Back to the Fold

[classiccameras]

I could not resist a small return to A mount, after being disillusioned with Sony I went down the Micro 4/3 route Panasonic in fact and still love the system for various reasons
I saw a A58 with under 1000 actuations in mint condition at my local photo shop, only £155, then I decided to build a little system round it on a budget mainly for general land scape work.
So I found a pretty rare Minolta 24-85 F3.5 and a Konica Minolta 17-35 F2.8 at Ffordes photographic, both under £150 and in excellent condition plus 6 month warranty. I decided to go down the Minolta road rather than Sony lenses as I was very impressed with the colours the Minolta lenses gave when I last used them on my A57, I always found Sony over cooked the colour saturation and high contrast of their lens coatings but then I guess that's what most people like, they all do it.

[bfitzgerald]

Interesting, sort of backs up my thinking in that anything can be worth looking at, "at the right price"
Lens prices seem to be dropping a bit on A mount, which is a good thing IMO. I get on well with the 17-35mm it's useful on crop and FF use it a fair bit
What micro 4/3 did you get?

[classiccameras]

Yes, indeed, it was a budget set up, just 2 lenses, one body, all second hand, On a cropped camera, the 17-35 D and 24-85 give excellent pictures, the edge performance are certainly better than when on a FF, I think the whole thing came to around £350. The 17-35 is prone to flare even with a hood on!
I got a used Panny G-7 body and a Panny 12-35 F3.5 just as a walk around lens, the pictures are incredibly sharp compared to other cameras I've used.
Its a great little camera with hinged EVF. My only complaint with most of the Panasonic's is they are very much geared up for the movie maker and there are features to numerous to mention I would never use on stills. Lens for lens especially at the kit and budget end beat Olympus equivalents for performance. Panasonic do make some superb glass.

[bfitzgerald]

The 17-35mm I quite like bargain lens, has to be stopped down hard though at 17mm on full frame - pretty much gets there at F11/13
Used it on crop obviously doesn't need stopping down much. The 17-50mm is very slightly wider field of view on APS-C, not enough to worry about though. I had better luck with the 24-105mm, but I suspect I had a ho hum copy of the 24-85mm. Worth playing around for that price
I might even later on pick up another body if prices tumble (which they should over time), no rush I have 3!
I always felt Panasonic were underrated, even if they do have a more video slanted approach. It probably helped them a bit v Olympus. Wonder what will happen on that side of things, now they've sold it off.
I'm still toying what to do with A Mount, but then again pricing up new gear is just scary how expensive it would get even for a basic set up.

[bakubo]

I got a used Panny G-7 body and a Panny 12-35 F3.5 just as a walk around lens, the pictures are incredibly sharp compared to other cameras I've used.
Its a great little camera with hinged EVF. My only complaint with most of the Panasonic's is they are very much geared up for the movie maker and there are features to numerous to mention I would never use on stills. Lens for lens especially at the kit and budget end beat Olympus equivalents for performance. Panasonic do make some superb glass.

Do you mean the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8? I don't think there is a 12-35mm f3.5.

[classiccameras]

Yes, your right its a 12-32

[bakubo]

Yes, your right its a 12-32

Okay, the Panasonic 12-32mm f3.5-5.6. A nice, small, collapsible lens. I don't have it, but have handled it many times in stores.