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Looking for bargain digital body for old Konicas and Minoltas


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Hi everybody. It's all in the title. While we find dozens of threads about which vintage lens is good to be used on Dig bodies, I 'm asking the knowledgeable which bargain (even "old" ) secondhand body would you suggest to use my great MF lenses. Most important to me is focus peaking. I mean to use Minoltas MD and Hexanons, so no DSLR, but mirrorless (I think ?) Thanks a lot for your thoughts.
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I assume you want to use the full image circle. The cheapest body I can think of is the Sony A7. Even by today's standards it produces very good files. I used to have one and I wish I had kept it, even though I wouldn't use it much. My favourite superseded camera in that class is the Leica SL, but that costs more than many new cameras.

 

If you want to buy a new camera, the A7III is a great deal. Not the most exciting camera but it does so much. The Panasonic S1 is great but it's large. The SL2 is terrific but it's quite expensive.

 

I can't comment on the other brands really. I follow this photographer who now uses a Nikon Z7. Avoid the Canon bodies, unless you get a massive discount.

 

Fuji makes the best APS-C cameras, if you want the smaller sensor. I shoot Micro 4/3 these days. But I don't think that a Micro 4/3 camera would be useful for legacy lenses unless you wanted a very narrow AOV.

 

Some SLR and RF lenses cover the MFD sensors, like the one in the Fuji GFX system. But that's expensive territory, and probably not what you're looking for.

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Hi Karim. Thanks a lot. I ll have a look at the Sony A7. Do you know which brand shares the same mount with which please ? I already have a canon DSLR for my olympus, contax and pentax lenses. I believe the MDs, CFD and Konicas can only be adapted to mirrorless, but it looks complicated to me. This is why I ask for a mirrorless body for them. Thanks again. Happy shooting.
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The Flange Focal Distance of the lens in question needs to be longer than the flange focal distance of the camera it is mounted to (plus space for an adaptor) in order to obtain full usage and infinity focus of the lens without the use of optics in the adaptor. Here is a good guide:

 

Guide to Understanding Flange Focal Distance

 

The Konica at 40.5mm and Minolta MD at 43.5mm are both shorter than all current DSLR camera's flange focal distance. There are adaptors that incorporate optics to mount those lenses on Nikon and Canon DSLRs, but that is not something I would do if I had other options. As described above, the Sony A7 looks that the best bargain digital camera to do what you want. I like the A7II for IBIS and other improvements over the 1st version, but its your money.

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Best 'bargain', in my mind, would be an APSc Fuji, X-E1 or X-T1 (or anything else). Should be able to get an X-E1 for under 200€/$/£.

 

Ok, so there's a focal length change, but it's not the end of the world. Or you could use a speedbooster.

 

Reason I say Fuji is the manual/classic control layout.

 

But other cameras may be more to your taste.

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Please, could someone tell me which makes share the same mount (and are compatible) I know about Olympus and panasonic. What about Sony and Fuji ? Thanks again !

Only Olympus & Panasonic (micro 4/3).

 

I think Sony use the same mount (E mount) for APSc and full frame 35mm. So do Nikon, in mirrorless (Z mount). Edited to add, these are not compatible with eachother though.

 

Technically, micro 4/3 lenses could be adapted to some of the other mirrorless mounts, but there's little point, as the image circle is smaller.

 

Konica and Minolta glass is popular with some Fuji users. I've used Konica lenses on Fuji and Panasonic with good results.

 

Fuji is Fuji (X mount), APSc only.

 

Only Pentax has kept (so far) the same mount from SLR for their one and only mirrorless camera (K mount).

Edited by steve_gallimore|1
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Steve mentioned the Speedbooster (aka FLR, or focal length reducer). I completely forgot to mention this! However, they are expensive, even the crappy ones, compared to a decent, standard adapter with no optics. If all of your old lenses had the same mount, it might be worth looking at that as a solution.

 

But really, just get the A7 (or anything in that series) and a set of decent adapters from Fotodiox, Metabones, etc. Lots of people here know a bit more about adapters than I do. Just IMHO!

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