 Carol Shagovac |
slr camera i just purchased a maxxum 50 with the extra 300mm lense because I was told the lense I will eventually upgrade to would be a 500mm which the lense they showed me was 549.00 but they said you get much better lighting. well any ways my question is that I wanted to go with the pentex zx-60 but he said they dont offer the 500mm lense for that camera, well they do but its the best lense he said for taking pictures of hawks because of the I think he said appature. well do you think I should of went with the zx-60 or do you agree I cant upgrade that with a high zoom lense over 300mm or do you think if I went with the pentax I still could of got a higher lense at another time? if you were looking for a upgrade later of a high lense like a 500mm would you of bought the maxxum which I can get a 500mm lense but he said my appature would be bad or would you stay with the maxxum and later but the 500mm lense?i dont know why but I think the zx-60 looked easier to use but also I thought I could go with a 2x converter with the maxxum 300mm lense but he said the 500mm lense would be better outcome for the quality of the pictures.i feel like I did the wrong thing by not getting the zx-60 could you please help me and let me know what you think.thank you so much
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Jon Close |
I don't think either Pentax or Minolta system is any better or worse for you. Canon or Nikon, too for that matter. All 4 major manufacturers have very similar features and quality at similar price ranges. Same for the lenses. All $200 70-300 f/4-5.6 zooms perform about the same, whether Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma, Tamron,... It's not clear from your post, but I suspect the Minolta 500mm lens you were shown is the 500mm f/8 Reflex. You can get 500mm f/8 reflex (ie. mirror) lenses from several manufacturers and they're share similar features - much smaller-lighter-less expsensive than conventional 500mm lens, a fixed non-adjustable aperture of f/8, and fairly sharp optics but out of focus highlights are rendered as doughnut shapes instead of blurry disks. The Minolta version is more expensive than most of these because it is the only one that has autofocus.
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Carol Shagovac |
so do you think if I went with the pentax zx-60 later on I can get a 500mm lense or higher or maybe even use a 2x converter with it? and im sorry the lense he told me was a 135-400mm apo af. but I think I might like at least 500mm or more later but you think I can go with pentax zx-60 and be just as good?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
are you talking about a sigma lens? and are you talking about the mirror lens or the 170-500mm zoom lens? I don't think sigma makes a lens to fit a pentax. pentax makes their own mirror lens that's a 1000mm and a 2000mm. Sigma makes a 600mm mirror lens to fit a minolta. You can upgrade with a pentax, it's just that sigma, tamron, and tokina don't usually make lenses to fit pentax. So any upgrades will have to be with pentax lenses most likely. You might have an easier time finding a lens with a minlota.
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Carol Shagovac |
thank you what upgrade would you go with a 600mm by sigma.i think I am gonna stay with this minolta maxxum 50 and upgrade later to at least a 500mm lense thank you
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
adorama has a sigma 600 mirror lens for $400. It's lighter and easier to handle than their 170-500 zoom. But the zoom is one of their apo lenses, so there's a chance that the 170-500 may be a bit sharper. But you'll spend $630 for it.
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Jon Close |
>>"You can upgrade with a pentax, it's just that sigma, tamron, and tokina don't usually make lenses to fit pentax. So any upgrades will have to be with pentax lenses most likely."<< ?????????? Virtually every lens in Sigma's current line is available in Pentax mount. The only ones that aren't are the 2 OS zooms (Optical Stabilization - a feature that only works with Canon and Nikon), and the 120-300 f/2.8 EX. In Tokina's line, only 2 wide angle lenses are not available in Pentax mount. All of their other AF and manual focus lenses are. Tamron's line of AF lenses is a bit spotty wrt Pentax mount. 2 of their 9 standard line AF lenses are available in Pentax mount, but only 3 of their 7 SP line is. The base line 1.4x and 2x TCs are available for Pentax, but not the SP Pro 1.4x and 2x. All of Tamron's "Adaptall" manual focus lenses are available for Pentax.
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Jon Close |
>>"Tamron's line of AF lenses is a bit spotty wrt Pentax mount. 2 of their 9 standard line AF lenses are available in Pentax mount..."<< D'oh! I meant 7 of their 9 std AF lenses are available in Pentax.
