Camera Labs

I have several manual (non-AF) Minolta lenses from my XE-7 days. Now I am thinking of buying a Sony A-100 camera with the Sony 18-200 lens as my primary lens. I have 2 questions: (1) Can I use my old, non-AF Minolta lenses on the Sony -- if I use the Sony in Manual mode? Or are the non-AF Minolta lenses now totally useless? (2) Is the Sony 18-200 lens a good lens? Pros and cons of this lens? Would I save money (but get same results) with Sigma 18-200 lens? Would really appreciate all inputs.

Hi Debsmee, welcome to the Cameralabs forums. Those are great questions, and I'll ask Sony and get back to you.

In the meantime though, if the lenses are the standard Minolta A-Type bayonet fittings, then they should certainly work on the A100. The question though is what modes will work. As you've guessed, they won't offer auto-focus, but they're also unlikely to support the latest metering modes either. And don't forget like other most DSLRs, you'll be mutliplying the focal lengths of all of them by 1.5 times.

Could you let us know the actual lenses in question and I'll put the question to Sony.

As for the Sony 18-200mm, I heard a rumour it's a rebranded Sigma 18-200mm, in which case I'd get whichever was cheapest. It is just a rumour though!

Gordon

Gordon,
Many thanks for your prompt reply. I love this forum and look forward to continued communication in the future.

I am currently away from my home base. I will return home around May 23 and write back to you with the details of the Minolta lenses I have.

In the meantime, I have another question. I have found a store in the US that advertises the Sony A100 with Sony 18-200 lens for $919, a very good price. Is it OK for me to give the store's name and ask for comments from your readers about their experience with this store?

Thanks again!

DebSmee

A good place to find out about US stores is http://www.resellerratings.com/ . I'm going to make a wild stab in the dark and guess that the website you've seen the camera on is ExpressCameras.com. If it is have a read of this.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Phil,

You are worth your weight in gold!

The site I had seen was FotoConnection.com. The resellerratings.com site you mentioned ranks this company as one of the worst in the US. The customer comments were horrible! I am GLAD that I had asked for inputs from this forum. You have saved me a huge amount of hassle and heartache. A million thanks for your timely help.

I am now looking for a good vendor first, good price second.

DebSmee

Same type of site as the other one I mentioned. If you want to order from the US one of the best places is supposed to be http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

They are a legit company who just happen to have the package you're after here. I haven't used them myself but have read lots of good reports about them. If you aren't in the US you need to allow for the possibility of being charged import duty if you order from there. In the UK that would be about 20% extra.

_________________
Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Hi guys, yep B&H are pretty good.

Adorama and Amazon.com are also great if you're in the USA, and if you click through to their sites from the links in our reviews, you also get to help support this site!

Gordon

Gordon,

I finally bought the Sony A100 with the Sony 18-200 mm lens. Got it 2 days ago from B&H Camera. Excellent service, by the way.

Back to my original question: can I use my non-AF lenses for Minolta on the Sony? I have the following lenses (all bayonet mount and manual focus):

1) Minolta MC Rokkor-X 50 mm, f1.7
2) Vivitar Series 1 Macro 28-80 mm, f2.8-3.5
3) JC Penney Compact Macro 80-200 mm, f4.5-8.0

Anything you can find out from your contacts in Sony regarding their usability on Sony A100 will be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!

DebSmee

Hi Debsmee, I'll ask them, but suspect they'll only be able to comment on the Minolta model.

If you have the A100 though, you're in the perfect position to try them and tell us!

Gordon

You should be able to use the Rokkor with an MD adapter, I have seen those on ebay but I don't know if this means that you can't focus to infinity. I don't know about the other ones but I know that there also is an M42 adapter available for a-mount.

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Minolta primes: 2.8/20 2.8/24 1.7/50 2.8/135
Minolta zooms: 28-135 35-70 70-210(beercan) kit
Minolta cameras: Dynax 5D 7000
M42: Pentax Asahi S-M-C Takumar 1.4/50 and 2.8/105 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35 Industar-61L/Z Kiron 2.8/105 Macro

Sorry Gordon, didn't see your post before I posted

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Minolta primes: 2.8/20 2.8/24 1.7/50 2.8/135
Minolta zooms: 28-135 35-70 70-210(beercan) kit
Minolta cameras: Dynax 5D 7000
M42: Pentax Asahi S-M-C Takumar 1.4/50 and 2.8/105 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35 Industar-61L/Z Kiron 2.8/105 Macro