Hi Friends, super mega ultra beginner here, looking for recommendations :)

I’m piss poor but have gotten really into AMATEUR photography over the last year and a half with my tiny Nikon digicam and soooooo…

I semi recently got a used Sony a5000 mirrorless plus sigma 30mm f2.8 for my birthday with which I’m having a lot of fun with just trial and erroring my way through photography :) I had decided on the sigma 30mm as it came widely recommended (by the internet) and it seemed like a good middle ground for everyday things and just getting to know the camera.

However now Christmas is coming up and I’m looking to dip my toes into more specific focal lengths. 

So now I’m looking for recommendations on lenses. Specifically telephoto but maybe also an even wider one. 

I’m most interested yet equally uninformed about Telephoto. I’m interested in shooting portraits, my cat, close ups of makeup and still life and maybe a little mushroom or a bird here and there but wildlife shouldn’t be the focus here because I’m not that outdoorsy. With my limited info I thought an effective focal length of 85-135mm might be good  (or maybe a longer range 200-300 one plus a shorter range 60-85 one? Or a zoom lens?…See I know nothing). Also I’m not sure about aperture on telephoto so feel free to educate me but I figure 2.8 is always good. 

I was also thinking about getting an even wider angle for like cityscapes nature and maybe stars (I’m not looking to become an astrophotographer I just wanna be able to take a photo of the night sky that’s not a black square) but I’m not sure if I need it or how much of a difference it would make comparing to the sigma. 

Sidenote: I would prefer a prime lens as I wish to squeeze all I can out of my camera (unless u can convince me otherwise)

And I would maybe prefer a full frame lens in case I ever wanna buy a new camera in a few years so I can keep using the lenses :)

TLDR: please recommend telephoto and or wide angle or just your favorite lenses for Sony e-mount considering I have the budget of a homeless raccoon (obviously I’m ok with secondhand I’m not completely delusional) 

Also feel free to tell me all kinds of stuff about stuff I’m ready to be educated.

Thank you <3

EDIT: since a lot of people have pointed it out, I am aware of the crop factor when putting a full frame lens on a APS-C sensor, that’s why I stated the effective focal length I was looking for (which was meant to include the crop factor if applicable) 😅 sorry if that wasn’t clear and plus I still appreciate everyone bringing it up in context with specific lenses

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [S] 2 points 1 week ago*

Thanks for all the ideas and input :)

I’m aware of the crop factor and the fact that full frame is more expensive but I appreciate the contextualization nonetheless. I’m also open to APS-C lenses I just wasn’t sure if it would be more worth to save some money now by buying an APS-C lens or save some money later by already having bought a full frame one 🤷‍♀️

I’ll look into viltrox and Samyang/Rokinon as I’ve read some positive things about those online as well :)

I also appreciate your input on warranties although I doubt I’ll buy anything expensive enough that I couldn’t live without one if it meant I could save a couple bucks :)

  • source
  • parent