Noob Alert! Help required with selecting lenses for a newbie

[retardo_supreme_25]

Hey Everyone,

I am a new member of the community and recently jumped into photography, currently shooting with sony a73 with the standard kit lens for the past couple of months. I have some knowledge about ISO, shutter speed, aperture settings and exposure settings. With my recent pictures, i have been noticing some lack in sharpness especially in the corners and the background blur, bokeh, etc not being that good in portraits, it could either be me or the lens as well.

So i have been researching a few lenses which i think are decent but they all have a much better, more expensive versions as well. So i have stumbled on a few questions and was hoping for some answers.

1. With only limited experience, should i still be sticking with the kit lens or should i go for an upgrade?

If yes,
2. For portraits, i have been looking at sony's fe 85mm f1.8 which definitely seems to be better than the kit lens. However it has two different versions as well, the one is the zeiss badis f1.8 and sony fe 85mm f1.4. I did try the lens at sony's store and honestly, atleast looking into the camera screen i couldn't really differentiate between the two, apart from the bokeh in some cases. Which one would you guys recommend?

3. I have been considering two more lenses, 16-35mm f4 Zeiss OSS (quite old lens 2014 one, but currently getting it for 1200) and 70-200nm f4 lenses as well (mostly for trip to south africa, and in some cases i read reviews people using this for landscapes as well. Both of them have their expensive versions as well. Should i go all out and buy the expensive one's or are these more than good enough.

I am really confused as to whether its the right time to upgrade and whether its worth buying the expensive versions of those lenses for a newbie. would appreciate if someone can help me solve my dilemma.

 

[one eye jack]

Welcome to clubsnap, do you mean you have a Sony A7 mk.3 fullframe mirrorless camera? Well congratulations.I won't be diplomatic but for starters the kit lens can perform but if you still find it below your expectations then an upgrade would be in order as being a newbie if you get good pics that would spur you on in the hobby.
Good glass or lenses are necessary,that said you wonder if it's justifyable..well the answer is above..as for your trip to south africa I think the wide angle and telephoto lenses can be used but the tele may be a bit short even 300mm may not be and the skill of using them is a challenge but a7mk3 does have ibis (stabalisation in body). As for portrait the zeiss is only f1.8 and may not be autofocus but the fe85mm. F1.4 is ok. Do know there is the g master series of professional lenses but that can come later when your skills have improved. Enjoy your africa trip and good luck.

 

[retardo_supreme_25]

Welcome to clubsnap, do you mean you have a Sony A7 mk.3 fullframe mirrorless camera? Well congratulations.I won't be diplomatic but for starters the kit lens can perform but if you still find it below your expectations then an upgrade would be in order as being a newbie if you get good pics that would spur you on in the hobby.
Good glass or lenses are necessary,that said you wonder if it's justifyable..well the answer is above..as for your trip to south africa I think the wide angle and telephoto lenses can be used but the tele may be a bit short even 300mm may not be and the skill of using them is a challenge but a7mk3 does have ibis (stabalisation in body). As for portrait the zeiss is only f1.8 and may not be autofocus but the fe85mm. F1.4 is ok. Do know there is the g master series of professional lenses but that can come later when your skills have improved. Enjoy your africa trip and good luck.

Thanks a lot for your reply Jack, i did pull the trigger and bought the 85mm 1.8 and the 16-35mm F4 zeiss lens for a total for 1700 at comex, which i think was a pretty good deal. The kit lens was doing a decent job, but in gloomy or low light environments, i kept had to cranking up the ISO to more than 10000 in certain cases to get a decent/slightly overexposed exposure on purpose, which resulted in some graining that i didnt mind much but would like to reduce that as much as i can moving forward. That is partly my fault as well, as i am still learning about the camera.

The 85F1.4 was much better but couldn't justify the price to myself as that lens itself costs more than 2000$, which is more than what i paid for 2 lenses. My goal is to eventually take photography as something more than just a hobby.

In regards to wildlife, yes you're correct i did try those lenses and it seems like 70 to 200nm would definitely not be enough for that. I dont know if its worth investing in a telephoto lens that reaches beyond 200mm at this point as all of them are super expensive. Anyways thanks again for your reply.

 

[skf]

Hmm.. for wildlife, you might want to consider the newly released 200-600, I think it is priced at $2799 or was it $2699? For the reach, it is quite a good price. Buy new, since this is too new for it to reach the BnS section..

 

[daredevil123]

TS, you can always rent if you think owning one is not going to be viable.

 

[michaelsmith]

I would recommend you either to rent new lens or buy a used one. You can rent out a few of the top lenses you want to consider, see for yourself how it handles and then buy a used lens. This is what I did when I bought my Canon 80D. i would advise you to try the same.