Back into photography with my second hand a6700

[MeJebus]

Hi

I'm starting back my photography after years of taking smartphone shots. I bought a second hand a6700 with a Sigma 16mm 1.4 prime lens and a looking forward to a Tamron 18-300mm.

I have an agreement about a second hand Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD for 375 euro (seller bought it in september last year). Good deal?

Going to do mostly nature and bird photography.

I know 300mm is pretty low for birds bit thats what my budget can handle.

Kind regards!

 

[Unframed Dave]

300 will be 450 equivalent when you take the crop factor into account.

It's probably the minimum end of focal length for bird photography. It does depend on how close you can get to them at the end of the day. I sometimes feel frustrated with 600mm.

You might feel limited with the viewfinder, I know my wife does using the 6600.

Give it a go and see how you get on and go for big birds, you'll be fine! I like big ones myself.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome.
The A6700 is very capable, it has great auto-focus, and at 300mm you can get some good results.
There are only 2 limitations to the camera in my experience:

• As Dave said, the EVF is low resolution. It is a bit frustrating when you want to manually focus, but sufficient for framing the photo.
• When you are editing the photos, you will sometimes notice the lack of megapixels if you are trying to crop the photo too much.

If the 18-300mm lens is not enough zoom for you, you can start saving for a full frame lens like the 200-600mm, or a 70-200mm f4 + 2X Teleconverter.

 

[iamdlewis]

If the 18-300mm lens is not enough zoom for you, you can start saving for a full frame lens like the 200-600mm, or a 70-200mm f4 + 2X Teleconverter.

I would say that since he has an APS-C then maybe:
Sony E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS ~$1100 new (KEH has a "Like New -" for 846 and "Excellent+" for 820)
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E ~$1500 new (quick look didn't see any used)
As good as the 200-600 is reviews say that there isn't much difference in the focus speed or sharpness between it and the Sigma 150-600 and with an A6700 the FPS limitation on the 3rd party lenses doesn't come into play.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I would say that since he has an APS-C then maybe:
Sony E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS ~$1100 new (KEH has a "Like New -" for 846 and "Excellent+" for 820)
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E ~$1500 new (quick look didn't see any used)
As good as the 200-600 is reviews say that there isn't much difference in the focus speed or sharpness between it and the Sigma 150-600 and with an A6700 the FPS limitation on the 3rd party lenses doesn't come into play.

David, good points. I guess I assumed Maarten was still going to get the 18-300 to cover his mid-range needs.
Otherwise I would have recommend a Sigma 18-50 or Tamron 17-70 instead of the Tamron 18-300, and then get a bigger zoom lens (like the Sony 70-350) after. However, now I've recommended he spend even more money