Sony E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3

[Ralph]

Just a question on this lens.
I want to do a lot of Zoo's in the future and I was wondering if this lens would fit the bill for it.
Or is there another lens that would work out even better.

This lens is on eBay for $260 Australian as it is a 2nd hand one but I don't mind that as it is coming out of a camera shop.
So I would think they would give it a good going over.
Thanks to all who reply to this.

 

[Slug]

I think that's a crop sensor lens.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I personally think you need up to 400 as a bare minimum for Zoos, just because you need to focus past cages and fences and some enclosures are large. I always use the 200 600

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think that's a crop sensor lens.

I think so too.

This lens was the longer one in the a6000-plus-two-kit-lenses that I bought with my a6000. Having no clue about what lenses I needed for the photography I wanted to do, I thought this was a good starting point.

Both those lenses can perform reasonably well, given enough light, and maybe a more capable hand on the camera? I've seen brilliant work done with the old 16-50 kit lens.

But, for me personally, I very soon found that even 2.8 was a bit slow!

I just mounted it on my a7iv. It's an "SEL" which is Sony for aps-c lens, and it certainly is. The image size, though is quite generous and almost fills the FF frame! I actually think it would be worth taking for a spin on a sunny day. But would I buy one? Almost certainly not, for either FF or APS-C.

 

[maxzoom]

Sony E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 is not particularly sharp or fast to focus, I only shoot on APS-C, I sold mine because the f/5.6 lens really needed to be stopped down to f/8 for sharpness but then the ISO had to be ramped up. I was never happy with it.
If your budget is really tight then you could make do with it.
I you can afford it the 200-600 is the go to lens for creature shooting. The crop sensor SELP70-350 is sharp and is decent in acquiring focus but you've lost sensor pixels because of the crop but do have close to the reach of the 200-600 as a lower cost.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Just a question on this lens.
I want to do a lot of Zoo's in the future and I was wondering if this lens would fit the bill for it.
Or is there another lens that would work out even better.

This lens is on eBay for $260 Australian as it is a 2nd hand one but I don't mind that as it is coming out of a camera shop.
So I would think they would give it a good going over.
Thanks to all who reply to this.

nah mate, skip this one. As others have said, it is an APSC lens and a lackluster one at that.
Maybe a good "budget" zoom would be a pre-owned Tamron 70-300? But if you already have a 100-400, why bother with a lesser lens? Just want a lighter kit?

 

[Ralph]

When we were in Tasmania and we went to the Zoo there I found the 150/600mm sigma lens was a little slow and I did have to move back at times to get the focus on what I was after. So I just thought a shorter lens would be better for this.
I am not in any way technical so a lot does go over my head in this area. Not for the lack of wanting to know more.
I am lucky to be here with people who know more than I will ever do. So thank you to you all.
I am going to go out later today and try the 400mm on the camera again as a lot is sort of close at times and then it can be the other way around as well.
So thank you to everyone who helped out on this subject. If I get anything good I will post it.