Old Sigma or minolta lenses for sony a200

[Lee`]

Apologise for the similarity of topic to the other a200 starter lens thread.

I recently purchased, a sony a200 and I'm looking to get some 'new' lenses to play with. I have the choice of buying a pair of Sigma 28-105 zoom lens, and Sigma 75-300 lens, or a pair of minolta AF LENS 70/210 MM and AF LENS 35/70 MM. I believe the 70/210 is the beercan which I hear a lot about for the sony. The sigmas provide a wider range of EFLs, but I not too fussed about this, and would rather purchase better quality.

Note, I currently have the kit lens that comes with the sony a200 18/70 3.5/5.6. From what I've heard the kit lens is rather poor, so I should expect to see an improvement with either of the shorter EFL lenses above?

[BUFF]

The kit 18-70mm really isn't that bad (although there is always some sample variation) for your averag consumer use but yes, you can better it if you spend ££s.
check that the 70-210 is a constant f4 - if it is it's a beercan but Minolta also did 70-210mm F3.5-4.5 & F4.5-5.6 (2 versions).

Probably the best lens resource for Minolta AF/Sony Alpha fit lenses is http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp


re. the Sigmas - Sigma refuse to pay licencing fees to anyone but reverse engineer technology.
This means that they don't always get it 100% right & in particular whereas the later KM & Sony bodies are 100% backward compatible with all Minolta AF lenses some older Sigmas won't work with later bodies without being rechipped (assuming that Sigma UK still have stock of the required chip, they often are no longer available).
Make sure that you get a guarantee that they work properly on an A200 or can be returned for full refund if they don't.

[Lee`]

That's a very interesting point about the sigmas, from pictures I think the minolta is the beercan, and I think the shorter EFL lens is the 'good' one according to that DB.

[kopite]

The sigmas also have issues with gear stripping on the alphas.

If you dont want the beercan I`ll have it

Been desparate for one for ages but the prices keep getting stupid on ebay. Same with the 50mm 1.7 minolta lens.

[Gunbuster]

I know you are looking at old lenses, but my mate picked up a brand new Tamron 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 Di II LD for £60 from Bristol Cameras. I don't know how that compares to the used lenses, but it might be worth considering.

[kopite]

I've been looking at that lens on ebay. it gets really good revies on dyxum and now after checking on bristol cameras i`m tempted to buy it from there

[kopite]

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-ta...i-ld-macro.htm That is a great deal

[Gunbuster]

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-ta...i-ld-macro.htm That is a great deal

I just asked him about it, he hasn't used it much yet. The only negative so far is a slightly noisy auto focus.

Reviews are fairly good http://www.dyxum.com/reviews/lenses/...asp?IDLens=242

p.s. thats noise as in audible not photographic.

[kopite]

has he got any example shots taken with the lens?

[Lee`]

That's an interesting lens, but I think I prefer shorter EFL, my original thoughts were to get a 50mm, but these lenses came up locally for a good price. The minoltas seem to get very good reviews on;
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp

And from the sigmas lenses I can see on the same website, they don't seem to fair as well, so I'm leaning towards the minoltas.

koplite - if I get the beercan and don't like it, I'll stick it on here first.

[Gunbuster]

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-ta...i-ld-macro.htm That is a great deal

No sorry, he only got it this week.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I personally think that this "gear stripping" problem of Sigma lenses is a bit overblown IMHO. I have a 17-35mm EX DG and have access to a 135-400mm and I had no issues with any of the lenses. The 17-35mm is one of my most used lenses too.

If the 70-210 is the one which has an f4 constant aperture and does not change in length when zoomed it is the "Beercan". I have this lense and it is very sharp.

If the 35-70 is the f4.0 version with the Macro switch it makes a decent close up lense. I have one of these too and it is a sharp lense too but underrated!!

Another two lenses which I can reccommend are the Minolta 100-200mm/f4.5 and the 100-300mm/F4.5-5.6 APO. The latter for me is the ideal travel telephoto lense due to its small size and good optics.

[BUFF]

I personally think that this "gear stripping" problem of Sigma lenses is a bit overblown IMHO. I have a 17-35mm EX DG and have access to a 135-400mm and I had no issues with any of the lenses. The 17-35mm is one of my most used lenses too.

I don't having seen a friend have problems twice on both his 70-300mm APO & 50-500mm on his A100.
However, I'm sure that there are only certain lenses that it really affects not the whole range equally e.g. I've been using a 100-300mm F4 for 2 years (most of that on an A700) with no problems & I can't recall seeing 1 reported gear strip problem with that lens in any forum.

[kopite]

Just looking on ebay at lenses and there is a beercan for 150 quid.

wondering is the beercan really 100 quid better than the tamron lens? I know build quality is great on the beercan but is picture quality much better than the tamron?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I don't having seen a friend have problems twice on both his 70-300mm APO & 50-500mm on his A100.
However, I'm sure that there are only certain lenses that it really affects not the whole range equally e.g. I've been using a 100-300mm F4 for 2 years (most of that on an A700) with no problems & I can't recall seeing 1 reported gear strip problem with that lens in any forum.

I thought the issue was only on the A200 and newer Sony dSLRS as they have a more powerful autofocus motor. First time I have heard about this problem on a A100.


I personally think that the problem is due to the sometimes dodgy QC of Sigma lenses IMHO.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Just looking on ebay at lenses and there is a beercan for 150 quid.

wondering is the beercan really 100 quid better than the tamron lens? I know build quality is great on the beercan but is picture quality much better than the tamron?

In the last few months prices for Minolta lenses have really hone up. Luckily fairly recently I managed to get a 7000, 70-210mm/f4 "Beercan", a 50mm/f1.7 and some other accessories for just over a 100 quid.

It is a good lens but does do you do more wide angle photography or not?? The money maybe better invested on a wide angle lense for example. I personally think that £150 is way too steep. A price nearer to £100 is more acceptable IMHO.

The only thing is that the Tamron is a APS-C lens so there will be potentially more issues with vignetting and core softness than a 35mm lens like the 70-210mm/f4.