Best and cheapest telephoto lens (Zoom Lens) for sony a57?

I guess lens with a very good price and excellent quality would be a Tamron 70-300 SP Di USD. It is I think $450 at the moment but not a long ago Tamron had an offer with $100 off through mail-in rebate so you could check if they still have it. This lens is almost the same in IQ to Sony 70-300 G lens which would set you back about $900 after taxes.

If you still do not want to pay that kind of money I would recommend Sony 75-300 lens. I think it's about $250 new and when properly used you can achieve very good results (stop down the aperture for sharpness etc.)

If you ask me though I would shell out extra money for that Tamron even if it means waiting extra time/saving extra money. After a year of use, you're not going to remember what you paid for it but you will end up with nicer lens that comes with 6 year warranty. That's my 2 cents, the final decision is of course up to you.

There is also a big market of used telephotos if you can live with idea that you might end up with a broken lens and no warranty on it in case something goes wrong. You can get some nice telephoto lenses cheap though.

Tamron 70-300 USD

Also I forgot to add that you can opt for Sony 55-200 which is $200 brand new at the moment and it's pretty good in quality assuming 200mm is not too short for you. I would recommend going to a camera store and trying different lenses on to get an idea of what you would like the most.

I just checked on Tamron's website and 70-300 USD still comes with $100 rebate until February 28 so you would pay $450 at first and then get a check for $100.

marcin warmuz said:

marcin warmuz wrote:

Also I forgot to add that you can opt for Sony 55-200 which is $200 brand new at the moment and it's pretty good in quality assuming 200mm is not too short for you. I would recommend going to a camera store and trying different lenses on to get an idea of what you would like the most.

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First of all thanks for replying!

The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Telephoto Autofocus Lens i have seen it selling for 195usd is this the best choice?

i currently live in malaysia i have seen the price for Sony 70-300mm for 350usd @.@

LouisMukk said:

LouisMukk wrote:

LouisMukk said:

marcin warmuz wrote:

Also I forgot to add that you can opt for Sony 55-200 which is $200 brand new at the moment and it's pretty good in quality assuming 200mm is not too short for you. I would recommend going to a camera store and trying different lenses on to get an idea of what you would like the most.

Click to expand...

First of all thanks for replying!

The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Telephoto Autofocus Lens i have seen it selling for 195usd is this the best choice?

i currently live in malaysia i have seen the price for Sony 70-300mm for 350usd @.@

Click to expand...

That lens is an older version and while the Tamron 70-300 USD is an SP lens which is their professional line Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro is a budget lens, an entry level. It is decent quality for the money, of course no where close as good as the 70-300 USD so if I were you I'd make a decision based on your skills. What you plan on shooting with it? Are you going to use it a lot? I just checked Malaysian camera stores online and found that Tamron 70-300 USD would set you back about RM1800-RM1900 which would be about $600 so way more than you're are willing to spend. If you require pure performance and you are going to use it a lot it is worth it though. It's much sharper, better built and has much better autofocusing.

As for Sony I think you meant 75-300 which is their entry level (it costs $250 in the US). Sony 70-300 is a G lens and is much more expensive ($850 in the United States). Unless you made a mistake in writing, if you can get Sony 70-300 G for $350 I'd definitely go for it.

Also, check out Dyxum.com. It is very likely the biggest forum for Sony Alpha users and has a database of pretty much every lens ever released for A mount. All the lenses with user reviews and all the info you need along with samples posted by people. You can compare lenses there and see what people that own them have to say about them.

I recently went through selection/purchase process for this range of lens and there are many threads on this subject in this forum, and many good reviews to ponder ( and recommend that you do so).

In my case, the overwhelming response I received in my thread was favorable to the Tamron SP 70-300 Di USD lens. Even so, I wound up initially ordering the Sony 55-300 (which can be had for app $300 US right now) and, based on a great recommendation from a user in this forum, also ordered the Tamron (as I was well within the time window that I could return either). For me, comparing these two lenses was no contest. The build quality, AF focus speed and image quality of the Tamron was superior in every way to the Sony. In this, I would be remiss if I did not point out that I believe my copy of the Sony was not a good one, and the Sony rep I spoke with agreed with me ... but I kept the Tamron nonetheless.

In your case, you may want to give that Sony a whirl as it is less expensive (even after the Tamron rebate) AND you may find that the Sony will better balance on your A57 than the Tamron, which I am using on an A77.

Good luck .. harry

I'd say for your budget your best options are, in order:

- Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 USD

- Sony 55-300/4.5-5.6

- Minolta 70-210/4

- Sony 55-200/4-5.6

And then the latter two is mostly a matter of faster aperture vs smaller size, optically they're otherwise pretty good.