Beercan on Alpha 900

[David Kilpatrick]

The Norfolk escapees were coypu, not capybara - similar but smaller. I was a newspaper journalist at the time and remember the story.

Maybe I should not be surprised at the quality of the 70-210mm on the 900, as it is already proven to be excellent on the 700. But - Nikon and Canon owner experiences with older lenses and full frame have been far from positive! The Canon bodies, especially, have serious issues with corner/edge sharpness. Whatever Sony has done with the sensor and its firmware on the A900 seems to make it very 'robust' in dealing with non-telecentric, non-optimised lenses.

I remember trying the Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n with a lovely little Tokina 17mm f3.5 I had for Nikon - it was totally useless, one side of the picture was purple and the other side green! That was because of the angle of light across the wide sensor area, and a failure to make the colour filters and microlenses (if any) correctly handle the input. But here we have a full framer, of the highest resolution yet produced, taking images from almost anything you can fit on it and getting results like film.

I think that reviews by Minolta users - like me - will highlight this, but it will completely escape the attention of newbie reviewers.

David

[PhotoTraveler]

Ok, so not a terrier and not native.

I thought it looked a bit like one of those south american things, but wasn't sure. Thought maybe this was something DK found in the neighbor hood.

[Chr_Bra]

Now I know for sure that I will keep my can forever, and start saving for the a900 big time!

And also keep the rest of my "oldies" witch i love so much....

[Dr. Harout]

Now I know for sure that I will keep my can forever, and start saving for the a900 big time!

And also keep the rest of my "oldies" witch i love so much....

Hi Christer and welcome to the forum.
Indeed, it's a good idea to keep those wonderful lenses.

[Chr_Bra]

Now I know for sure that I will keep my can forever, and start saving for the a900 big time!

And also keep the rest of my "oldies" witch i love so much....

Hi Christer and welcome to the forum.
Indeed, it's a good idea to keep those wonderful lenses.

Thanks Dr. Harout I´m pretty far from a a900 yet, but right now the 7D suits me perfect since I´m pretty low on my learningcurve very nice pics on your photoblog

[Dr. Harout]

Thanks Christer and it's from your site that I got your name

[youpii]

Very sharp indeed.

Why didn't Sony relabel this one (maybe also add SSM)?
Did they loose the blueprints?

[Javelin]

maybe because this lens has been out of production for 10 years ?

[David Kilpatrick]

The f4 70-210mm was abandoned before 1990. It had not been made for 16 years when Sony took over. It was a Sakai plant design like all the very first AF models, and was effectively hand-built. Also, it suffers from extreme into the light flare without a deep lenshood to protect it. But I do think they could look at the basic design, rework it, and issue a first-class lens a bit cheaper than the 70-300mm SSM. It was exceptional. Internal zoom and constant aperture!

I should come clean on this and say that I sold my 70-200mm SSM 2.8 and kept the beercan. I know which I preferred on the A900. Not likely to be a popular view.

Just for the ref: I also sold my 200mm Macro f4 APO G. It fetched £1220 on eBay. I was amazed (that was, without box or cards etc - bare lens with a 72mm Minolta UV thrown in). That is about $1900 at current rates. I did not want the lens because it is too heavy to strap-hang. I checked all my lenses by placing my fingertip right into the part where the lens meets the mount, then walking with the lens dangling. The 70-300mm SSM is no problem. The 70-200mm SSM pressures the spring - you can feel it pulling away from the camera. The 200mm Macro does the same. It clearly stresses the mount unless fully supported (held in the hand). I often scramble over stuff, or run with my gear. I have made sure that none of my lenses causes any stress I can feel, to the camera mount. Everything has to be straphangable.

David

[youpii]

Yes, same question for the 50/1.7
It feels like they don't care about the "mid range" market or maybe their factories are already running at max capacity.
The a900 partly targets landscape photographers, too bad 28/2.0 & 35/2.0 are also discontinued.
Do you thing the guys who designed these lenses are still working for Sony?

Canon sells four 70-200:
70-200 2.8L
70-200 2.8L IS
70-200 4L
70-200 4L IS

The sharpest is supposed to be 70-200 4L IS, not the 2.8 one.

I saw some Beercans on taobao (chinese ebay) for about 2500RMB (350$) is that worth it? Tamron's 70-210/2.8 is around 5600RMB (820$) here.

[KevinBarrett]

I picked up mine for $170 USD but the seller didn't really know what he had, and the a900 was only in concept form and not quite production-ready. Even then the others weren't selling for $300 unless they were mint condition with the original lens hood. They averaged around $250 USD when I got mine in May.

[David Kilpatrick]

You should see current eBay prices. There are lenses like old 28-85mms priced up at $400+.

David

[KevinBarrett]

Oh, I do keep scanning ebay...I wouldn't mind trying a 28-135 on my a700, but more seriously I'm trying to assess the fair price for a 24mm f/2.8 prime. I mostly find myself using the beercan or the 50/1.7 but would love to have a wider, more "normal" prime. My wife already told me I'm not getting one for Christmas, but I suspect there's a new CPL in my future!

[rogprov]

You should see current eBay prices. There are lenses like old 28-85mms priced up at $400+.

David

28-85's are cheap on US Ebay...

-Sonolta

Unfortunately many US sellers won't ship beyond their borders (the three you quote don't) and even if they can be persuaded the cost of shipping and VAT make it not a cheap lens at all for us poor souls in the UK and Europe

[David Kilpatrick]

There are always cheap ones around, usually old, sometimes in good conditions, sometimes not. But it's more common now to see this kind of thing:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/new-MINOLTA-AF-SO ... 240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Minolta-Zoom- ... 240%3A1318

David