A900 suitable lenses?

[Thick as a Brick]

Hi,

First post here, great forum by the way

Just selling my A700 on eBay plus APS-C adapted lenses, which I will need to replace at some point. I've looked at the A850 & A900 and have decided to go for the faster FPS on the A900......but, I am now only left with my old Minolta lenses which amount to 2, kit lens, 28~80mm & 70 ~ 210mm plus a Sony 50mm 1.4.

I'd like to have back what I started out with but wonder which way would be best to go, save my pennies for years and go for new full frame Sony lenses or look at the older Minolta ones.

The kit I had was...

Tamron 11~18mm
Tamron 90mm 2.8
Tamron 17~50mm 2.8
Sony 16~105mm

Unfortunatly I don't know what was classed as a good lens back in the days of Minolta cameras and lenses. I have seen that the Vivitar Series 1 lenses are good but I can't find many of them around. Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, maybe should be under "lens lore"

Cheers

Adam

Ps, in case you are wondering why on earth would I replace my a700 with an a900, well....so am I!

[Lonnie Utah]

Why not just hang on to the A700 for a few more months a pick up the a77 when it's released in Sept/October?

[Thick as a Brick]

Errm, cause I don't want a video recorder, I want a fully featured camera, even if it does have mechanical parts that will eventually wear out.

[Lonnie Utah]

Fair enough.

My A900 kit is as follows.

CZ 16-35mm f/2.8
CZ 24-70mm F/2.8
Sigma 70-200 f/2.8
Minolta 50mm f/1.7
Minolta 28-105 f/3.5-4.5

It works well for me. I love all of them except for the 28-105 which I rarely use. (I got it very cheap as a walk around lens.) I have very little want as far as lenses go.

[Thick as a Brick]

Thanks - sounds like a nice collection, CZ, are they as good as everyone makes out or is it just the name you are paying for?

Adam

[David Kilpatrick]

Hi Adam and welcome to the site. If you can find a good clean used example of the Konica Minolta 17-35mm f/2.8-4 D, or the similar Tamron lens in Alpha fit, that will cover the wide end exactly matching the 11-18mm only with more range and faster. It is a similar lens in many ways, even takes the same lens hood.

Of the old Minolta lenses, I have owned two very good ones for my A900 - the 28-105mm and 24-85mm. They are equally good just slightly different in use. Both are/were better than the later 24-105mm also branded by Sony for a while. I ended up keeping just the 24-85mm as I got more use. I also have the Konica Minolta 28-75mm f/2.8 (for which Tamron make a similar design, and Sony have a new SAM version with a built-in focus motor). This is a brilliant lens for what it cost me.

Your 70-201mm and your standard lens will do fine, the 28-80mm is the only very weak lens in your existing set.

CZ are good but I tested the 16-35mm and decided to stick with my 17-35mm. Whatever benefit there was in colour and contrast was not worth the money to me as the old 17-35mm is already a very good lens.

David

[Lonnie Utah]

Thanks - sounds like a nice collection, CZ, are they as good as everyone makes out or is it just the name you are paying for?

CZ are good but I tested the 16-35mm and decided to stick with my 17-35mm. Whatever benefit there was in colour and contrast was not worth the money to me as the old 17-35mm is already a very good lens.

What David said. I was starting from scratch, so I got what I could get. The CZ is about $1000 more than the minolta version.

I haven't had it long, but I am loving my Cz24-70 so far. I just can't find a bad thing to say about it, other than it's heavy. Every time i use it, I'm convinced the weight is worth it.

[Thick as a Brick]

Many thanks for the replies - thanks David I was looking at the MN 17-35mm over the weekend and found one on eBay but from USA and was not sure about import taxes so left it for now. I also saw a Vivitar Series 1 19~35mm which apparently has a very good rep, this was going for £75 but the various forums said expect to pay around £40 for a good condition one. (Conika make I think)

The MN 17~35mm seem to go for around the £250 mark - which is very good value, I'll keep my eyes open for those.

I love my Sigma 70~200 APO lens but it is big for everyday shooting and draws attention, I could do with a Tamron 17~50mm replacement, have looked at the Sony 28~80(?) but it's a lot to pay out just now.

I will order the a900 this week, so far best price is warehouse express (UK) at £2k, having sold the a700 plus lenses for a good price, the a900 is looking good.

Cheers

Adam

[InTheSky]

Hello Adam,

I have passed through a lot of lenses for the A900 this past years ...

Like David, the 28-75D Minolta is a very good start with the A900, for the price It perform very well even width open. This is of of my last zoom lens I'm still owning for the A900. (the 17-35D is a good one too, and can justify to not go with the 20mm 2.8 Minolta in some case).

