A little help

[dankenney2010]

I've just bought a Sony A290l DSLR as I'm on a really tight budget and was wondering is this lens any good?

Tamron 70-300mm F4/5.6 DI LD Macro

I've heard good things about Tamron and have found this lens for under £115.

any help would be gratefully received

dan

[Markulous]

IMHO, best value lens would be the Sigma 70-300 APO - but that would put you over your budget unless you fleabayed a secondhand one!

[chris-p]

Hmm, it really depends on how tight your budget is...

The Tamron will be one of the best you can get for that money but, as Mark says, the Sigma APO model would be a better bet if you can stretch to it.
Then again, thats how photography works, there's always a shinier thing out there if you can afford it...

[SieSmith]

I got this lens as part of my intro to DSLR photography. The link below is a review from SLR gear and my experience with this lens is exactly the same.

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showp...uct/455/cat/23

Points to consider:
1. It will be useless wide open. You need to stop down at least 1 if not 2 stops to get anything decently sharp.
2. Don't try to use it at full zoom, stay less than 200mm and it will be Ok.
3. CA is a bit of a problem on it.
4. On the plus side it's dead cheap.
5. I'm thinking that you'll have IS in camera, so that should help a bit with the slower shutter speeds you'll get when you stop it down.

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, but if it starts you off taking pictures and gives you the buzz to improve, then it's no bad thing.

Cheers, Sie

[dankenney2010]

thanks for the quick replies, i went and got the tamron, mainly because i was sooo limited in funding, but as i get better, i will definately be upgrading to a better lens, but i think this one will help me learn to use the camera in full manual mode, at least until i can beg for a new one for b'day