the moment for super tele with decent quality would be the Sony RX10 III, but even that's not noticeably cheaper than a Nikon D3300 + 200-500
 Durbs 23 Jan 2017
In reply to coachio:

One option is to use an SLR lens (e.g. Canon 400mm f/5.6 which can be had for pretty decent money second hand, and use a converter. Expensive converters keep auto-focus, but it's probably still going to be cheaper (and longer) than than the Sony tele-lenses (which currently only go up to 300mm and reviews were iffy).

I think Sigma also have an NEX-mount adaptor, so you could look at some of their long lenses which may be a good middle ground between Canikon lenses in terms of price.

It ultimately depends as to what appeals to you about mirrorless. I upgraded from a 7D to a A7R2 for both size and image quality.

I VERY rarely have a chance to go our shooting wildlife, so lack of long lenses wasn't an issue for me. When we went to Canada last year and I did need a long lens, I just hired one for the fortnight...

If you're looking at the A6300 for the size benefits, sticking on a long lens will not only render the small-form redundant, it also won't be a comfortable combo to hold.

If you're regularly shooting wildlife, I'd say the A6300 isn't for you. If it's an occasional thing, look at hiring lenses (and adaptors) as they're pretty good VFM unless you're hiring them every week...
OP coachio 23 Jan 2017
In reply to Durbs:

Thanks for all the replies.

I think part of my problem is I'm not sold on exactly what I want. I do know when I'm out and about, up in Skye quite often, I often think I would love a longer lense. And when I read the review of the Panasonic 100 - 400mm with the GH4 on another thread it got me thinking. The reason I was looking at a Sony upgrade was purely because I already have Sony lenses. (but also part of my thinking is the AF on my 18 -200mm is very slow).

I'm also just a pure amateur so not wanting to spend a fortune but to try and get a decent option.

It's also looking like I might not have the option of part exchange now. When trying to upload firmware to the camera the installation went wrong and I now can't switch it on. Hopefully I will be able to sort this out tonight.

Once again thanks for the help.
 tk421 23 Jan 2017
In reply to coachio:

I've got an A6300, and the SEL70200F4, which is a beast. As said previously, lenses don't quite scale as well as the bodies, and this is especially so for Sony, where the higher quality 70 200 f4 and f2.8 are for full frame sensors not the APS-C crops of the nex / ax000. The 55-210 is much smaller since it's an aps-c sensor.

One thing to consider is that if you upgrade body, the newer ones use phase detection, which is much faster (compare a normal compact camera that uses contrast detection - which is what the nex5 has vs SLRs and the a6x00).
 The Lemming 23 Jan 2017
In reply to AlanLittle:

> Your point being what?


I thought I was replying to the OP but clicked on your reply by mistake.

OP coachio 23 Jan 2017
In reply to coachio:

I hadn't considered a bridge camera before but I'm liking the look of Sony Rx10 iii or the Lumix FZ200. Better lense for the Sony by thee looks of it. Think I'm opting for the Sony at the moment.

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