Newbie Reporting with a Question: Sony SAL18250 or Minolta Beercan?

[kei1309]

And lastly, read Ken Rockwell with a bowl of salt. He is not a serious photographer to be taken seriously !

i thought a truckload of salt will be better...:bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[kazu11]

18-250 is a waLk about lens as many has pointed out. ProbaBly meant for people who dont like to change lens or bring more than 1 lens on the go.

BeercAn is a cult status lens among minolta mount users. If you get a very good copy , the sharpness is excellent . It is a rebadge of the leica 70-210 f4 leitz lens . And you probably pay 300 or less to get one on eBay nowadays. For that price . It's quite a bang for the buck.

But 70-210m is not a general range for walk about. Depends on your style, I use the beer can for street portraits . Excellent bokeh.

And by the way, dslr users don't typically reference lens in the Pns manner of 3x, 10x etc. Neither do we minus the wide range with the zoom range. it's purely looking at the max focal length .


And lastly, read Ken Rockwell with a bowl of salt. He is not a serious photographer to be taken seriously !

thanks for the advice! looks like the SAL18-250 is probably the choice for me to bring along for my trip then.

can i then say that with the SAL18-250, my kit lens 18-55 can retire liao? :sweat:

 

[Adslr]

thanks for the advice! looks like the SAL18-250 is probably the choice for me to bring along for my trip then.

can i then say that with the SAL18-250, my kit lens 18-55 can retire liao? :sweat:

I have a similar thoughts too. Since the day got the SAL18250, the kit lens 18-50 has not been use since then. Does it still worth to keep it?

 

[TommyShooter]

i got both lens. depends on wat u want to photograph
in crowded places and indoors 18250 cos need to go far back to stand w beercan. Having said that i switch to beercan whenever possible for better IQ.
outdoor switch to beercan by default when possible

Beercan much heavier than 18250 as well but u will get used to it after some time

 

[kazu11]

i got both lens. depends on wat u want to photograph
in crowded places and indoors 18250 cos need to go far back to stand w beercan. Having said that i switch to beercan whenever possible for better IQ.
outdoor switch to beercan by default when possible

Beercan much heavier than 18250 as well but u will get used to it after some time

thanks for the feedback, ideally can have both lor..

will most likely procure 18250 first as it is higher priority for my trip, beercan have to see fate whether got sellers at nice price liao.. hehe..

 

[torak]

I have a similar thoughts too. Since the day got the SAL18250, the kit lens 18-50 has not been use since then. Does it still worth to keep it?

u wont be using the kit lens after u get the 18-250.

Can either keep as a spare (if u ever considered a 2nd body), or just sell away.

 

[chanalb]

u wont be using the kit lens after u get the 18-250.

Can either keep as a spare (if u ever considered a 2nd body), or just sell away.

I have both and and I still use both..18-250 when i plan to take photos like going to zoo or on oveaseas holidays. I take the 18-55 when I don't really plan to take photos but would like to have my cam around in case there is something to take. I find the 18-55 macro good so it is suitable for food pics. Also it is 300grams lighter than the 18-250 so it is not so heavy to carry around.

 

[chanalb]

I used A33 + SAL18250 for my Israel trip last Nov. Since the zoom was my only lens, I couldn't compare it with others. Shot a few hundreds in Israel, but didn't like them because they were too soft for my taste. I got a Tamron 17-50mm later & realized that it produced much sharper images than the SAL18250. I was disappointed, not least with the good review of Alphamountworld.com. I sold away the Sony lens. Maybe I got a bad copy, but there are many SAL18250 on sale in forum. There must be a reason why people are selling this lens.

Did you stop down your 18-250 or shoot wide open? Shooting it wide open will be soft. If you stop down to F8 and beyond it is sharp throughout, except at its widests of 18mm and at the extreme of 250mm.

 

[chanalb]

hi guys,

already posted my purchase of A55 in another thread, been reading up and shooting away.

main reason i bought a DSLR was that i'm planning for a trip to europe, and from what i've read, it would be good to have a zoom lens for travel.

now i have only the kit lens SAL1855 which is so far so good. quite intrigued by what i've read on the beercan so i'm asking for advice to choose between it and the SAL18250 which is quite highly rated too.

anyone can advise? thanks in advance!