If you prefer feeling very small on a bag, the Sigma 24mm II Macro is very good on the A900 too, and you can find it not too expensive on the Web.

Keep you Tamron 90 2.8, this lens can only be surpass by the Minolta 100 2.8 that will cost you a lot of money for the small difference in image quality.

For my taste, to really justify a A900 and use its complete potential, you have to go with Prime lenses, and this is my strategy I have started even before getting the A900 (shooting with the Superb A700 before). But you have to keep secret your purchase from you girl friend ... because it is a VERY expensive investment.

If you can have a chance to find some one to modify a Old MD lens in alpha mount Lens, the old Minolta 50mm 1.2 and the 58mm 1.2 are very incredible lenses. For the size those lenses don't have to be afraid of the Big Canon monster equivalent. The 50mm 1.2 is most of the time cheaper than the 58mm 1.2 (for the out of focus effect), but the 50mm is sharper starting at 1.2 on the A900.

Another way to enjoy the Full Frame experience at not a big cost is to find a Tamdon Adapt-all adapter for Alpha Mount and play with very good old SP series lenses. I own a old 300mm 2.8 that is usable even wide open and when you are lucky on second hand selling can be found for around 500$ US. There is plenty of old Tamron Adapt-all every where on used market and boxes hidden in closet...

Regards,

Frank

[Old Hydro]

Hello Adam,

I have passed through a lot of lenses for the A900 this past years ...

Like David, the 28-75D Minolta is a very good start with the A900, for the price It perform very well even width open. This is of of my last zoom lens I'm still owning for the A900. (the 17-35D is a good one too, and can justify to not go with the 20mm 2.8 Minolta in some case).

If you prefer feeling very small on a bag, the Sigma 24mm II Macro is very good on the A900 too, and you can find it not too expensive on the Web.

Keep you Tamron 90 2.8, this lens can only be surpass by the Minolta 100 2.8 that will cost you a lot of money for the small difference in image quality.

For my taste, to really justify a A900 and use its complete potential, you have to go with Prime lenses, and this is my strategy I have started even before getting the A900 (shooting with the Superb A700 before). But you have to keep secret your purchase from you girl friend ... because it is a VERY expensive investment.

If you can have a chance to find some one to modify a Old MD lens in alpha mount Lens, the old Minolta 50mm 1.2 and the 58mm 1.2 are very incredible lenses. For the size those lenses don't have to be afraid of the Big Canon monster equivalent. The 50mm 1.2 is most of the time cheaper than the 58mm 1.2 (for the out of focus effect), but the 50mm is sharper starting at 1.2 on the A900.

Another way to enjoy the Full Frame experience at not a big cost is to find a Tamdon Adapt-all adapter for Alpha Mount and play with very good old SP series lenses. I own a old 300mm 2.8 that is usable even wide open and when you are lucky on second hand selling can be found for around 500$ US. There is plenty of old Tamron Adapt-all every where on used market and boxes hidden in closet...

Regards,

Frank

[Thick as a Brick]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for that. Just ordered a MN 24~85mm from eBay so looking forward to trying that. I used the Sony 50mm 1.4 lens on the A700 and the pictures from that were amazing, so have kept that one back for the A900. Agree that primes are best but means a lot of lens changes for various situations.

You've all given me some great examples of good lenses which I can now look out for and purchase when funds available. I'll miss the 90mm macro, that went with the A700 but I'll keep my eye open for the MN 100mm as well.

Blimy, type David Kilpatrick into google and he comes up everywhere!!!

Thanks again folks - very helpful and I can get started on enjoying the A900 - when I get to order it

Cheers

Adam

[Thick as a Brick]

Ps, wife knows nothing about this, she knows I've got a Sony but hopefully won't spot the change in number from 700 to 900 hiccup!hiccup!

[redsim74]

Ps, wife knows nothing about this, she knows I've got a Sony but hopefully won't spot the change in number from 700 to 900 hiccup!hiccup!

If she notices that the camera is suddenly bigger, just tell her she must have lost weight!

[Thick as a Brick]

Ordered the 900 yesterday form warehouse express at 3pm, arrived next day at 8am! It's beautiful! Worst bit was having to wait for the batt to charge. Tried it with my prime 50mm 1.4 lens and she is taking amazing images, mainly round my office, pencils, circuit boards, dust, flasks etc, but they look crisp and clear. Looking forward to the weekend, hopefully the MN 24~85mm will arrive on Sat. Oh, and the view through the eye piece!hiccup!!!

Shutter is a bit heavy but hear that is a Sony feature!

Adam

[Lonnie Utah]

Oh, and the view through the eye piece!

That's the best part. When I've handed her over to my Cannon/Nikon friends, it's always the same. "Oh, Wow!"