Minolta Lenses on a99ii

bonjac wrote: I just bought a SONY a99ii and would like to know how Minolta alpha lenses do perform on it. I have always liked the Minolta lenses and would like to try them on this camera if they perform well. Recommendations would be welcome. Thanks, Jack

Congrats on the purchase of your new toy. I used to have an A99ii and can confirm that all A-mount AF lenses will work fine on it. It is hard to recommend a lens without knowing what you like to shoot.

regards

Charles

Edited by mambo - 29 April 2022 at 02:53

The only downside of Minolta lenses is they do not support the on sensor AF points - the dedicated points are fine in most circumstances.

Like Charles said, what are you looking for and what price range. I could say the 200/4G Macro lens - but if you do sports and have a limited budget, that would not be good advice
And like Phil said, have a look at the lens database.

Enjoy your new toy, it is really nice camera imho.

Congrats on your purchase.

Minolta lenses are the reason I have stayed with Sony from the A700, A77ii, A99 and since its release, the A99ii. All but two of my lenses are Minolta, and neither of those are sony actually. lol There are many most excellent Sony lenses, and I have had several but my activity in the hobby is reduced the last couple of years and I have scaled down.

Recommendations?   I will split the list in two. Relatively cheap.... and premium. I will skip several cheap but good lenses you would likely upgrade.

Relatively cheap....
Minolta 35-105 original. (important that it be the old 1985 version)
Crazy sharp, lovely colour. Strong weird distortion at wide end - totally fine for landscapes as long as you don't want to mosaic. Awesome one lens outing choice.
Minolta 100/2.8 Macro. Any version... or Sony - same lens. There are no bad macro lenses - this one is very good though.

Premium
Minolta 80-200 2.8 - either black version or HS G.
The best Minolta zoom lens they made. Outstanding colour, bokeh and sharpness.   The HS G is a bit loud focusing.
Prefer primes?
Minolta 200 2.8. Possibly the best 200/2.8 made by anyone. Compact. Crazy sharp. lovely colour. Outsanding Bokeh. My copy of 80-200 2.8 very close though.... close enough that I no longer have the prime.
Minolta 85/1.4 Any version. I have the oldest one.... and its a gem.

Enjoy your A99ii and Minolta lens journey!

Mike

For these lenses mentioned I would opt for the Sony version:
Sony 20/2.8
Sony 50/1.4
Sony 50/2.8 Macro
Sony 24-105/3.5-4.5
Because these use the on sensor AF points improving the AF.

addy landzaat wrote: For these lenses mentioned I would opt for the Sony version: Sony 20/2.8 Sony 50/1.4 Sony 50/2.8 Macro Sony 24-105/3.5-4.5 Because these use the on sensor AF points improving the AF.

Scrub the 24-105mm off the list for hybrid AF compatible lenses .
I have both the Sony and Minolta versions and its only the inner focus area functional .

http://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/support/ilc/products/ilca-99m2/en/index.html?id=cscs_lens

I bought a CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 to use with my a99ii , for a lighter walk around lens my old Minolta 28-105mm RS does a good job .
No hybrid A/F , but does a good job , A/F seems consistent and spot on .

The 500 Reflex scores a “1”?? OP please Ignore that!

Phil Wood wrote: I use Minolta lenses on my A99ii all the time. Check out the Dyxum lens database for an idea of which lenses are better than average.

Agreed. When I was committed to the A-mount I built up a nice collection of what I'd say, were classic Minolta lenses. An effective rule of thumb was to treat every lens with an overall score of 4.5 or better, as a 'classic'. There's still a bit of sample variation in the actual purchases to look out for, but it was a good guiding principle.