@Anthony_Gulluscio im so happy you’re getting into it now lolol! I can affirm on this one, I tried it once (look at my first topic at JFK) and the 55-250 isn’t exactly enough range to get by for banking shots (without tons of cropping). depends on the body you get, though. if it has enough mp, you can probably crop enough so you won’t lose a ton of details but you may lose a bit of quality compared to a longer reaching lens.
2 Likes
(I should probably post this in the budget thread) - does anyone have experience with this lens? It’s very cheap.. I’m sure there are notable downsides but I really don’t care too much about autofocus or stabilization.. is there anything major that y’all know of?
Here’s my setup:
Lowerpro Black Camera Backpack
Canon T7 Rebel EOS (DSLR)
Canon 18-55mm Lens (Stock With Camera) for planespotting right next to the area where final approach is so I can get nice cloud shots in the background.
Canon 75-300mm Lens I use this the most commonly due to its easy to control and highly portable capability.
Tamron 150-600mm Lens (Rarely use this as it’s my mom’s)
Canon T3 Rebel EOS DSLR
18-55mm
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Manfrotto Monopod
TriPod with Gimbal. And that’s about all there is with my setups also
32gb SD Card for both my T3 and T7 to ensure they have enough space however we download them every night after we do spotting stuff. I keep extra batteries, sharpies, viewfinders, and a couple more.
State the specifications of the lens and O can assist you with it.
Honestly @Anthony_Gulluscio I wouldn’t recommend getting them at Walmart. Best places I know are ProCam and Best Buy
Short answer: go to the bank and get your 132 dollars or whatever, then walk over to your fireplace and chuck them in there. It’s a better use of your money
Long answer: 420 on the short end is eyeball spotting and manual focus is essentially useless for spotting, doesn’t matter how good you think you are it will humble you
2 Likes
@Anthony_Gulluscio you should go to B&H store in nyc or just order, their customer service is amazing and they help so much in the store, it’s actually a very cool store 
just note they are closed on Saturday. Just add maybe even $200 more, it’s such a difference
2 Likes
I think I’ve asked about this before, but I’m gonna re-ask my question to get some more information. My mom has a Sony A7II and I just fixed it and I wanted to do plane spotting with it. Can I get a few options with a few different price ranges and an explanation of how good each one is because what I was told is that the A7 Is a very fast camera so it needs a very fast lens to keep up with it. @AndrewWu
Whoever told you about the very fast lens thing, they’re either wrong or you misinterpreted it. Normally we use “fast” to denote a lens which has a wide aperture (like 2.8), but given that you mentioned the camera’s speed it seems that you mean FPS or AF speed? FPS comes from the body (although the A7ii at 5 FPS is definitely not a fast camera). Sony does restrict third party lenses to 15 FPS but this camera can’t do 15 so it doesn’t matter. Most modern full frame mirrorless lenses don’t really have an issue on AF speed.
The current Sony (and third party) FE telephoto lineup:
| Lens | New Price | Used Price | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD | 400 | 370 | Cheap | Cheap, lack of reach |
| Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD | 800 | 700 | One-lens solution | All-in-one lenses always suffer in quality |
| Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS C | 1000 | 850 | Good reach | Soft on long end |
| Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD | 1200 | 1050 | Lots of zoom for what you pay | Big ahh lens |
| Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD | 1300 | 1000 | One-lens solution but better | Pricey |
| Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS | 1400 | 750 | Idk tbh it just does most things fine | Have to buy used, reach |
| Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS S | 1600 | 1250 | Good for 31L banks | Big ahh lens |
| Sony FE 200-600mm F/5.6-6.3 G OSS | 2000 | 1700 | Same as above, plus internal zoom | Same as above |
| Sigma 60-600mm F/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | 2200 | 2000 | This lens will do literally anything | $$$$ |
| Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS | 2600 | 1700 | Does mostly everything great | Maybe want more zoom paying this much |
Also @Imprezive I realized I never actually answered your question lol oops. 1500 for a full setup is tough. You can certainly do a Z6 with a Tamron 70-300 (total 1200) but I don’t know if you’d be super happy with the quality of the lens. If you can stretch to 1800 you can do a Z5/6 with the 50-400 for Z which will be much better. Sony is really iffy. At 1500 you’d have to go A7ii because the iii is still 1300 for whatever reason, hard to justify against the Z6 or even Z6ii right now (although I do have my old one that I need to part with, it has a small technical problem so it would be a severe discount). If you went with the ii, I’d probably get something 400mm+ to go with it since I find 300 + 24 MP is not enough reach. Canon is a lost cause since their cheapest telephoto is an f/8 on the long end so it kind of defeats the purpose of night spotting.
1 Like
Thank you!
1 Like
How is this on the long end?
I will rent a canon R50 with a 100-400mm lens in a few weeks when I go to EDDF, any tips?
Acceptable for the price, it’s hard to complain when it’s a full frame lens for 400 bucks
Like tips on how to use it?
1 Like
Yes, that’s what I mean
If I’m on sort of on a budget is this good?
gotcha gotcha no worries! I (might?) be able to stretch to 1800 if it really adds that much of a quality advantage.
(also woah 50-400 that focal length can do pretty much anything lol)
1 Like
Yeah if you have a strict budget I think you’ll be happy enough with it. You won’t be able to use certain spots like Howard Beach but mounds, Bayswater, TWA, P5 should be okay.
Yeah it’s pretty cool what Tamron’s doing. I normally don’t recommend these superzooms but the line tests don’t lie, it’s pretty sharp most places. I think @Dan_77 uses it but I’m not fully sure. I think because of what you’re coming from the 70-300 is probably not the best fit for you, I think you’ll be disappointed in it. So for you I’d wait till you can stack some more
1 Like
I don’t think there’s anything in particular you need to keep in mind outside the usual way you use a camera. I also am not a Canon shooter so I wouldn’t know
1 Like
So right now I have
$65 dollar amazon Camera Bag
Nikon D7500
Nikon 50-180mm
TAMRON 70-300mm
Random Carbon Fiber Tripod
And as backup
Canon Rebel XTI
Canon -50-45 mm
Canon 70-300mm.
What would yall say? Upgrade or stay?
Didn’t you just get the 7500? Is something wrong with it?