Daily Lens

What are most using as a daily lens? I'm outfitting either an XG-A

or an x300 as my pack-along camera and am in need of suggestions. I

currently have a 50mm and a 70-200. My 28-70 died of a broken

aperture.

Just got back from DC and Harper's Ferry where I exclusively used the 28 and 50; the 50 only saw use when I couldn't approach my subject (like the White House from the front fence-line) and I would have liked something wider. Around town I almost exclusively use the 50 (shooting people). My 100 sees little use and my 200 even less.

Since you mention it, I will...these are most often on an XGM and on an SRT101 with my second choice of film.

Depends on where I am and what i'm doing. This last vacation the 135 stayed on the camera most of the time - but my shots were mostly of kids at a modest distance outdoors. I used the 70-300 zoom a bit, too, especially for birds, but that's getting replaced soon with longer primes.

 

Over the winter, however, with more of my shooting indoors, it was the 24 and 50/1.4 that got most of the workout.

My everyday camera is an XG-9 with the good old MD 50/1.7. I take it everywhere and 50mm can be a good focal length in almost any situation. For a x-country trip this summer I might add a 24/2.8 for some wide angle scenics. I never travel with a zoom lens; too bulky.

My favourite light set is a XD-7 with MD 28mm 2.8, MD 50mm 1.4 and MC7 2x macro TC, which turns the 50mm into a 100mm f3.4 tele that can focus from infinity down to 1:1 by simply turning the focusing ring.

 

Sometimes I take a 24mm 2.8 instead of the 28mm, or if I expect a lot of tele opportunities, I'll take a MD 75-200mm f4.5. The overwhelming majority of my shots is taken with these lenses.

Rokkor 50mm, although recently I have really come to appreciate the slightly wider, smaller, lighter and very economical Minolta 45mm f2.0. I'm looking forward to publication in The Rokkor Files of the review of the 45mm lenses. I have taken hundreds of shots with the 45 in the last couple of years, and I think it must be close technically to the performance of the 50mm lenses between f2.8 and f8. A good one costs about USD 35.00 these days.

Frank please tell us about the MC7 2x macro TC; it sounds very interesting. What kind of quality macros do you get with it verses say a dedicated macro or a tele with extension? And where can one find one of these gems?

I've been using an A2 for the past year and its 28mm-200mm seems ideal. It's given me access to most situations, and my daydreams about a 7D include a 28-200 (Tamron I guess, since I don't think K-M makes one).

Jason - I had my macro TC for a number of years, and there are usually some on <a href="http://search.ebay.com/minolta-macro-teleconverter_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQcatrefZC6QQsojsZ1QQfromZR10QQsacatZ-1QQcatrefZC6QQsargnZ-1QQsaslcZ2QQsadisZ200QQfposZ44240QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1">eBay</a>. I have seen them branded as Vivitar, Kenko and Teleplus, but it looks like it's the same piece of equipment in either case. What it is, is basically a good quality 7-element TC with a variable extension tube at the front of the TC, which means you get a macro lens with the working distance of a 100mm lens, but you only need the extension for a 50mm. Unlike dedicated Minolta 100mm macro lenses, a 50mm with the TC can reach 1:1 without additional tubes or diopters, which can be very convenient! Corner sharpness might not be quite as good as in a dedicated macro lens, but I have never done any systematic testing. I have been very happy with the quality I got from the TC, and for many years didn't see the need to get a dedicated macro lens. However, since I recently started doing a lot of aquarium photography I complemented my setup with a MD 100mm f/4: "<i>"My name is Frank, I am an equipment junkie!</i>" ;-)</p>

 

More info on these TCs is <a href="http://www.geocities.com/mikkonis/macros.html#Third%20party%20macro">here</a> (scroll down to bottom of page).</p>

 

Some pictures taken with the macro TC/MD 50mm 1.4 combination:</p>

 

<img src="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/342523-md.jpg" alt="fly"></p>

 

<img src="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3319232-lg.jpg" alt="London">

What say a choice for MD 24-35/3.5, This lens should complement the setup real fine.

Wonderful! I think I remember seeing one a year or so ago cruising through the bay look for "cheap stuff" I could buy to indulge my then newly acquired MINOLTA-lust. Thanks.

I run around with a 28-70mm G lens mounted on a Maxxum 9.

Frank,

Great shots with the Macro TC. I had never heard of it before-very interesting.