Congratulations on the A700.

As far as your lenses are concerned here is my advice.

Unless you really really need money, or have replaced one lens with another, get used to some of them gathering dust. Its ok, and it's normal. Look at lenses as investments you can use anytime you want without having to pay a penalty on interest, early withdrawal etc. :)

I find that I go through phases, sometimes I want to do landscapes for a while, and my macro then collects dust. Sometimes I want to hike light, and my expensive lenses gather dust. No problem!

You will find that as you go on, you will be happy you kept as many as possible, it is one of the joys of having a DSLR over say the F828. Don't let all those lenses intimidate you, you will get used to having all of them, and in time, get used to knowing all of them individually for each application. Relax, and enjoy them!

A one lens solution for travel should cover wide angle to a decent telephoto, and have a good enough magnification to shoot some flowers.

-Carl

It sounds like you have a nice selection of lenses. You should probably sit tight and spend some time experimenting with all the lenses.

I look at it this way... Think of your camera as a wrench and the lenses as sockets. There are some sockets that I use nearly ALL the time and there are some sockets that I only use for removing once specific car part and NOTHING else. I don't sell the less used sockets because they sit in my tool box collecting dust most of the time. I know I'll need one of those sockets at some point and if I don't have it I will have to drive to a store and buy or order one. The car can sit and wait while this happens, but photo opportunities rarely do. I hope that made some sense?

If you do decide to sell your beercan, you could probably get $150-$200 for it on evilbay. That could pay for a good portion of another lens. If you do sell a lens that you later decide you want another copy of it's likely that you'll pay more for it than you sold it for. Maxxum/Sony mount lens prices keep on slowly creeping up in price. I kick myself for not buying a bunch of nice glass when Sony bought KM.

for replying. I get a bit overwhelmed at times with all this gear I have collected in such a short time.

For now I am going to hang on to all the lenses. Spring should be here (meaning in full bloom) soon (I hope) and then I can really put the camera through the paces.

For the cruise I am going to concentrate on two lenses to take. Probably the CZ16-80 and Sigma 70-300 macro.

Glad I found this place or this place found me !!

Michele

Hi Michele,
I had a look at your work and the pics you took, and i can tell you I was very impressed with them. I bought myself a Sony Alpha 700 too, and today received my Carl Zeiss lens from the states, I am somewhat disapointed as I thought i was getting myself a telephoto lens, it turned out to be a fixed lens instead, If I knew that this was what i ordered i would have not gone ahead with it. I guess it is my fault for not doing my home work before hand, I am now stuck with a 135 lens, I hope i will get use out of it,,,,,,,

Take care and I hope that you are enjoying your camera, let me know if you have taken any more pics since you last posted these ones,,,,,,

Cheers
John

Stuck with a 135CZ eh? I can take that for you, I'll even send a prepaid shipping box for ya ;).

If you can afford to keep it, play around with it. You would be surprised what you will end up shooting.

I had the 135mm STF for some time, and loved it. While the focal seemed long for APS-C sensors, I still worked with it, and found with a little practice I could get more shots then I thought I could.

Primes are really the best in IQ, and something about the simplicity of them really makes for a fun experience.

Carl

I think you had some nice response already, so what am i doing here?
Just a normal amateur, but i just started a new book about photgrafy and i would like to share the first few lines...
Free translation:
You can read this book, but the better way is; read a little, shoot a lot. Learn from your mistakes...

So in your case, and maybe in life, do what feels good. Shoot, and maybe by mistake you'll find a new area to take photo's, or a new way. (mm do i make sense at all)

Anyway. Nice photo's on your site, very nice.
I wish i could make them like that...

So keep on going.....Go out and enjoy..

Hubert