Sony to EOS?

cjstepney · Jan 12, 2012

I have a little problem and I have posted it in the sections of these forums where it should be, and this is one of those places.

I have an A350 with over $1,700 worth of beautiful lenses, and I will soon have an EOS550D for film. Are there any lens size adapters for Sony (Minolta) to EOS?

Thanks for any help whatsoever I receive.

Colin
Vancouver, BC

jonason · Jan 12, 2012

AFAIK you can't. Sony alpha register distance is half a millimeter bigger than EOS'. In theory this means that it COULD be possible to convert both mounts with a simple mount adapter. However, the adapter would have to be half a mi limiter thick, which in practice, is not really feasible.

Thicker adapters could work but you would loose the ability to focus on infinite, which would render many lenses useless. I never heard of such adapters. Don't know if anybody uses such a thing.

Adapters with an optical element will work, but I hear people saying they are not really worth it as they introduce extra optical elements with questionable quality. They are teleconverters after all.

If lens reuse is the main issue, sony NEX cameras or micro 4/3 will have adapters for pretty much anything and might be a better option.

Of course, all this usually means that you'll have to use your camera in manual mode, or, in some cases aperture priority.

Hope this helps, I'm kind of a begginer in this subject too. Lately I have been experimenting some ancient lens on my canon eos 1100d and it has been a joy.

cjstepney · Jan 12, 2012

It is fully worth it for me - my father just informed me that the lenses I own are worth well over $2,100. If you run into anything, please let me know!

thanks!

Digirame · Jan 12, 2012

I've been following the Sony line of cameras for a long time. The Sony A350 had some problems as stated in Dpreview's review where it said "image quality suffers above ISO 400 (from both noise and excessive noise reduction)" for example. But Sony lately has been making a lot of excellent camera bodies. So, why don't you just get a better up-to-date Sony model? I own Olympus DSLR cameras plus now a Canon T2i (550D) with two EF-S lenses. I did enjoy the Sony H2 P&S camera for a long time...now watching Sony do some wonderful things lately. But we can't afford them all.

You could get another Sony DSLR body and the Canon T2i (550D) with some inexpensive (but quality) lenses, if it fits within your budget. We can't have enough toys.

Shorthand · Jan 13, 2012

With that kind of lens collection at hand, it really sounds like you should be using a Sony SLT or NEX camera for video instead of a Canon.

The SLT and NEX series both have very respectable video capabilities as well.

Why on Earth did you choose a Canon solution for video with that kind of lens collection?

007peter · Jan 13, 2012

cjstepney said:
I have an A350 with over $1,700 worth of beautiful lenses, and I will soon have an EOS550D for film. Are there any lens size adapters for Sony (Minolta) to EOS?
Colin

NO AUTO-FOCUSING adapter. Minolta lens are screw-driven and relying on in-camera AF motor to drive the gears and move the lens into focus. This process is slow, gear-grinding, and a battery drained. Canon camera body do not have any AF motor to drive the Minolta lens, so NO AF. Canon's AF motor resides in lens itself.

If you have these Minolta primes, then its worth keeping and buy adapter for them.

Minolta 16mm f/2.8 Fish Eyes
Minolta 20mm f/2.8
Minolta 24mm f/2.8
Minolta 28mm f/2.0 (fun lens)
Minolta 35mm f/1.4 G (amazing)
Minolta 35mm f/2.0
Minolta 85mm f/1.4 G - worth $1000 - $1300 on used market
Minolta 100mm f/2 - worth between $500 - $700
Minolta 135mm STF - KING OF BOKEH, worth $1000 - $1300
Minolta 135mm f/2.8
Minolta 200mm f/2.8 HS APO G - worth pretty penny, very rare
Minolta 200mm f/2.8 APO
- Minolta 300mm f/2.8 HS APO G - worth pretty penny, very rare
Minolta 300mm f/2.8 APO

Most Minolta plastic zoom are crap. I find them soft, prone to severe CA, and lacks contrast. Keep an eye out for METAL BODY zoom, they're fantastic. My favorite are:

Minolta 24-105mm f3.5-f4 (FF, so small make canon 24-105 look like a fat lady)
Minolta 28-75mm f/2.8 (my favorite lens, many great photo from this lens)
Minolta 28-135mm F4-4.5 ( Big Beer Can )
Minolta 100-200mm F4.5
Minolta 70-210mm F4 (beer can)

That is most of the keepers. If they're minolta zoom, and they're platic. I would give them away.

cjstepney · Jan 15, 2012

007peter said:
cjstepney said:

I have an A350 with over $1,700 worth of beautiful lenses, and I will soon have an EOS550D for film. Are there any lens size adapters for Sony (Minolta) to EOS?
Colin

Click to expand...

NO AUTO-FOCUSING adapter. Minolta lens are screw-driven and relying on in-camera AF motor to drive the gears and move the lens into focus. This process is slow, gear-grinding, and a battery drained. Canon camera body do not have any AF motor to drive the Minolta lens, so NO AF. Canon's AF motor resides in lens itself.

If you have these Minolta primes, then its worth keeping and buy adapter for them.

