You can get the Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens for £55-£85 on ebay. ( lots available ) The f1.4 is a bit more. I think the newer Sony version is very similar. Someone with more knowledge will no doubt offer more options.

Rob,

The lens or lenses you might need depends on a number of factors, including the type of lighting in the rooms, how far back from the stage you will be sitting, your budget and how much equipment you wish to carry with you. You probably need something with an F2.8 aperture or faster to avoid using really high ISOs. A great lens to use but quite expensive would be a CZ or Minolta 85mm/1.4. A fast zoom such as the Tamron AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD would be versatile, but also large, heavy and fairly pricey. Given my equipment, I would take my 50mm/1.4 (or a less expensive Minolta 50mm/1.7) and my Minolta 135mm/2.8, which is sharp, quite compact, and provides a 200mm focal length on a cropped camera such as your A300. If I was unsure about the field of view, I might also take along my 90mm/2.8 Tamron macro just to be safe. There's also a Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro available that would give you more range than a 50mm and might be a decent, 105mm-equivalent compromise if you only wanted to carry one lens and can't afford an 85/1.4.

Have a nice trip and Happy Thanksgiving!

Andy

For a zoom lens with a constant 2.8 aperture, the Tamron 17-50 comes to mind. To me, this is one of the more versatile lenses available for the Alpha mount. 2.8 while not the "brightest" aperture is certainly well enough for most indoor photography. Plus, the Tamron is quite sharp enough at this aperture.

The Sigma 18-50 EX DC 2.8 is another lens that is quite sharp and one of my favorite of the Sigma lenses. I am not really a fan overall of Sigma because they seem to be very inconsistent in quality through the range, yet this lens never gave me any issues and tests out quite sharp.

Both lenses are excellent for landscape use, offer very good magnification for smaller objects, and do a decent job at portraits as well. The Tamron has a slight wide angle advantage, as well as being lighter. It also has a more consistent image quality curve through the range. Of the two, the Tamron seems to get the best nod. I also like how the manual focus ring feels, it is very good for manual focusing.

If you want more range, the 70-200 2.8 Tamron is of a great value as well. It also has a constant 2.8 aperture and good magnification but is significantly bulkier and heavier when compared to the 17-50 2.8.

Hope this helps you in your purchasing decisions, if not it is always good review for me.

Carl

Hi all, thanks for the advice so far :) I'm currently looking at some of the prices with the lenses in question (I was thinking to pay up to about £400 / $800). Also I have just been reviewing the 35mm equiv ranges of the 2 cameras I have used previously at this venue, which are as follows:

Pentax Optio 750z
37.5mm - 187.5mm

Fuji FinePix s8100fd
27mm - 486mm

This raises a question from me.. how do I work out the equiv range of a lens on my alpha 300? for example if I go with a 50mm lens what is the equiv range so I can compare to the above :) Thanks again for all of your help guys - keep the suggestions coming and I will let you know what I go for once I make up my mind!!

Rob

Rob,

The 7.8-39mm zoom lens on your Pentax Optio 750z is equivalent to a 37.5-187.5mm focal range on a 35mm film camera or a full frame digital. Because of the crop factor on your A300, this would be equivalent to using a 25-125mm zoom lens on your A300.

By the way, I would agree with Carl's comments on the Tamron 17-50mm/2.8 lens, which mounted on your A300 would be equivalent to using about a 26-75mm lens on a 35mm film or full frame camera. I did not recommend it before because I'm not sure the focal range would be long enough for stage photography, depending on what kind of stage and how far away you will be sitting.

Andy

Hi all,

Thanks for the reply and info.. I am now leaning towards either:

- Tamron 17-50mm/2.8 lens
- Tamron 70-200mm/2.8 lens
- Sony 50mm/1.4 lens

My questions regarding them are:

1) Is there a signiicant difference between the shots I would get with an f1.4 and an f2.8 (the room has most lights turned off during the shows, with the exception of the show lighting)
2) There is a stage / ballroom in front of the stage.. most of the show takes place on the ballroom, which is roughly 20-25 meters in length.. we always manage to get seats facing the ballroom straight on, and these seats are always on the edge of the ballroom (ie no one in front of us), in the past with the compact pentax and fuji bridge cameras I have taken I still however used the zoom for some nice close up shots of the acts.. what would you guys do in this situation.. try a more full frame perspective for once with something like the tamron 17-50 or sony 50.. or keep to my usual style and go for the power of the tamron 70-200 zoom? What are your views on the best types of shot in this situation (as I am far from a pro.. probably a little off amateur too! Just trying to get better with practice)

Again thanks for everyones time :) It's truly appreciated.

Rob

What about a 28-75mm available as KM or Tamron?

Ok 28mm is not very wide on APS (42mm equiv), but you get a nice equivalent of 112mm with f2.8 at the top end.

The 70-200/2.8 is roughly equivalent to a 100-300mm focal range on a film camera and might be too long and not wide enough for the situation you describe. Barry's suggestion of a 28-75/2.8 would probably be better if it's wide enough for your purposes based on your past experience. The 17-50/2.8 would be more versatile than a 50mm/1.4 or 1.7 and great for capturing full ballroom shots (and for landscapes, too!), but you would also need something longer for close ups of the performers. A 90 or 100mm/2.8 macro would work fairly well and also give you a tool for doing macro shots if you have such an interest. Another possible one-lens solution would be the very sharp Carl Zeiss 16-80mm/3.5-4.5 lens (24-120mm film equivalent), which I think offers an almost perfect focal range for your purposes. Perhaps someone who owns that lens might comment on its low-light capabilities given the venue you have described.

I believe Sigma's 50-150mm f2.8 HSM lens is now available from Adorama or bhphoto.

If the lighting is very low then the faster the lens the better. In this instance a lens like the Sony 50mm 1.4 will be great. Depth of Field will be a lot less that with your superzoom cameras but if you are a reasonable way away should be manageable.

If you have been getting good results on your superzoom compacts then an f2.8 lens may be an option. If you want a long lens then the 50-150 f2.8 Sigma or 70-200 f2.8 would be about as good as you'll get.

I would also suggest that you at least consider the KM or Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lens. I have been very happy with mine.
Here are a couple of concert shots using my KM model with the A700 and I barely know what I am doing.

Ron

Hi guys,

Just wanted to thank you for all of your advice.. ended up going for the Sony 50mm f 1.4 - hopefully I will be able to get a few good shots so I am all ready to leave tomorrow and try it out!! Then before we end up going back in 4 or 5 months I will probably go for one of the 2.8's mentioned above and give that a shot. Again thanks for everything - I will let you all know how it goes :)

Also nice pics Ron.. hopefully I will be able to get a few shots like that - and I would then be more than happy with my results :)

Rob