minolta lens on non minolta cameras?

[figment97]

hello out there... i have a older minolta lens that i bought prior to the digital age, and i've been told 1) that this lens would work with a dslr and 2) that this lens would work on a camera brand other than a minolta.

can anyone please confirm these? or is there more to it?

thanks in advance...

 

[ukcatfan]

It depends on the mount for the lens. They are not universal, but sometimes multiple brands use the same mount. What brand of camera was it made for?

Kevin

 

[figment97]

i have an older "film" minolta camera that i've used prior to going digital. haven't quite got up the gumption to purchase a dslr til now. is there somewhere out there that i can find out more about these mounts... and which cameras are the same?

thanks.

 

[extreme8]

Since you say you purchased it just prior to the "digital age" I assume it's an auto focus lens so I'll base my statements on that guess. If it's a manual focus you're out of luck.

The Minolta A mount lens will only fit a Minolta camera.
Unfortunately Minolta is no longer in the camera business, they sold all of their assets to Sony.
Fortunately Sony has promised to continue the use of the Minolta mount in their future camera bodies.

That leaves you with 2 options - find a used Minolta 5D or 7D, or go with the new Sony Alpha a100.
I would recommend against the used Minolta route. Those bodies do have some probems with failures of the antishake assemblies and frequent shutter failures. Add to that the fact that repair parts are few and getting fewer, and it seems like a poor choice. I personally sold off all of my Minolta gear and bought into the Nikon D200 series after my 5D died and couldn't be repaired.
The Sony camera is nice and is getting great reviews (Pop Photo camera of the year). They haven't officially announced any other bodies yet but people are expecting one in the more pro range, and one in the lower end consumer range in the near future.
Sony has announced their plans to go after Canon & Nikon in the DSLR market so you know they are in it for the long haul.

 

[figment97]

great. thanks for the info. yes... my lens in an AF.... so i'll turn my attention to the sony's. thanks again.

 

[ukcatfan]

If it is just an older kit lens, you might not want to limit yourself to Sony. Most major brands offer a new kit lens for around $100 more than just buying the body alone. I got my kit lens for my Pentax K100D for only $17 more than the body alone. If it is really nice older lens and you want to consider other brands, you could try to Ebay it. Another thing to think about is if your current lens will be wide enough for your style. The Sony has a crop factor of 1.5x meaning your range of your lens has to be multiplied by that. If it starts at 28mm on film, it is now starts at 42mm on digital. That would not be wide enough for my style of shooting. The digital kit lenses typically start at 18mm which converts out to around 27-28mm. All entry level DSLRs have a crop factor from around 1.5x to around 2.0x.

Kevin

 

[figment97]

holy buckets! information that i would not have, if i hadn't stopped and posted my question.

thanks to both of you.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

If it is just an older kit lens, you might not want to limit yourself to Sony.

I'll second that opinion. Unless the lens is something really special (did it cost $500+?) then I'd review all of the major camera lineups.

 

[figment97]

I'll second that opinion. Unless the lens is something really special (did it cost $500+?) then I'd review all of the major camera lineups.

i think it was pretty close... it was a maxxum 80-330 (AF) or something like that. it's been awhile since i used the old camera, so the numbers might be off.

also, what is meant by "kit lens"? does it just mean the lens that comes with the body?

love taking pictures... no nothing about camera talk.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

also, what is meant by "kit lens"? does it just mean the lens that comes with the body?

Yeah, it's usually an inexpensive zoom, typically on the wider end, that can be bought with the body. Most bodies can be purchased with or without the kit lens.