Thanks Greg . Yes, moving (e.g. rocking to and fro) can help the focus action, especially with the peaking function and MF assist in use. With all the problems AF systems are having it seems a good bet at the moment

Has anyone have experience with a MD to Alpha adapter? Is it true that you can only get to focus to infinity if the adapter has a glass element in it?

I would like to use my Rokkor 50 on my Alpha system, but am worried that IQ would suffer with the glass element in various adapters.

Mark

I addressed this (with explanatory link) earlier in this post (top of page 2)

Hi artington,

You are right. It's a very informative post, so thank you for that. My apologies for not looking back in this thread. It seems I'll be stuck with it on Nex. A pity.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Minolta AF 50/1.7s are I think quite reasonably priced on eBay. Not as nice to use in MF, but still very nice lenses.

In the U.S. many of the college photography classes force students to start with film. Makes no sense to me. But I just donated big loads of Minolta and Nikon film gear plus a wide array of manual focus lenses to the film departments of two colleges. The departments loan the equipment to students. In these days of rising college tuitions, parents without jobs, and students unable to get part-time work, it makes me feel good to save the students some money when they get started in their college-level photo work.

Mark
I have a FD to A mount glassed adaptor & whilst I don't use it often I found the results from using my old FD50mm/1.8 with the A100 were much better than I had expected & would be surprised if an MD adaptor was much different. Certainly perfectly adequate for web use & even pixel peeping didn't look bad at all. I bought mine from "Roxon" (or something like that) on ebay for approx GBP20 so there's no harm in having one in the bag at that price (IMHO) !!
Results with the A700 on my old Tokina 400/5.6 weren't as good but as they were of a great sunset it didn't matter !
I can post some images if you're interested (assuming I can work how how to as it would be a first!!)
Best wishes
RT

@Birma: I have tried hunting down a Minolta 50/1.7 locally for a reasonable price. In this hunt I have felt like the guys in the show "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel were sellers always think they have something really specials that's worth a lot of money. Most of the time, they just don't! I have seen ridiculous prices for this lens, with just no budging. I've decided to stop this search and bought a SAM 50/1.8. Not the same build, but it's new, with 3 years warranty and a good IQ for it's price. Anyway, thank you for the suggestion!

I'm still very much liking the Rokkor 50/1.7 on my NEX. The lens is great for the price. I went out this weekend with the full compliment of lenses for the NEX, but ended up shooting everything with the 50

@Richard: thank you for the suggestion too. Although I don't need it anymore, I still like to see your pictures

I bought the CZ Flektogon 4/20 DK offered a few weeks ago. It's beat up, but I was able to clean the aperture blades (they were pretty sticky) and back elements. The problem I still have is the front element which has a bad case of balsam separation. DK explained it being "a fractal-looking breakdown of the lens glue". I took the lens apart, but as far as I can see, you cannot take the front lens apart. I'm still looking for an answer. Also, I still need an adapter for it. It's M42 mount. Learned a lot from the disassembly exercise. Very solid build those lenses!

Mark

Hi Mark - the Sony 50/1.8 is probably a very good idea. Good luck with the lens restoration

Thank you Birma!

Minolta made some good MD to Alpha converters with optical infinity correction using multi-element lenses. They turn up rarely for sale, and are usually pricey. I have the MInolta 2X M/A Converter - S, for lenses < 300mm in focal length, both a 2X tele-converter and a mount adapter. It's attached here to a HOYA 200mm f/3.5 for Minolta MD to give a 400mm lens, a legacy of my Minolta film SLR days.



Here's a link to the full size image so you can check the detail.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris_malcolm/2924542778/sizes/o/

It's good enough that I'd be using it now for 400mm-ish shots, had it not been surpassed in both image quality and ease of use by the later acquisition of the Sony 500mm reflex.

Excellent Shot. I love the sail boats next to the liner which gives a visual cue to the size of that liner.

I have been using MD/MA adapters (both glass and glassless), M42 to MA, Nikon to MA adapters with
good success. I am now looking into a Hasselblad 500C lenses to MA converter. I don't know if these
models have different mounts or just the backs being different. My neighbor across the street claims to
have about half a dozen lenses in the shelf and has offered to let me use them. I am also looking forward
to his Nikon lens collection sitting in some storage.

Sury