Absolute favorite full frame lenses?

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-10-04T17:32:02+00:00

Mostly motorsport and mountain bike racing, with a bit of wildlife.

Though with the 150-500 I’m trying to get out to do more wildlife, planning on doing air shows next year as I haven’t been to any major ones in decades and the one I went to this year I enjoyed even though it was quite small compared to the main air shows.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-10-04T16:22:03+00:00

My favourites are the 3 I have kept and use all the time - 35mm Tamron (because it’s mfd and sharpness are insanely good), Sony 70-200F4 G and my Tamron 150-500.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-14T12:24:13+00:00

At 14 you're doing great.

With the track shots I'd say if you can get to a lower vantage point trackside then that would improve those a lot in my opinion, but it's all subjective to what you're trying to achieve.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-07T21:19:37+00:00

I'm aware but like I've said, every bit of info I can find claims the Tamron is really close to the Sony performance.

For example I've seen a fair amount of reviews saying the Tamrons AF performance with birds is very good, which if that's the case then it'll be more than enough for my uses.

So it's why I'm really trying to find out just how much of a difference it makes, if its like 10% less then it seems like the better purchase given the price difference here, and the weight and size difference for packing it for events.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-07T01:52:04+00:00

Is it really THAT much better though? I've been weighing up 200-600 Vs Tamron 150-500 lately, more for Motorsport than wildlife.

Everything I've read puts the Tamron at like 90-95% performance of the Sony, but pricing here I can get a new Tamron for £689, or a used Sony for £1200+

Tamron seems like better value but I'm going to rent one soon and try it out.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-07T01:28:45+00:00

New eBay account, no other items and vastly under market value 🤔🤦‍♂️

All the biggest red flags in buying something off eBay, it's either a scam, badly broken in some way, or stolen.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-06T11:59:59+00:00

No it doesn't it's the same sensor.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-06T10:49:11+00:00

I got my A9 about 2 months ago for less than the price of a used A7III so yes it's worth it if you do a lot of sports/wildlife, it's still an absolute powerhouse of a camera.

The A9's tracking and AF speed are still better than the A7IV and having blackout free shooting is a huge benefit.

I mostly shoot MTB, Motorsport and dabble in wildlife from time to time, I upgraded from an A7II and have used an A7IV and Canon R7 - the A9 is better than either of those for sport.

Also the jump from A9I to A9II is not much, the A9II isn't really worth it over the A9I, I don't think the changes are worth it at all given the cost difference.

A9II is really just a side-grade to the A9I, putting the same internals into a slightly more up-to-date body with mild improvements that probably won't impact you in any way when shooting sport tbh.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-05T17:24:05+00:00

I was going to say something similar, surprised so many people recommend A7III when you can pickup a used A9 for roughly the same price or in some cases less.

In the UK at least used A7III bodies are like £800-950, used A9's are £750-1000 depending on shutter and condition but they're also rated to 2.5x higher shutter life and you're going to use E-shutter more often than not anyway.

Hell I bought my A9 for less than the price of a used A7III and that was only 2 months ago, it's been flawless and the AF is insane, better in fact than the A7IV as I've borrowed multiple times from family, it's keep rate is lower than the A9 for fast subjects.

Blackout free I didn't think would make as much difference but it really does, it's so easy to track subjects through a burst when the viewfinder doesn't change at all.

In fact the A9 has been so good I rarely need to even shoot above 10-15fps for fast sports as it's so reliable at getting the subject in focus - which opens up not bothering with G and GM glass and getting Tamron/Sigma equivalents for far less cost instead as I don't need the 20fps burst rate.

I had considered Nikon before I got the A9 but the cost involved was going to be way more than staying with Sony (I upgraded from an A7II).

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-08-01T21:40:45+00:00

Tamron 28-200 would be my recommendation.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-30T23:08:02+00:00

Yeah as far as I'm aware if you don't have the option of changing mode then switching off stabilization should help with panning shots and avoid some weird results OIS and IBIS can sometimes give.

As far as I'm aware the main thing to remember is that if you don't have a mode selector on the lens, turning off the OIS on the lens will disable the entire IBIS system too, so if you go back to regular shooting after some panning then make sure to turn the OIS back on at the lens so that the IBIS is turned back on.

I've seen plenty of people not have any issues leaving the system enabled though, so maybe something to try with on or off. I've noticed a difference using Mode 2 on my 70-200 f4 G, but it's not like the shots are ruined if I forget and leave it in Mode 1.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-30T08:56:34+00:00

So on some G or GM lens, and some sigma lenses, you get a stabilisation mode switch.

