The best lenses

<p>Hello,<br>

I know almost nothing about the Minolta line of lenses. I shoot Nikon, Canon, other things... Pentax... etc. But never have I owned a Minolta until now. I snagged a Maxxum 7 for a bargain.<br>

What are the classic lenses for this camera? I know the modern Zeiss lenses work with it; but if you were bargain hunting and looking for good glass for the Minolta what would you recommend?</p>

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<p>You want "best lenses" or "good glass" for a bargain? Those lists are different. ;)</p>

<p>In my opinion:</p>

<p>The best cheap kit:</p>

<p>Standard zoom: 28-85mm, 35-70mm f/4, or 35-105mm (under $80)<br>

Tele zoom: 70-210mm f/4 (under $150)<br>

Prime: 50mm 1.7 (under $80)<br>

Tele prime: 100mm f/3.5 macro (Cosina/Promaster/etc) "Plastic Fantastic" (under $100)</p>

<p>But if you want "best" classic lenses....look for the 28/2, 35/2, 100/2, 200/2.8 and the 28-135mm</p>

<p>70-210mm f/4 Beercan, 28-85mm, 50mm 1.7,Minolta AF 35-105 F3.5.<br>

There is also a great site for Minolta/Sony users www.dyxum.com that has ratings on lenses and various equipment for Minolta/Alpha users. Hope this helps Phil</p>

<p>In addition to the lenses mentioned above, other excellent "bang for bucks" lenses are the 24-85 f3.5-4.5 (about $100), 100-200 f4.5 (about $75), 70-210 f3.5-4.5 ($100ish - not to be confused with the similar looking but slightly less desirable f4.5-5.6) and 35-200 xi f4.5-5.6 (about $150 and very good considering the optical compromises inherent to a 6x zoom).</p>

<p>Among the longer focal lengths the first generation 75-300 F4.5-5.6 aka the "big beercan" is also very highly regarded (sells for about $200) while the various newer versions are successively more pedestrian. There is a 100-300 F4.5-5.6 apo with a very good rep too and a bargain price (for an apo) at around $200. A unique choice in the system is the 500 f8 AF reflex (around $400) which has the usual catadioptric quirks but is a stellar performer among mirror lenses, and the only autofocus version ever made for regular 35mm/FF format.</p>

<p>And if price is no consideration, all of the longer Minolta tele apo's are top notch, unfortunately in straight $ numbers none have significantly depreciated from the days of production (some have actually gone up a bit)</p>

<p>Like Phil writes dyxum.com is the best site for researching the lens range & reviews for the alpha mount. The reviews have to be interpreted in terms of prior experience of the user (as always) but dyxum provides for that by asking reviewers to list their previous use of comparable lenses. Plus you get a good idea of the price range because most reviewers mention how much they paid for the lens in question.</p>

There is 80-200 mm f/2.8 (black, sans HS, "G") is apparently a optically good lens too for the price compared to white HS G (sans, well, black color:) lens, which in turn for the price is just as good as Minolta|Sony 70-200 mm f/2.8 G SSM lens.

<p>Look for the 200mm macro but that is very difficult to find</p>

<p>"And if price is no consideration, all of the longer Minolta tele apo's are top notch, unfortunately in straight $ numbers none have significantly depreciated from the days of production (some have actually gone up a bit)"<br>

I have a 200mm HS APO, and it (just about) puts my Zeiss lenses...no, can't say it, sorry. Let's say it draws very differently but my word, what a lens - all the resolution you could want in a lightish package.<br>

Many of them are much better than expected, the Minolta lenses, and very consistent across the range. The 20mm is another good one.</p>

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<p>strange but nobody mentioned 35-70/4 macro<br />that has good performance/price too<br>

personally i'd vote against 100-200/4.5<br />as too dark/too soft except @ 100mm</p>

<p>I have recently acquired the 35-105mm f3.5-4.5 original and it is one marvelous lens! I am surprised (to some extent) that this lens does not get more press. I understand the two big issues (1) 35mm not wide enough for APS-C and (2) Minimum focus distance of 1.5m.<br>

However, this is absolutely the most charming (yes charming) Minolta lens I have tried to date with the one exception - the 200mm f2.8 G APO HS. It is a unique lens with plenty of charactor. It is one of the better portrait zooms I have experienced. The way cool thing about it is that it cost me 0.04% of what I paid for the 24-70mm f2.8 ZA!</p>