Konica Minolta MD 50 mm F/1.7 Lens For Sony/Minolta

Sony makes great DSLR cameras, but nothing beats mounting a quality Minolta or Konica Minolta Lens to the DSLR. Why, well they are for the most part all metal bodies, and the great glass that made Minolta famous! Plus here on eBay those fantastic lenses are very affordable. Why not try one or two to round out your Sony/Minolta system.
Specifically, you can't go wrong with a 50mm 1.7 or 1.4 lens! Mounted to a ASP-C DSLR you have a very fast 75mm (approx.) mid range prime telephoto. Or try a lens that incorporates a 70mm focal length, and enjoy a 35mm equivalent of a 105mm lens, which is the best focal length for stunning portraits. Just remember when you are selecting a 35mm lens, the equivalent focal length on an ASP-C dslr is approximately 1.5X the 35mm (Full Frame) focal length...This makes a 400mm Minolta a powerful 600mm telephoto. Shop around and you will find f3.5 or faster long telephoto at a mere fraction of the cost of the new 'plastic body' lenses. I recomend that you confine your search to AF (Auto Focus) lenses to insure that you can take stunning photos with a minimum of fiddling with manual focus, and it also insures that the lens will be compatible with the Sony alpha mounting system.

The Minolta Maxxum 50mm f/1.7 Prime lens is a light and fast addition to my photo backpack. This lens was designed for film cameras and lacks the rear element coatings to reduce the effect of reflections from the digital sensor but the lens is otherwise optically well designed. Despite having 7 aperture blades, the bokeh at full aperture is not particularly pleasing to my eye. Nevertheless, the images this lens produces are sharper than those produced bu either of my zoom lenses. This is a good lens for low-light/existing-light conditions and is mechanically well designed. The manual focus ring is diminutive and hard (impossible?) to use with gloves in an effective manner. Autofocus works quickly and relatively quietly though I choose to use manual for most of my shooting to ensure maximum sharpness at the subject feature I choose. I would buy this lens again and feel it is a worthy investment for owners of Sony's Alpha line of cameras. I use the a700 body for all my work.

NOTE: Camera: Minolta Maxxum 5D. I bought this lens primarily for headshot photography - indoors and outside. Other lenses I own are the Minolta 70-210mm 1:4 (32) (beercan) and the Tamron 17 - 50mm 1:2.8.

Minolta's 50mm f1.7 prime (meaning fixed - it cannot be zoomed in/out) lens is hands down the sharpest lens I have yet used on my Minolta Maxxum 5D. I can now see every detail on a subject. The eyes of my subjects are especially clear. I do not know if it's because this lens is a prime, or not, but it focuses much faster than my other two lenses.
And at f1.7, this lens is a master in low-light situations. I can keep my ISO low and still get beautifully lit low-light photographs.

I do not have anything bad to say about this lens. If you own a Konica Minolta/Sony Alpha digital camera, this lens is a must in your arsenal. You can find it for a fantastic price on ebay.

I have a SONY A700 and wanted a fast, cheap lens to do existing light photography.

The standard Maxxum 50 mm (effective focal length of 75 mm) F1.7-22 lens is wonderful and much less expensive than the SONY lenses.

True, it's a fixed focal length lens, but tell me where you can get an f1.7 zoom at any price mere mortals could afford.

Randy Photo is a great seller also.

This lens is killer sharp! There is something about a prime lens that can't be duplicated by any zoom, especially the kit lens that comes with Sony cameras. Don't get me wrong - the kit lens is not a bad lens, it's just that this is sooo good! It's only a half stop slower than an f1.4 lens, and about $300.00 less so it's hard to go wrong. The large aperture seems to soak up light in low light situations, and the bokeh (ability to intentionally throw the background out of focus) is fabulous. If you have a Sony Alpha SLR, this lens is a must for your kit.