I have know idea what to buy

[matthew]

I have just moved from Olympus & have bought an a55 with 18-55 kit lens and a Sigma 70-300 OS. And I'm now looking for recommendations.
On Olympus i had their 70-300mm lens which focus's down to 4feet and gives a range of 140-600mm equivalent.
I would like to get close to the 600mm top end or a bit further, suggestions please budget about £600 if possible.
A macro, i thought of the Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 AF Di 1:1 Macro
A replacement for my 18-55 kit lens that's good for video (one of the reasons that i bought the a55) and low light without flash eg in churches, Zeiss is out of reach.
These purchases would be over 12-18 months but i like to have a plan in case something secondhand pops up.
Thanks matthew

[artington]

Have a look at the lens section on www.dyxum.com - they have reviews and descriptions of current and discontinued alpha mount lenses. That should give you an idea or ten!

[KevinBarrett]

I must admit I am a little puzzled about switching systems to buy 3rd party lenses, but then Sigma and Tamron probably don't supply so many choices to the 4/3 mount, and you might as well move to a system that let's you choose whether you want body or in-lens stabilization (in the case of the Sigma OS). Still, Sony has many exclusive and class-leading lenses that are worth saving up for, such as the 70-400/4-5.6 G SSM, or the Zeiss 16-80. The Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro is another great one, but it commands a great premium over the Tamron 90mm Macro.

I think ultimately I would have a hard time helping you with the problem as you present it. If I were starting out in a new system, I would view it as an opportunity to built a good kit without compromises. Dream big and be patient. Save for the glass you want or you'll be preoccupied with the shortcomings of the glass you settle for.

[pakodominguez]

I have just moved from Olympus & have bought an a55 with 18-55 kit lens and a Sigma 70-300 OS. And I'm now looking for recommendations.

Congratulations!

On Olympus i had their 70-300mm lens which focus's down to 4feet and gives a range of 140-600mm equivalent.
I would like to get close to the 600mm top end or a bit further, suggestions please budget about £600 if possible.

I guess size is not a problem, right? The Sony 70-300 G or better, the Sony 70-400 G are wonderful "silent" lenses. i have no idea how much they cost in the UK...

A macro, i thought of the Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 AF Di 1:1 Macro

You can get the Minolta 100 f2.8 macro on ebay for about 300 US$ Otherwise, if you think you'll stick on APS, apparently the new Tamron 60mm f2.0 macro is a gem.

A replacement for my 18-55 kit lens that's good for video (one of the reasons that i bought the a55) and low light without flash eg in churches, Zeiss is out of reach.

This is a hard one... the Sony SAM 28-75 f2.8 is not wide enough, otherwise it is a great lens. I don't really have an idea of how the Sony 16-105 performs in general (not just video) ant it is a f 3.5-5.6. The Tamron 17-70 f2.8 have a good press (just too much distortion at the wide end) and there is a Sigma 18-50 f2.8 HSM that will probably works good for video (because "silent")

Enjoy your new camera.

[David Kilpatrick]

The A55 has a 16 megapixel sensor, the Olympus has 12. Basically you just crop your A55 shot to Olympus size (FourThirds) and you have exactly the same 600mm. 300mm is 300mm on whatever sensor you have, you are just getting exactly the same magnification but a little extra sensor real estate all round, which can be useful for framing many action and wildlife subjects - as your cropping does not have be central.

You also get stunningly good ISO 1600 performance.

You need not take any further action, just remember you are now shooting a larger fomat with more pixels and crop.

David