Do Minolta lenses work with Sony Alpha cameras natively?

[cadabri]

Hello! I am going on a trip and I would like to get a prime lens for my Sony Alpha camera, but I do not want to blow $250 on a super bad lens, and I would just overall want to save up for the Zeiss Batis or Loxia. So, I would prefer to just get a lot of lenses from Ebay that cost like 50 bucks. But my concern comes in with the fact that online when I look up Sony lenses, a lot of Minolta comes up too, but I find mixed results of whether they fit on the camera natively. If you have any better suggestions towards getting a prime lens, I am all ears!

[xTrixieHD]

Might do, but don't count on my advice as i shoot with a konica minolta camera. i'd suggest waiting for a bit more response.

[ShadowCaptain]

7 minutes ago, cadabri said:

Hello! I am going on a trip and I would like to get a prime lens for my Sony Alpha camera, but I do not want to blow $250 on a super bad lens, and I would just overall want to save up for the Zeiss Batis or Loxia. So, I would prefer to just get a lot of lenses from Ebay that cost like 50 bucks. But my concern comes in with the fact that online when I look up Sony lenses, a lot of Minolta comes up too, but I find mixed results of whether they fit on the camera natively. If you have any better suggestions towards getting a prime lens, I am all ears!

Yes, they are A mount so fit on the A series cameras - they work natively

 

I use the 50 f1.7 and the LEGEENDARY 70-210 F4 Beercan (amazing get it) on my A7 with the LEA4 A mount to FE mount adapter

[cadabri]

8 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Yes, they are A mount so fit on the A series cameras - they work natively

 

I use the 50 f1.7 and the LEGEENDARY 70-210 F4 Beercan (amazing get it) on my A7 with the LEA4 A mount to FE mount adapter

How is the image quality from the 50mm f1.7?

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, cadabri said:

How is the image quality from the 50mm f1.7?

Very good, the F1.4 is better but £££

 

Honestly I paid £100 for the 50mm and 70-210 and they are both brilliant, 

 

If you go on Jason Laniers youtube there are some shoots he does with both these lenses

[cadabri]

7 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Very good, the F1.4 is better but £££

 

Honestly I paid £100 for the 50mm and 70-210 and they are both brilliant, 

 

If you go on Jason Laniers youtube there are some shoots he does with both these lenses

Man, it sort of sucks that I have to get an adapter though, those are like the price of the lens, but they seem to be worth it so far

 

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, cadabri said:

Man, it sort of sucks that I have to get an adapter though, those are like the price of the lens, but they seem to be worth it so far

 

What camera are you using?

 

[cadabri]

2 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

What camera are you using?

 

A7R2... Made the mistake of not getting a prime

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, cadabri said:

A7R2... Made the mistake of not getting a prime

There is a new budget FE 50 f1.8, also the 28mm f2 is an amazing amazing lens

You only need the cheaper LEA2 adpater for the A7R2

 

(you have my dream camera upgrade, so I hate you haha, I am on a 1st gen A7)

[cadabri]

4 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

There is a new budget FE 50 f1.8, also the 28mm f2 is an amazing amazing lens

You only need the cheaper LEA2 adpater for the A7R2

 

(you have my dream camera upgrade, so I hate you haha, I am on a 1st gen A7)

I would love to get a Sony brand name lens, but I would rather just save that money towards a high end Zeiss. So if I can get a bundle of like 4 or 5 lenses on ebay for 100, that would be the best case. 

[cadabri]

11 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

There is a new budget FE 50 f1.8, also the 28mm f2 is an amazing amazing lens

You only need the cheaper LEA2 adpater for the A7R2

 

(you have my dream camera upgrade, so I hate you haha, I am on a 1st gen A7)

Also don't go upgrading just yet, I am sure they will come out with a mark 3 series soon

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, cadabri said:

Also don't go upgrading just yet, I am sure they will come out with a mark 3 series soon

Yeah already seen the crazy rumours!

