Need help and advice...new camera

[NaoPos]

So i kinda wanted to get away from the smaller "point and shoot" cameras. So i went out and treated myself to the sony nex-3. NOt a true DSLR (not ready to commit that $$ to it). It was within budget, i liked the look. It came with a 18-55mm lense, which is pretty decent. Not a great amount of zoom, but great for all purpose needs. My question for you is this..

I've been reading up on sony's "e" mount lenses specifically for the nex series cameras. I also know of a lenses for the SLR's which are "a" lenses. You can buy an adapter to convert it. I''m looking for a lense capable of taking pretty good pictures of thunderstorms/clouds/nature. Would look to zoom a good bit.

Which lense/size would you recommend? Thanks in Advance. I don't know a whole deal on cameras and photography, so try and keep it laymens. I hope to become pretty proficient and figured this would be a good way to break into the photography world.

[Quakertown needs snow]

Check out dpreview.com.

Great forums and they have sony nex forum also.

I've been shooting the A700 for 3 years now. My favorite all around A mount lens is the Sony 18-250mm, love it.

I'm not sure how well it would do with an adapter with the nex. Maybe the forum I listed can help with the answer.

[stormitecture]

More than zoom, what you want is low as possible f-stops. Not familiar with Sony's system...but for example if a lens X is listed as f4.5 and lens Z is listed (with a similar zoom) as f2.8....go for the 2.8. What that means is it is 'faster' or lets more light in so the sensor doesn't take as long to get the image. This translates to clearer images because you can use faster shutter speeds. Try to always tripod your shots.

Adapters are out there. BHphotovideo.com is pretty much the warehouse of photographers. Adorama is the next best it seems. Browsing there will give you goose bumps with all the fancy stuff. It makes you want to mortgage your house just to buy stuff, but it also will likely have just about anything you need.

[bobbutts]

So i kinda wanted to get away from the smaller "point and shoot" cameras. So i went out and treated myself to the sony nex-3. NOt a true DSLR (not ready to commit that $$ to it). It was within budget, i liked the look. It came with a 18-55mm lense, which is pretty decent. Not a great amount of zoom, but great for all purpose needs. My question for you is this..

I've been reading up on sony's "e" mount lenses specifically for the nex series cameras. I also know of a lenses for the SLR's which are "a" lenses. You can buy an adapter to convert it. I''m looking for a lense capable of taking pretty good pictures of thunderstorms/clouds/nature. Would look to zoom a good bit.

Which lense/size would you recommend? Thanks in Advance. I don't know a whole deal on cameras and photography, so try and keep it laymens. I hope to become pretty proficient and figured this would be a good way to break into the photography world.

I'm just starting out with interchangeable lens photography as well and no experience with specific lenses for your camera and intended application but hopefully can help with how to choose your next lens. To make an educated decision and also apply the right settings when shooting you are going to need to at least get a general understanding of the basic terminology. For a lens this especially means Focal Length and Aperture

http://www.photography101.org/basics/how_to_choose_a_lens.html

Focal length is the 18-55mm part on your current lens, the bigger then number the greater the zoom. So probably to complement your existing lens, you'll want something that starts near 55mm and goes as high as you can afford and can deal with carrying around.