Sony Alpha Lenses

[mindforge]

Out of curiosity I just wanted to ask for sure... Are all the Sony Alpha lenses interchangable? Can I use my Sony a200 lens with an a900?

If so, I want to get a pro lens. I am going to get an a900 next year at tax return time. I want to see reviews of the a900 first but I like the Sony System. Ok. What lens to start with?

What is my minimum investment in a professional quality lens and what lenses are good to take a look at?

What about older Minolta lenses?

[tegan]

Out of curiosity I just wanted to ask for sure... Are all the Sony Alpha lenses interchangable? Can I use my Sony a200 lens with an a900?

If so, I want to get a pro lens. I am going to get an a900 next year at tax return time. I want to see reviews of the a900 first but I like the Sony System. Ok. What lens to start with?

What is my minimum investment in a professional quality lens and what lenses are good to take a look at?

What about older Minolta lenses?

The cheapest pro lenses are some of the Minolta lenses. I once saw a Maxxum for sale with 2 lenses in a second hand store in a small town for $300. The lenses themselves were worth a lot more than that.

In the Minolta line the most high tech specialized portrait lens is the STF 135mm 2.8 lens with a 10 blade shutter that creates a very smooth transition between the focused and unfocused parts of a photo. The 50mm 1.7 prime is better than the 1.4 and can be had for under $100. The famous lens nicknamed the beercan: 70mm to 210mm f.4 is also considered a great lens and very sharp. The white line with a 200mm 2.8 lens also has a number of pro lenses. I once had a 28mm 2.8 prime that produced almost zero distortion in most shots of people and buildings.

Tokina has also made some great lenses for the Minolta Maxxum that are compatible with the Sony Alpha as well.

The Sony G lenses are pro quality. I have the 70mm to 300mm 4.5_5.6 which produces excellent colour and detail even at 80 feet through the haze on a beach. I have never put it on a tripod either. The new 70mm to 400mm 4.5_5.6 is supposed to be equally impressive.

The all around lens I use is the Sigma f. 2.8 18mm to 50mm macro. With a good polarizer on it all the time, it seems to be very sharp even at f. 2.8 and a slow shutterspeed of 1/10 sec. There are some minor problems such as with a 72mm end on a very wide angle lens, flare can happen when shooting at some angles toward bright light if you do not have your lens hood on. The autofocus by the way is noisier than Sony lenses but very fast.

The Zeiss lenses are of course high quality too and even Tamron has improved its glass and has a top 70mm to 200mm 2.8 that tested out at excellent IQ at all focal lengths.

Tegan