Minolta Lenses on a99ii

Focus Aid is (I think) what I described for the 9000 film camera: a green light in the viewfinder lights up when you have focus in the sensor area.

And I found my lens. I put it on the A900 and no focus detection, no connection to a lens detected, and no aperture to select in A mode.

I then put it on the A65 and this worked a treat, insofar as it can - focus sensors lit up (green square in the middle and the green dot at the bottom left of the viewfinder. Lens detected, and aperture set in A mode.

I can only guess that 'programable' means that you can set an aperture and the camera will go to that aperture when you press the shutter release.

Maybe someone who knows about the working of the cameras will know better or more.

angora wrote: had no intention whatsoever to trigger a Sigma 24/2.8 craze. sorry for stirring this up? exciting though- TY for going through so much trouble! starting to sound creepy...

Creepy?

Sigmas have a well deserved reputation for dodgy compatibility, there are a number that will work on some bodies and not others. I doubt that Sony did much to add compatibility with later bodies - why would they bother? I guess they just, by chance, changed things that caused the issues. I have a Sigma 60-200 zoom that I got dirt cheap. It didn't work on my A350 but sprang into life when I got an A58. IIRC it also works with an A900 - suggesting different incompatibilities to the 24/2.8 MF.

I certainly wouldn't recommend the 24/2,8 MF version, the AF is far better if my experience is anything to go my - almost on a par with the Minolta. I have a number of older A-mount Sigma AF primes, they are all pretty good, just not as good as the Minolta alternatives and not a lot cheaper these days. They have all worked when I've tried to use them, this would mainly be on the A900 and A99ii, I'm not sure.

Bottom line is that you're not missing anything by opting for Minolta ahead of Sigma for lenses produced in the Minolta era.

There was a Superwide introduced in (I have read) 1981. The Superwide II came in 1986, presumably in MF for A-mount. The A-mount AF took a long time coming if it was not produced until 1998.