WTB: Minolta 100-300mm

[mitsugirly]

I'm looking for a Minolta Maxum auto focus 100-300mm.

thanks

[TPF Sponsor]

[dxqcanada]

Which model ?

Do you mean this one ?

or the xi model ?

[mitsugirly]

Hmm, I didn't realize there were 2 types. What's the difference?

[dxqcanada]

The xi has a motorized zoom.
Yes, it is a bit odd ... but Minolta thought it was a cool thing to have coupled with the camera ... to automatically zoom when the subject moves closer/further away.

I am not sure of the quality differences.

There are also a couple of APO's.

Info:

Minolta*AF 100-300 F4.5-5.6*2606-100 lens for Sony Alpha - Minolta camera mount
Minolta*AF 100-300 xi F4.5-5.6*2621-110 lens for Sony Alpha - Minolta camera mount

[mitsugirly]

As long as they work on my camera. I have a Sony a300.

Do you have either of these?

[dxqcanada]

Nope.

I have the Minolta Maxxum 28-135mm f/4-4.5 and a Sigma 300mm f/4.0 APO.

I skipped the x-300mm lens.

My wife has the Sony 70-300mm (non-G) and it performs very well.

From what I remember (when I used to work in a camera store), the Minolta Maxxum 100-300mm's were optically good. We did not sell too many of the xi lenses as it was a lot higher in price and not too many people thought the motorized zoom was worth it.

The 100-300mm xi is better than the 100-300mm and the 100-300mm APO ... and the 75-300mm (beercan) is better than all three.

All Minolta Maxxum lenses work on the Sony Alpha series.

[mitsugirly]

I was reading up on the reviews (from the site you gave me) and a lot of people liked the quality of the xi and the results...however, there seem to be a lot of complaints because it was very hard to manual focus this lens when needed. So even tho it was a better lens, they were complaining about that part. I'm thinking I might want one that I can manual focus instead??

Does anyone have any experience on this xi lens and would you recommend it over the manual focus ones?

Also, can you explain the difference of what the APO and non-G etc. mean? I'm new to this and didn't realize there were so many different styles in just one lens.

I first thought about the 75-300mm or the 70-300mm and I thought I read that they were not as good (the reviews)...especially anything after around 200-250mm. I realize that there is going to be some softening toward the 300mm range because it's the cheaper lens. But the reviews I was reading said the 100-300 had more clearer range for farther...if that makes sense.

[mitsugirly]

Does anyone have a site that I can go to in order to learn and read up on the different kinds of lens that you can buy and what they all do as far as function. I need something that is going to explain what an APO is, what a G lens is and so forth. There has to be something out there that gives a break down of lens with a description. Also that will tell you about macro lens, fish eye, filters etc. Put in normal understandable terms.

[dxqcanada]

This site talks about stuff that affects optics.

APO - Apochromatic

APO lenses correct for focus of different wavelengths of light (chromatic aberration)

Sony uses the G designation for their higher-end optics ... Canon uses L.

This site talks about the designations.

There are a number of sites on the web that can explain about lenses ... example this site.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks. I ended up buying one tonight.

[dxqcanada]

Which one ?

[mitsugirly]

I bought the Minolta 100-300mm

Picture link here: Is this a good lens to buy?
Pictures at the very bottom of the thread

[bigedham]

Thanks. I ended up buying one tonight.

I was wondering how the 100-300 lense focused? I was told by a dealer that the focal plan was differen't, that it wouldn't focus.
I'm trying to by a Sony a300 and think the minolta lense will work on this camera.
Have you had any trouble with this lense yet? Does it focus?

Jack

[mitsugirly]

Yes you can use any of the Minolta Maxxum AF lens on the Sony camera.

I haven't had any problems with it focusing yet. I live in a northern state, so we have a lot of snow and it's cold right now, so I haven't really been able to go out and try it properly. It's suppose to get warmer and some of the snow melt this weekend, so I thought I would try it out.

I'll let you know how it goes but I've taken some just outside the house and it didn't have a problem.

[bigedham]

Thanks for the answer.

Jack

PS: They (Adorama) said it wouldn't focus because of the differen't focal planes of the CCD chip and film.