For travelling, the 18-250 is good but you need to stop down. F8 onwards is fine. Also get a 35F1.8 or 30F2.8 for low light. You can also consider the 16-105 instead of 18-250. Depends whether range or IQ is more important.

 

[kazu11]

For travelling, the 18-250 is good but you need to stop down. F8 onwards is fine. Also get a 35F1.8 or 30F2.8 for low light. You can also consider the 16-105 instead of 18-250. Depends whether range or IQ is more important.

Thanks for the advice. New to DSLRs so these options can be confusing.. Hehe..

 

[wiseking80]

just bought the 18250 also... very good range but i dont think i will be using up to 200mm. Mounted onto my a33, use multi frame iso noise reduction mode as i didnt bring tripod out ! wanted to find the 35mmf1.8 it seems its sold out almost everywhere. Looking at the options available, if i want to get a wide angle lens i think SAL28F28 is not bad ? i dunno any opinions... its not highly priced also at $469 officially.. havent find lobangs yet.

 

[kei1309]

just bought the 18250 also... very good range but i dont think i will be using up to 200mm. Mounted onto my a33, use multi frame iso noise reduction mode as i didnt bring tripod out ! wanted to find the 35mmf1.8 it seems its sold out almost everywhere. Looking at the options available, if i want to get a wide angle lens i think SAL28F28 is not bad ? i dunno any opinions... its not highly priced also at $469 officially.. havent find lobangs yet.

you'll only be getting a equivalent FOV of 42mm if you use the 28F28, if you really want the Wide-angle shots, go for the DT 1118

 

[wiseking80]

by the way, you guys mention about lens IQ, pardon me but what does the "lens IQ" mean? higher means what lower means what ?
sorry for asking...

 

[Rashkae]

by the way, you guys mention about lens IQ, pardon me but what does the "lens IQ" mean? higher means what lower means what ?
sorry for asking...

Image Quality.

 

[wiseking80]

a quick feedback about this lens.
i brought this lens on a business trip to perth.. went up the king's park and shoot like crazy, during "golden hour" still ok.. when it gets darker and darker and the buildings start lighting up, the iq drops. on the wide angle end, when snap it looks ok but when you crop on the computer, you cant really make out the lighted neons of the buildings name. the windows lights has flare also.. i wonder will a filter or polariser work. But generally for now, when low lighting conditon it doesnt really perform otherwise i love the versatality of this lens. its a walkabout lens for sure.
Whats good for a night walkabout lens then ?

 

[kei1309]

a quick feedback about this lens.
i brought this lens on a business trip to perth.. went up the king's park and shoot like crazy, during "golden hour" still ok.. when it gets darker and darker and the buildings start lighting up, the iq drops. on the wide angle end, when snap it looks ok but when you crop on the computer, you cant really make out the lighted neons of the buildings name. the windows lights has flare also.. i wonder will a filter or polariser work. But generally for now, when low lighting conditon it doesnt really perform otherwise i love the versatality of this lens. its a walkabout lens for sure.
Whats good for a night walkabout lens then ?

of course. it's widest is f4. you can consider the 70-200G, or 35mm G. or the 24mm Zeiss. or the 16 - 35mm Zeiss

 

[javabeans]

Wa the 70200 weighs twice as much as the 18250.

 

[kei1309]

Wa the 70200 weighs twice as much as the 18250.

you sure it's just twice as much? HAHAHA it's actually 3 times

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/CompareProducts.action?site=hp_en_SG_i&models=SAL70200G&models=SAL18250

 

[wiseking80]

Then buy the 16-80 cz model lor .... Night shots can make it anot ?!

 

[kei1309]

Then buy the 16-80 cz model lor .... Night shots can make it anot ?!

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/sal1680z

image-wise it's much sharper. but for low-light shooting.. it's not that great. focusing is quite slow in dim conditions.

it's also a variable aperture lens, from f3.5 - f4.5... the same max aperture as the 18250 (assuming that's the lens you're using), except that the reach isn't as great.