newbie needing help.

[minimadgriff]

Hello All,

I'm new to the site and have an A350 with SAL 18-200mm Lens. I am looking to hire a lens for this weekend ideally a 70-400 G SSM or a 70-300 G SSM.

Anyone know of any where I can hire one?

Possibly even looking to buy either if the price is right?

Also does anyone use the above lenses to shoot motosport? If so can I see your results please?

Thanks in advance,

Ben

[Lonnie Utah]

Where are you? If in the US I've heard good things about this place

http://www.lensrentals.com/for-sony

[minimadgriff]

Arh. Should have said, I am in the UK.

[paulmurphy]

Welcome to the site, I recently found this site, haven't used them yet but am planning to over the summer

http://www.hireanalphalens.co.uk/

Let us know how you get on, post some pics with the hired lens is you get one.

Best wishes

Paul

[Birma]

Hi Ben - welcome to the forum. These people used to advertise in the Photoworld magazine that David Kilpatrick (owner of this site runs):

Alpha Mout Lens Hire Service
The Photostore
PO Box 348
Doncaster DN4 6XX
Tel: 01132 448 664
[email protected]

It is an old ad, but David probably knows if they are still going and/or doing lens hire (the advert I found was all Minolta glass).

As Paul says above, it would be great to see some of your pictures from the event.

[minimadgriff]

Tried them too and he doesn't hire lenses out any more but it is something he is looking to do. Not by this weekend though LOL!

[David Kilpatrick]

Adrian is still talking to Sony about reviving the lens hire service.

David

[Sploosher]

Arh. Should have said, I am in the UK.

You can get the 70-400 G from here http://www.camerabox.co.uk/productsDA1. ... tmentID=21

for £1080.

and the 70-300 for £540

[Wes Gibbon]

According to the Camerabox website, the 70-400 is "Out of Stock Arriving Friday 18th June" . The quoted price is very good, but will an order materialize? I have ordered filters from them before, without a problem, but never an 'out of stock' item, particularly when they seem confident that stocks will arrive two weeks ago.

[minimadgriff]

Found the 70-400G for a VERY good price. Just deciding if I really need to spend that much of just go for the 70-300G

[minimadgriff]

Took the plunge and got the 70-300 G SSM from Camerabox with a filter. It was a good price and they are delivering it tomorrow Just in time for Brand Hatch on Sunday.

Be nice to see how much better the shots are than using my SAL17-200.

Ben

[Wes Gibbon]

Took the plunge and got the 70-300 G SSM from Camerabox with a filter. It was a good price and they are delivering it tomorrow Just in time for Brand Hatch on Sunday.

Be nice to see how much better the shots are than using my SAL17-200.

Ben

I seem to remember DK rated the 70-300G very highly indeed on APS-C sensor cameras, but thought it disappointingly soft at the edges on FF. The softness was only beyond the limit of the smaller sensor. As I have an A900 I eventually went for the 70-400 which is heavy and expensive but worth the effort, both financial and physical!

On your A350, unless you really need the extra 100mm reach, I am pretty certain you have made the right choice.

Let us know how you get on.

[David Kilpatrick]

My 70-300mm may perhaps be the only lens which needs a focus correction on the Alpha 900. I have found it fairly poor despite its performance on the 700/350/550. But it could be a calibration issue and I need to do detailed tests before concluding it's the lens alone at fault.

David

[minimadgriff]

Hopefully it will be ok on my 350. Taken afew test shots out the window this morning (still in bed at the moment ) Seems really good and focussing seems quick, which is what I was missing from the SAL17-200. That should hopefully help with motorsport shots.

I was really struggling with the 200mm max zoom, so hopefully the extra 300mm will be what I need. I'll see how I get on with this till the end of the motorsport season then may sell it on and upgrade to the 400 if needs be.

Only thing that might be an issue is the F/stop is low light. Looking like it should be a bright day tomorrow.

I have come across one issue though. It won't sit in my Lowepro Slingshot 100, I have to take the external flash out the bag and lay that camera with lens down sideways.

Best get off and add this lens to my insurance!

I am still amazed only one company in the UK offer Alpha lens hire.

p.s because this lens has an internal motor do I need to change any setting on my 350?

[David Kilpatrick]

No settings to change on the A350, and you can use manual focus over-ride on the lens directly too since it is genuine SSM not the geared SAM motor. Although the maximum aperture is not large, for motorsport work you need to be around f/8 or f/11 anyway especially at 300mm to get the typical depth of a single car fully sharp (don't expect more than one car to be sharp even at this, with typical shooting angles). You should shoot at ISO 400 on the A350 in bright conditions, and only use 800 in overcast situations. Don't use 1600 unless forced to, as the quality on the A350 is great from 100-800 but drops off sharply at 1600.

David