Lenses - Minolta Film Camera - for re-use in Digital Camera

[NevHi]

All three lenses will work well. Even the latest 500mm f/8 only has five contacts as far as I know -

I have a new Sony 500mm which I use on my 5D. It only has five contacts.

The 500mm mirror is a difficult lens to use, but worth more than all the rest put together, and becomes even more effective with the digital crop factor. But getting sharp pictures with it can be tricky.

David

For it's size and weight (I take it mountain biking) it can take some nice pictures with great reach. At least with my current camera it's a keeper. I'm pleased I bought it.

[Jayo1111]

Hi Greg
Thanks for the advice - I'll take a good look now and consider it.
Kind regards
John

[pakodominguez]

Does anyone know if this camera is a suitable one - Sony Alpha A100 Digital 10MP SLR, I've seen one for sale and maybe it will do as a starter, before I get on to the main course.
Thanks again

John

Hi,
The A100 was a camera I never liked -It is not a bad camera, just too contrasty and noisy, in other hand, it is a very sharp sensor. If you can get a A200 or a A300, I think it will be a better investment.
Regards.

[Greg Beetham]

I just realized I missed a bit of the section on zoom lenses and flash control. The flash also zooms when you zoom the lens, this means that for every zoom setting of the flash there will be a different GN, and therefore the output will have to be able to be calculated based on the set ISO, f-stop and distance for every zoom setting, pretty cool when you stop and think about it.
Greg

[Jayo1111]

Hi Greg & Pako
Thanks again for the advice,
As I'm still just looking - I'll keep an eye out for the A200 & A300 also,
Thanks
John

[Argonaut]

Adding to my previous reply (been out of town) I owned several lenses from 3rd party mfrs (Sigma and so on) that did not work on my KM5 because the KM5 did not control the aperture. Autofocus - yes, but unless you shoot wide open, your exposure is verfluched. Some could be re-chipped but it usually was not worth the cost. Some could NOT be re-chipped. I can't remember what they were (hence my advice to go to dyxum.com for advice) because I ebayed them a long time ago.

[Vidgamer]

....
I'm perfectly happy to keep mine as a backup camera, but people who do a lot of low light photography don't like the A100 much because of the potential noise, but if the lighting is adequate (ambient or flash), it takes excellent photos.
Greg

High ISO noise was always the complaint from the beginning. But autofocus has also improved for the newer models. For more modest uses, it really isn't so bad. I used it at an indoor performance recently, with f4 to f5, and got good results. But a better camera would have been able to use higher ISO and gotten more keepers. Best results at higher ISO are had by using the RAW and running it through a computer-based RAW converter. Also, using lenses with wider apertures and using an external flash helps. I didn't realize how lame the internal flash can be until I compared it with the F42! What a difference!

What you lose at high ISO, you gain at low-ISO. I like the color and sharpness, and I find that the auto WB does a good job most of the time, although I use RAW often when the lighting is varied or weird (usually indoors).

But in the end, I'd only get an A100 today if it could be had at a very cheap price, and if it was because you were just price-conscious. If buying today, I'd lean towards an A500, personally; I could probably live without the few missing features considering all of the other advantages.