Minolta MD Lens on Dynax 5D

Wanting to know if it is possible to use Minolta MD lens's on a

Minolta digital camera like the Dynax 5D or 7D.

I know you can get AF-MD Teleconvertors but I dont know if they will

work and expose properly in a digital camera.

Basically I have a fine collection of Minolta MD lens's and want to

know if I can use them with digital photography.

Thanks

Anthony Berni

Hi Anthony

In the manual for the 5D says that MD and MC lenses can not be used.

But if you have a converter I can imagine that you have to do all manually, you will not have any automatic.

Rgds

Gustavo

Yes, you can use MC and MD lenses on the 5D and 7D using Minolta's M/A converters, with manual diaphragm, manual focusing and manual or aperture priority auto exposure.

These are 2x converters, so the focal lengths are doubled, effective maximum aperture halved, and optical quality reduced to some extent. There are also independent (usually unbranded) adapters which are typically around 1.3x, but the glass in these is likely to be lower quality than the Minolta ones (often only one or two elements), though they are cheaper.

You can also use MC/MD lenses with an adapter on the Olympus E-1, E-300 and E-500... this adapter (see cameraquest.com) doesn't require any glass, but there are some compatibility problems, apparently.

.

To quote from my own perennial web page at

http://www.geocities.com/peterblaise/minoltamf/

"Minolta MF lenses on AF cameras?"

A frequent inquiry:

> does anyone know if there exists an

> adaptor to allow MC or MD lenses to be

> used on Minolta AF camera bodies?

Yes, Minolta made two 2x teleconverter adapters of superlative optical qualities to fit Minolta manual focus lenses onto Minolta AF cameras, one for under 300mm lenses (S) and one for over 300mm lenses (L). Look for these Minolta brand descriptions and part numbers:

Minolta 2x M/A CONVERTER-S 2583-107

... and ...

Minolta 2x M/A CONVERTER-L 2584-107

Use http://www.google.com/ to search for sources, ignore the responses that claim to take your order and let you know when it is back in stock - they are search engine spam. The price range is new ~US$350 or so, to used at whatever anyone thinks it's worth - NOT a popular or fast moving item.

Like all lens adapters, they may or may not physically fit a particular lens, and like all adapters, they may or may not degrade the image forming qualities of a lens below your own standards. Be prepared to "buy it and try it". Other manufacturer's made ~1.1x to ~1.6x teleconverter adapters of varying optical qualities to fit Minolta manual focus lenses to Minolta auto focus cameras, as you were sent to on eBay to see, and Sigma made one that even auto focuses when used on the Minolta AF series cameras - the 5000/7000/9000 (but NOT on later series Minolta auto focus cameras).

http://www.srbfilm.co.uk/ is a reliable place to purchase new adapters on demand to fit your wonderful Minolta manual focus lenses to just about anything, or to fit just about any lens to a Minolta manual focus camera, including reverse adapters and filter rings for reversed Minolta manual focus lenses.

Note that when any lens is fitted to another camera, almost all auto features are not implemented, and all lenses become manual focus, manual stop down metering, and often have a different focal length and different maximum aperture due to needing a teleconverter to accommodate the different distances from the lens mount to the film for each camera system.

Tamron is the only exception to this with their Adaptall 2 series of lenses which fit all Minolta 35mm SLR cameras, manual and auto focus, with adapters that have NO teleconverter effect, though they do loose their auto aperture operation on auto focus cameras and become manual stop down metering lenses. See http://www.tamron.com/35mm/adaptall.htm for their modern series of Minolta-fit manual focus lenses. If you are planning on one set of lenses to use on different manufacturer's camera bodies, this is the only way to go.

However, most people prefer the benefits of fully functional features from their investment in Minolta-fit manual focus lenses, so they eventually settle down on a matching Minolta manual focus camera body for them, especially when they realize that there is usually a teleconverter effect, and the loss of automatic features, when adapting lenses to fit between different camera body styles, and so they just "settle" on an inexpensive Minolta manual focus camera to use with their Minolta manual focus lenses, and do not try to use such lenses elsewhere.

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Peter Blaise Monahon

Minolta Vivitar Tamron Fujifilm Ilford Kodak Adobe Hewlett Packard et cetera Photographer

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