A58 Telezoom required 400 G series or not?

[gausey]

Hi first post on this or any a mount site!!! 

 

Eyes going square researching which tele lens for A58. Hopping between the usual Sigma/Tamron options and a used 70400G.

 

Want to shoot sports action from 100 to 150 metres away, not worried on hand held as will use mono or tripod. Heard that the SAL can hunt for focus at times, wondering whether any of you kind people had used any long lenses on the 58 and which way to go?

 

Thanks in advance and great forum by the way, more info than expected!!!!!

[Austerror]

Check the 70-300 G lens, which does have excellent AF and is much cheaper than the 70-400.  However if you are shooting sport, these lenses might not be that good.  Will you be shooting out doors with good light, or indoors?

[BrianK]

I shoot sports all the time with a SAL70400G2 on an a77MII.  I find that this lens works very nicely for sports on a sunny, bright day.  The reach on an APS-C sensor (like the one in an A58) is great, giving you an equivalent maximum focal distance of 600mm on a full frame sensor.  I have never experienced focus hunting as a problem.  There are two major shortcomings due to its relatively small aperture (f4 on the near end and f5.6 on the long end - where you will be most of the time).  The first is that in darker environments this lens is a no go.  If light is an issue, you really need something like the very expensive SAL70200G2 which has a maximum aperture of f2.8 and works better in less than ideal lighting conditions (but, of course, you have far less telephoto reach.)  The second concern is that the bokeh with this lens (out of focus background) is a bit mushy which, while not a deal breaker if you are not shooting for SI,  is less than ideal.  All that said, if you are trying to shoot fast moving things that are far away within a "reasonable" price point, its hard to do better than this lens.  You may experience a little softness in shots taken at or near 400mm, but that is part of the tradeoff you have to accept when you are using a lens that has these characteristics

 

Caveats: (1) I do not have experience with the earlier version of this lens that you are interested in, so you will need to investigate the differences.  (2)  I have not shot with Tamrons but I have had a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 in the past, but found the lens to be too soft for my taste.  (3)  Also, the a77Mii's auto focus module should perform incrementally better than that in the a58, given that it is Sony's latest and greatest. 

 

Suggestion:  It might be worth it to see if you can rent the lens from Lensrental.com or Borrowlenses.com before you buy it to see if it gives you the results you want.