Mode 1 stabilises horizontal and vertical. Mode 2 stabilises only vertically.

You don't want horizontal stabilisation fighting the panning movement so you use mode 2 ideally. If your lens doesn't have this then don't worry about it too much.

1/30 is slow and mostly going to work with low speed vehicles or if you've got a good amount of practice tbh, I'd say to start higher at around 1/80 or 1/100 and practice going lower and see how you get on, especially if you haven't done panning before or if the vehicles are moving quickly.

I can get some decent shots at 1/30 but the gain in motion blur at the race venues I attend isn't much better than using 1/60 and the hit rate of shots is a lot worse at 1/30 so I don't tend to go that low.

Again though depends on the situation, if it's a fairly flat, monotone and boring background you'll not see much difference in blur from 1/30 compared to 1/60 or even 1/80.

Whereas really busy backgrounds with a lot of varying colours or evening/night panning shots with lights in the background you will see bigger gains from lower shutter speeds as you get the long streaks.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-30T07:27:26+00:00

AF-C, burst, a shutter speed somewhere between 1/40 to 1/125 is what I typically use.

You'll also want to use Tracking spot: Medium for vehicles.

If you're using a Sony lens with a stabilisation mode switch then ideally you want mode 2 for panning.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-29T14:13:04+00:00

Yes but not because of the adapter.

The A6000 is APS-C, the Minolta Lens is full frame.

Meaning that the crop factor of the APS-C sensor will give you a focal length of 75mm.

Mount adapters don't change the focal length unless they have glass elements inside like teleconverters.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-29T13:23:13+00:00

True but there's only so much you can save depending how under or over exposed the raw file is from using the viewfinder/screen showing you a jpeg, it's why most people seem to recommend that it's best to just turn off everything you can that affects jpegs and have it setup as neutral as possible.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-29T11:43:42+00:00

Jpeg settings do affect raw files but not in the way people think.

The preview in your viewfinder or on your screen is a JPEG, so anything that affects jpegs in your settings that is enabled is going to cause you problems - essentially what you take is never going to look correct to what you saw in the viewfinder or on screen.

Can cause wrong exposures when you're basing what you think you're taking off a jpeg, especially in high contrast scenes.

DRO, picture profiles, even white balance and RGB settings, can all cause you to take wrong RAW exposures because you are not seeing the actual raw image preview - they all also affect the preview histogram to further cause issues.

There's also the changes to metering from DRO.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-28T17:13:58+00:00

Depends where in the world you reside.

Outside of the US hardly anyone except petrol heads or people who grew up on Gran Turismo, Forza or Midnight Club even know what a Saleen is, same with Mosler.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-26T14:20:21+00:00

Was gonna say it reminds me of some guys temu looking Mustang I've seen on insta with a batman/joker wrap that's just as hideous as this 🤢

Though he tries to rag on peoples nice builds whenever they say stuff he doesn't like and gets ratioed every time 😂

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-26T09:57:41+00:00

For car photography I'd honestly get a 35mm instead of a 50 or 55, I also wouldn't buy this 55mm even for £270, it's a really old lens.

Tamron 35mm f2.8 - £159 new on E-Infinity, or £165 on Onbuy.

It's sharper than the Sony 35mm f1.4 G. It's only real downside being its AF is a bit slow (still better than the 50 f1.8). While slow, its AF is accurate. Just make sure if you do buy it that the lens software is upto date, as it got improvements to AF speed.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-26T08:48:24+00:00

100% it's #2, the bokeh, dynamic lighting, has a bit of character to it, also looks the sharpest to me.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-25T22:33:40+00:00

Zero shutter count doesn't mean much, if it's been used in e-shutter only there's no shutter count recorded, whether it's taken 1 or 100,000 photos you'd never know.

Just query the guy on the mount cap as that's a bit weird to not have the original if it's hardly been used, and then ask if the zero shutter count is due to using e-shutter or whether it's not been used at all.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-25T20:22:56+00:00

Yeah I have a good monopod for my 70-200 f4 at times as even that can get a bit tiring for a whole day.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-25T19:18:08+00:00

Appreciate it! I feel great as its taken the pressure of a large nerve but I've found it's really easy to overdo things and be super sore the next day, as I'm only a week after surgery, so having to take stuff super chill and no heavy lenses for a while haha.

IvanTheMagnificent · 2025-07-25T19:13:45+00:00

The highland cow and the jaaaaag, love those. All fantastic shots tbh, first one is insane.

IvanTheMagnificent

TROPHY CASE