Camera Labs

I was wondering if you could tell me if lens adapters are any good as I'm new to photography I've got a sony a200 and I was wondering if i should buy a lens adapter so I could use nikon lenses as sony don't have that many lenses on offer compared to there competitors.

Welcome to the forums!
Keep in mind that you will lose autofocus if you mount a nikon lens with an adapter, and will probably have to adjust the aperture manually as well, which isn't even possible on the newer G lenses.

All in all, I don't think it's worth it, really.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

To save money I'll probably a few some minolta lenses and sony lens. I've looked on other sites and they don't recommend lens adapters.

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Sony A200.

Between all the old Minolta AF lenses and new Sony A-mount lenses there aren't that many lens types that are inaccessible to Alpha users. Some tilt/shift lenses, F1.2 lenses and superteles lenses come to mind but you won't be using lens adapters with those anyways.
On the other hand Alpha users have access to superb Carl Zeiss zoom lenses, 85F1.4, 135F1.8 and the unique STF.
What super duper Nikon lens are you craving because I usually find it is the Canon, Nikon users craving the Zeiss or STF.

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Alpha100+18-200, DSC HX-1, Epson 3880
Alpha900+VG CZ 16-35f2.8, 24-70f2.8,Sony 70-200G2.8 SSM 70-300G SSM, 100f2.8 macro, 135mmSTF, 1.4,2XTC
HVL-F58AMX4 HVL-F56AM Minolta 3600HS-D, AF50mm1.7 AF28-105xi3.5-4.5 Gitzo1541T Cullman Mag25 Ballhead,Kata 3n1-30 backpak

I'd have to agree - you'd need to be either an extremely specialist photographer with a very specific lens need that didn't happen to be available with Sony, or be at National Geographic levels where you actually need a selection of 3 dozen lenses at various focal lengths and speeds. Otherwise, I'd really find it hard to believe that 90% of all photographers in the world could find anything they needed in a Sony A-mount.

As mentioned, don't just look at lenses made by Sony. First off, be sure to add the very large backlog of Minolta lenses to your viewing selection. Then, include the nice selections available from Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina. Throw in a few specialty lenses by other manufacturers, and there's very little you'd miss between Sony and Nikon. Not that I know someone couldn't pull a lens out of Nikon's collection and point out that Sony's mount doesn't have that EXACT match...but if the difference is between an 85mm F2.8 macro and a 90mm F2.8 macro...I'd consider that splitting hairs a bit. Also consider there are a sizeable number of lenses available for Sony that don't exist in Canon or Nikon mounts either - like stabilized primes under 200mm (24, 28, 30, 35mm from F1.4 - F2. or stabilized ultrawide zooms.

My lens collection comes from all over the A-mount world - and I haven't had a problem in getting a very diverse selection of lenses covering many needs - an ultrawide (10-24mm), low light primes (30mm F1.4, 50mm F1.7), midrange macro (90mm F2., ultrazoom (18-250mm), tele prime (300mm F4), big telephoto zoom (200-500mm). I've got 1 Sony branded lens, 2 Minolta lenses, 3 Tamron lenses, and a Sigma lens.

Check out places like KEH.com and B&H's used lens departments - not only plenty of lenses of all lengths, but pretty cheap too!

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
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