 

8 minutes ago, cadabri said:

I would love to get a Sony brand name lens, but I would rather just save that money towards a high end Zeiss. So if I can get a bundle of like 4 or 5 lenses on ebay for 100, that would be the best case. 

the 55 f1.8 is one of the sharpest lenses available on the market, and is in the top 10 lenses on DXO mark - and its cheaper than the batis etc

the 28 f2 is 100% worthy of being put on the A7R2 - seriously you underestimate it (and the 35 f2.8 but I prefer the 28mm and its cheaper too)

The new 50 f1.8 has nice image quality, its cheap, native mount, and perfectly usable 

but the beauty of the E mount is its adaptability, I have M42 screw mount lenses, Canon FD lenses and all sorts - can buy so cheap on ebay and experiment 

I love my Canon FD 50 f1.8 for example

[cadabri]

4 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

the 55 f1.8 is one of the sharpest lenses available on the market, and is in the top 10 lenses on DXO mark - and its cheaper than the batis etc

the 28 f2 is 100% worthy of being put on the A7R2 - seriously you underestimate it (and the 35 f2.8 but I prefer the 28mm and its cheaper too)

The new 50 f1.8 has nice image quality, its cheap, native mount, and perfectly usable 

but the beauty of the E mount is its adaptability, I have M42 screw mount lenses, Canon FD lenses and all sorts - can buy so cheap on ebay and experiment 

I love my Canon FD 50 f1.8 for example

Yeah, I still have a lot of thinking to do about which lens I will get. And it is not that I doubt the power of the lens, but rather I would that money go towards something better in the future. As of now I am just looking to spend at most 150, as I just spent 350 on a battery grip, as having a good lens with no battery life is rather useless

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, cadabri said:

Yeah, I still have a lot of thinking to do about which lens I will get. And it is not that I doubt the power of the lens, but rather I would that money go towards something better in the future. As of now I am just looking to spend at most 150, as I just spent 350 on a battery grip, as having a good lens with no battery life is rather useless

I never bother with my battery grip, it takes about 3 seconds to swap battery, so I almost always leave my battery grip at home so I can take a  smaller messenger bag

 

I dont find the battery life that bad, I have 4 batteries just incase I am doing a heavy day of video or too many photos ;D

Sure, but you need good glass as its 42mp, cheap glass will look worse on a good camera, as their resolving power is very low

The cheaper FE lenses are worth considering - if you are happy with MF then the Samyang lenses are INSANELY sharp and well priced

but yeah 

[cadabri]

4 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

I never bother with my battery grip, it takes about 3 seconds to swap battery, so I almost always leave my battery grip at home so I can take a  smaller messenger bag

 

I dont find the battery life that bad, I have 4 batteries just incase I am doing a heavy day of video or too many photos ;D

Sure, but you need good glass as its 42mp, cheap glass will look worse on a good camera, as their resolving power is very low

The cheaper FE lenses are worth considering - if you are happy with MF then the Samyang lenses are INSANELY sharp and well priced

but yeah 

Yeah, I dont mind manual focus as long as I can get a good shot. I just want the sharpest lens I can get for under 150

[ShadowCaptain]

3 minutes ago, cadabri said:

Yeah, I dont mind manual focus as long as I can get a good shot. I just want the sharpest lens I can get for under 150

its $250 but id get this

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-FE-50mm-F1-8-Lens/dp/B01DLMD5O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982018&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+fe+50

 

Since you will need an Adapter for any other AF lens it will cost more

The only other option is to go for legacy! So a Canon FD 50 f1.8 

and an adpater

https://www.amazon.com/Fotasy-NAFD-E-Mount-Camera-Adapter/dp/B00EDBT440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982069&sr=8-1&keywords=fd+to+e+mount

[cadabri]

7 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

its $250 but id get this

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-FE-50mm-F1-8-Lens/dp/B01DLMD5O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982018&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+fe+50

 

Since you will need an Adapter for any other AF lens it will cost more

The only other option is to go for legacy! So a Canon FD 50 f1.8 

and an adpater

https://www.amazon.com/Fotasy-NAFD-E-Mount-Camera-Adapter/dp/B00EDBT440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982069&sr=8-1&keywords=fd+to+e+mount

I was interested in it for a bit, but I saw some reviews saying focusing was super loud, the focusing was not internal, and it is just out of how much I am willing to spend right now, and if I cant get it for this trip (the one time I would really need it on a whim) I would rather just get something else, if that makes sense. Honestly I would prefer to stay away from canon because that is the opposite direction from where I am since my previous camera system was Nikon (No primes there either D:) and the minolta would at least be for another sony system.

 

But, if it comes to it, I will get it.

[cadabri]

14 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

its $250 but id get this

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-FE-50mm-F1-8-Lens/dp/B01DLMD5O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982018&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+fe+50

 

Since you will need an Adapter for any other AF lens it will cost more

The only other option is to go for legacy! So a Canon FD 50 f1.8 

and an adpater

https://www.amazon.com/Fotasy-NAFD-E-Mount-Camera-Adapter/dp/B00EDBT440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465982069&sr=8-1&keywords=fd+to+e+mount

Also it looks like the samyang are out of my range too

[ShadowCaptain]

13 minutes ago, cadabri said:

I was interested in it for a bit, but I saw some reviews saying focusing was super loud, the focusing was not internal, and it is just out of how much I am willing to spend right now, and if I cant get it for this trip (the one time I would really need it on a whim) I would rather just get something else, if that makes sense. Honestly I would prefer to stay away from canon because that is the opposite direction from where I am since my previous camera system was Nikon (No primes there either D:) and the minolta would at least be for another sony system.