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Jon Close |
>>"Virtually every lens in Sigma's current line is available in Pentax mount. The only ones that aren't are the 2 OS zooms (Optical Stabilization - a feature that only works with Canon and Nikon), and the 120-300 f/2.8 EX."<< Man, I wish there was a way to edit corrections instead of making a new post. ;) Any way, there's only one OS zoom. The non-Pentax lenses from Sigma are the 80-400 OS, 120-300 f/2.8 EX and 300-800 f/5.6 EX. The latter 2 are available only with HSM internal af motor, which is only compatible with Canon and Nikon. None of these three lenses is available for Minolta either.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
I stand corrected. Still sounds like it's easier to find a lens to fit a minolta than it is to fit a pentax though. I just haven't seen anybody offering any lenses to with mounts to fit pentax. Either in store or on-line.
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Carol Shagovac |
thank you. I think I will go with the 600mm mirror lens for the minolta maxxum 50 thank you so much
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Carol Shagovac |
the sigma 170-500mm f5-6.30 apo asp af minola is that the 170-500mm lense your talking about that might be better to use then the 600mm mirror telephote f8 by sigma?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
yes,sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3 made to fit minolta.
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Carol Shagovac |
i forgot to ask if these lenses the 170-500mm and the 600mm mirror lense are the automatic or manual?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
the 170-500 is auto focus, the 600 mirror is manual focus. Go to www.adorama.com and click on the slr lenses. there's a table to the right side of the screen that you can click lens brand, which camera to fit, and lens type. So you click sigma,minolta,telephoto above 300, and telephoto zoom. It will show you a list and you can see more info about each lens.
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Stephen H |
Hi, Hope you don't mind my sharing a little. I just recently purchased a Sigma 170-500mm/4-6.3 APO lens on eBay for my Maxxum cameras and would take this lens any day over any mirror lens. Images are very sharp, it has a fast 6.3 aperture at 500mm, a nice zoom range from 170-500, auto focus, and a nice depth of field. All features lacking in a mirror lens.
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Carol Shagovac |
thank you so much that is great. is it hard to use?i have the maxxum 50 do you just put it on the end and use auto matic or manual I am not good with manual I just got it and I use automatic because im new at learning.thank you so much
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Carol Shagovac |
would the 500mm lense or the 500mm-1000mm lense be just as good and how do I know which will fit a minolta maxxum 50?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Which 500-1000mm lens are you talking about?
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Carol Shagovac |
im sorry it was a manual lense it was a minolta maxxum mnt 500mm mirror lens with 2x converter
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
A converter fits in between the lens and the camera, if that's one of your questions. The sigma mirror lens is a manual focus lens. But even if it wasn't, because it's f-stop is fixed at f/8, you can't change it, putting on a 2x converter makes it's effective f-stop into a f/16. And you need at least a f/5.6 for auto focus to work properly. It will fit a minolta camera because you get a lens with a minolta mount on it. If you had a nikon and you wanted the same kind of lens, you could get the same kind of lens except you would get one with a nikon mount put on it. If you order on-line, you order the lens and specify which camera mount you need on it. Got to add I'll have to check to make sure the mirror lens is f/8 and not something else.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
The mirror lens by sigma is a 600mm and it is f/8.
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Carol Shagovac |
if I just added a 2x converter to my minolta maxxum 50 would that be better then a 500mm af or a 600mm mirror lense?
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Carol Shagovac |
i hand held my maxxum 50 with the 300mm lense and I liked the pictures but I need to go longer distance to get pictures of hawks so would you just get a 2x converter or the 500mm or 600mm lense?i want to try to hand hold camera but if I cant with the extra distance then I dont mind if I have to use tripod its just alot harder. I also am trying to go a good way without spending alot of more money.
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Kai Eiselein |
Rather than getting a 500 mm lens, why not go with a f2.8 300 and add a 1.7x converter? That would make it an f4 510 mm. Much faster than the 500 you are looking at.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
She doesen't want to spend the $4000 for the f/2.8. If a 2x fits, but you'll be at f/11, and you won't have autofocus because of being at f/11. And converters take away some contrast. So if a 75-300 isn't at it's sharpest at the 300mm range, adding a converter will accentuate that. If money isn't a concern for me, and this is for me, I would get the longer lens instead of putting a converter on a 75-300. But if you don't want to spend any more money, converters run around $300
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Kai Eiselein |
Another option is to look at used lenses from a reputable dealer. A used 300 f4 Sigma can be had for less than $300. I've bought exactly 5 new lenses in 25 years, all the rest have been used. I've also been using Minolta for most of that time, from the sr1s to my current 800si models. I don't think the mfg lenses are much better than the 3rd party ones for the most part.
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Carol Shagovac |
thank you very much.a friend of mine has a 2x converter for my camera she said I can try. thank you very much
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