Don Stephan wrote:
I recently purchased a Sony A5000 with the regular 2 lenses that come with the package have enjoyed getting used to it. My previous camera was a point and shoot Fujifilm Fine Pix HS 30 EXR. I really enjoy the Sony, but I miss the Zoom lenses on the FujiFilm camera.
Can you recommend a comparable lens to the FujiFilm 30 X 24-720mm for the A5000?
There is no single lens for Sony e-mount cameras equal to that 24-720mm range. (The way Fuji and other manufacturers manage to make such wide ranging zooms for some of their non-interchangeable lens cameras is by using really tiny image sensors in the cameras... which don't make nearly as good images as the larger "APS-C" sensor in your a5000.)
You didn't specify what lenses you got with the camera. But the a5000 was typically sold with a 16-50mm "kit" lens. This is roughly equivalent to the "24-75mm range" on your Fuji camera.
Presumably the other lens you got with the a5000 is some sort of telephoto zoom. But without any more details, I can't even guess what that might be.
Since you likely already have a kit lens with your e5000 that meets the criteria of a "walk-around zoom" (see note below), I'm guessing you're wanting a fairly powerful zoom. That's usually the 2nd lens most people want.
To have "720mm equivalent" on your a5000, you need a lens with around 500mm focal length (actually 480mm, but nobody makes one of those).
The CLOSEST I can find are:
Tamron 70-300mm Di III RXD for $500 (somewhat short, "acting like 105-450mm" on your Fuji)
Sony FE 70-300mm G OSS for $1273 (also short and acting like 105-450mm on that Fuji)
or
Sigma 100-400mm DG DN OS for $899 (which will "act like 150-600mm" on your Fuji)
Sony FE 100-400mm GM OSS for $2499 (also will "act like 150-600mm")
or
Sigma 150-600mm DG DN OS for $1399 (which will "act like a 250-900mm" would on your Fuji)
Sony FE 200-600mm G OSS for $1998 (equiv. to 300-900mm on your Fuji).
Note that all these leave a "gap" between the 16-50mm (24-75) and 70mm (105), 100mm (150), 150mm (225) or 200mm (300). Out shooting in the real world this gap may not matter very much. But if it does, and the 2nd lens you already have doesn't fill the gap,you would need to consider yet another lens like a Sony E 55-210mm OSS for $300 (which "acts like approx. 80-315mm" on your Fuji).
Note: You say you need a "zoom"... But I think you mean you need a more powerful "telephoto" zoom. Many people think "zoom" = "telephoto", but it doesn't. In fact zoom just means a lens that has a range of focal lengths the user can choose among and adjust. There are different types of zooms, such as:
- ultrawide and wide angle zooms
- standard or "walkaround" zooms such as your 16-50mm, a moderate-wide-to-normal-to-short-telephoto
- telephoto zooms of various strengths: moderate to powerful
- extreme range/"do it all" zooms that compromise in a lot of ways such as slower focus and lower image quality
P.S. Your Fujifilm doesn't actually have a "24-720mm" lens. That's a "full frame equivalent". By using a very small sensor (4.8mm x 6.4mm) they make what is actually a 4.2-126mm focal length zoom "act like" something much more powerful and wide ranging. It is common practice to state "full frame equivalents" in this manner for non-interchangeable lens digital cameras, largely because they use many different sizes of sensors in those cameras and these "equivalents" allow for comparison of one model against another.
Your Sony a5000 also doesn't use a so-called full frame sensor. It uses an APS-C (15.6x23.7mm) that's a lot larger than the Fuji's. In my response above I converted from "equivalents" to actual focal lengths of actual zoom lenses that are actually available to purchase for use on your a5000 (and indicated the "full frame equivalent" in parens).