 

But, if it comes to it, I will get it.

Its not quiet, but its a budget lens, and its not perfect but its cheap, you cant expect much, the IQ is where it counts and its really good for the price

 

Its not really anything to do with canon, its a 30 year old lens from the film camera era, it doesn't even mount on a canon DSLR

 

(that said, I will be getting a Canon adapter for my A7R2 (or 3) so I can use the 24-105L and other such canon lenses with AF as they work SUPER well

 

Honestly I cannot really recommend a $150 lens for a camera of that ilk, other than adapting old vintage glass

The minolta lenses are okay, but focusing is slowish and they suffer from vignetting and chromatic aberrations etc as they are old old old lenses - I love mine cos they were cheap, and I also use A mount glass like my Tamron 28-75 F2,8 and such so I had the LEA4 anyway (and I got it for like 1/3rd price as I know someone at Sony)

 

 

The main advantage of the A7 is that you can use lenses from anyone, so you should embrace that aspect of the camera, canon, nikon, pentax, voightlander, old film glass etc the WORLD is your oyster my friend

You can get a Canon FD 50 f1.8 for like $20 and the adapter for like $15



 

[cadabri]

4 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Its not quiet, but its a budget lens, and its not perfect but its cheap, you cant expect much, the IQ is where it counts and its really good for the price

 

Its not really anything to do with canon, its a 30 year old lens from the film camera era, it doesn't even mount on a canon DSLR

 

(that said, I will be getting a Canon adapter for my A7R2 (or 3) so I can use the 24-105L and other such canon lenses with AF as they work SUPER well

 

Honestly I cannot really recommend a $150 lens for a camera of that ilk, other than adapting old vintage glass

The minolta lenses are okay, but focusing is slowish and they suffer from vignetting and chromatic aberrations etc as they are old old old lenses - I love mine cos they were cheap, and I also use A mount glass like my Tamron 28-75 F2,8 and such so I had the LEA4 anyway (and I got it for like 1/3rd price as I know someone at Sony)

 

 

The main advantage of the A7 is that you can use lenses from anyone, so you should embrace that aspect of the camera, canon, nikon, pentax, voightlander, old film glass etc the WORLD is your oyster my friend

You can get a Canon FD 50 f1.8 for like $20 and the adapter for like $15



 

Yeah, I see that, thank you for your help. Yeah, I will have to look around some for some vintage lenses though. (Also I just learned that a lens can get fungus... Huh...)

[ShadowCaptain]

10 minutes ago, cadabri said:

Yeah, I see that, thank you for your help. Yeah, I will have to look around some for some vintage lenses though. (Also I just learned that a lens can get fungus... Huh...)

Yeah haha they can! if they get used they are normally fine

 

but some people shove lenses in their loft to never see light of day for like 10 years and they start to fall apart

[cadabri]

3 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Yeah haha they can! if they get used they are normally fine

 

but some people shove lenses in their loft to never see light of day for like 10 years and they start to fall apart

Yeah, well now comes the hard part of searching craigslist and ebay for hours 

[xQubeZx]

1 hour ago, cadabri said:

Yeah, well now comes the hard part of searching craigslist and ebay for hours 

I use two old nikon lenses on my A5000. (The dream would be an A7 but as a student I cant afford much so I rather spend money on lenses atm). But for the leneses I have a 50mm f/1.8 (Nikon lens series E, they are from the 80's or something like that) and a 100mm f/2.8. They can be bought on ebay or amazon for almost nothing and produce (imo) pretty good picture quality. You will need an adapter but you can order one from china or something for 15 euro that works just fine. 

[chaozbandit]

Tip: if you're looking at buying older glass, keep in mind that quality will vary from copy to copy. With the 50f1.7 in particular, there is severe variation and a couple cases of lemons given their age. I got my Maxxum 7000 / 50mm f1.7 / 70-210mm f4 combo for dirt cheap but the cost of the LA-EA4 adapter was nearly 4x as much as the two lenses.

 

My copies seem to be of decent quality but given the price, the sharpness is acceptable. On the A6000 it does tend to over-expose in direct sunlight but for moderate lighting and indoor portraiture, you should be fine.