For Sony A-390 - Sony lens or Minolta Maxxum lens?

imanoob

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I have a Sony Alpha 390 and I wanted to buy a macro lens for it. I don't have a lot of experience, so I'm not sure which to buy. I think I'd want the 50mm macro, but I'm trying to save some money, so I started looking on Ebay. I found two lens':

Minolta Maxxum SAL50M28 50mm F/2.8 Macro Lens For Sony Alpha | eBay

Sony - SAL50M28 - 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens 027242694392 | eBay

There's a big difference in price, and I can only assume it's for a reason. I read that Minolta and Sony are affiliated with each other, and that the Minolta lens should be compatible with my Sony camera. I'm still hesitant to buy though...
How do these two lens' compare?
 
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They're the exact same lens. Minolta went under and Sony bought them because they wanted to make DSLR's but didn't know how to make lenses and Minolta already had plants with machinery in them.

So...in the case of those two lenses, they are identical in every way except the Sony has a new external casing and says "sony" on the side of it.
 
They're the exact same lens. Minolta went under and Sony bought them because they wanted to make DSLR's but didn't know how to make lenses and Minolta already had plants with machinery in them.

So...in the case of those two lenses, they are identical in every way except the Sony has a new external casing and says "sony" on the side of it.

They are not the same. Similar but not the same. Thats like saying a 89 ford is the same as a 2010 ford.
 
I'm willing to bet the only difference is the coating. The formula may very well be exactly the same.
 
I'm willing to bet the only difference is the coating. The formula may very well be exactly the same.

I bet the Minolta is still made better.
 
I use many vintage Minolta lenses, and for the most part they are pretty sharp. You can save a lot of $$ buying the old stuff, but just remember a few things: You won't have a modern coating so lens flare and ghosting can be big issues and in my experience, they tend to cast your photos a little cool in color.
 

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