Minolta 16mm f/2.8 Fish Eyes

Minolta 20mm f/2.8

Minolta 24mm f/2.8

Minolta 28mm f/2.0 (fun lens)

Minolta 35mm f/1.4 G (amazing)

Minolta 35mm f/2.0

Minolta 85mm f/1.4 G - worth $1000 - $1300 on used market

Minolta 100mm f/2 - worth between $500 - $700

Minolta 135mm STF - KING OF BOKEH, worth $1000 - $1300

Minolta 135mm f/2.8

Minolta 200mm f/2.8 HS APO G - worth pretty penny, very rare

Minolta 200mm f/2.8 APO

Minolta 300mm f/2.8 HS APO G - worth pretty penny, very rare

Minolta 300mm f/2.8 APO

Most Minolta plastic zoom are crap. I find them soft, prone to severe CA, and lacks contrast. Keep an eye out for METAL BODY zoom, they're fantastic. My favorite are:

Minolta 24-105mm f3.5-f4 (FF, so small make canon 24-105 look like a fat lady)

Minolta 28-75mm f/2.8 (my favorite lens, many great photo from this lens)

Minolta 28-135mm F4-4.5 ( Big Beer Can )

Minolta 100-200mm F4.5

Minolta 70-210mm F4 (beer can)

That is most of the keepers. If they're minolta zoom, and they're platic. I would give them away.

Thanks! This will help me a huge pile! The Sony forum folks weren't too helpful, I think I'll stay over here at this new-found haven.

If you could only have two lenses, which would they be and why? I'm wondering this because that's about my expenditure limit.

cjstepney · Jan 15, 2012

Digirame said:
You could get another Sony DSLR body and the Canon T2i (550D) with some inexpensive (but quality) lenses, if it fits within your budget. We can't have enough toys.

About the toys; no kidding. About the cameras... another body? My bank account has so many thousands in it that I wouldn't need one hand to count them. I'm thinking about just getting the T2i.

With "inexpensive but quality" lenses, which ones do you recommend? I'm new to the Canon Camera community from the Sony community (and thank heavens I switched), so I don't know my way around good lenses here yet.

cjstepney · Jan 15, 2012

Shorthand said:
With that kind of lens collection at hand, it really sounds like you should be using a Sony SLT or NEX camera for video instead of a Canon.

The SLT and NEX series both have very respectable video capabilities as well.

Why on Earth did you choose a Canon solution for video with that kind of lens collection?

Why?

I love Canons, and since my first digital (crappy 1.4mp) camera, I used Canon. I find their colour far more brilliant, which is what I need for shooting movies in nature.

Digirame · Jan 15, 2012

Before I bought my Canon T2i, I researched the available lenses. I found the relatively inexpensive EF-S lenses to be high quality...they are lightweight too compared to a lot of other lenses. The EF-S 55-250mm IS lens is regarded to be a better lens than the starter EF-S 18-55mm IS lens according to SLRGear website. I'm over there looking at the lenses, and learning about the sweet spots of each lens (I have other brand lenses also).

I also have the 18-55mm lens that I bought with the body. I'd like to get another Canon T2i eventually, maybe in a year's time for that lens. I don't like to change lenses, so I'd eventually like to have at least two Canon crop cameras with EF-S lenses. I do things like that gradually, so I can find the best quality equipment for the least cost, so I can afford it and keep within budget. Sometimes I've purchased used DSLR equipment (for my Olympus system) and that has worked out well too.

I bought the EF-S 55-250mm IS lens for $150 (USD) as a bundled price. So for a quality starter kit, the Canon T2i with the 18-55mm and 55-250m IS lenses is the way to go (to keep the costs down) in my opinion. If you have additional funds, the EF-S 15-85mm IS lens is supposed to be super. I checked other brands and looked at their kit lenses and some of them really weren't as good. What's nice about the EF-S 55-250mm IS "cheapy" (but excellent) lens is that we have a range of 88 to 400mm EFL. Some people have said that the EF-S 55-250mm IS lens is almost series "L" quality, which is remarkable considering the price. Again, check the SLRGear website...so you also can learn about the sweet spots.

Digirame · Jan 15, 2012

I haven't used the movie feature yet from the Canon T2i, but I heard it's excellent. I just eventually need to get a larger memory card and a backup battery. I'll have to try it out and experiment some.

cjstepney · Jan 15, 2012

Digirame said:
Before I bought my Canon T2i, I researched the available lenses. I found the relatively inexpensive EF-S lenses to be high quality...they are lightweight too compared to a lot of other lenses. The EF-S 55-250mm IS lens is regarded to be a better lens than the starter EF-S 18-55mm IS lens according to SLRGear website. I'm over there looking at the lenses, and learning about the sweet spots of each lens (I have other brand lenses also).

I also have the 18-55mm lens that I bought with the body. I'd like to get another Canon T2i eventually, maybe in a year's time for that lens. I don't like to change lenses, so I'd eventually like to have at least two Canon crop cameras with EF-S lenses. I do things like that gradually, so I can find the best quality equipment for the least cost, so I can afford it and keep within budget. Sometimes I've purchased used DSLR equipment (for my Olympus system) and that has worked out well too.

I bought the EF-S 55-250mm IS lens for $150 (USD) as a bundled price. So for a quality starter kit, the Canon T2i with the 18-55mm and 55-250m IS lenses is the way to go (to keep the costs down) in my opinion. If you have additional funds, the EF-S 15-85mm IS lens is supposed to be super. I checked other brands and looked at their kit lenses and some of them really weren't as good. What's nice about the EF-S 55-250mm IS "cheapy" (but excellent) lens is that we have a range of 88 to 400mm EFL. Some people have said that the EF-S 55-250mm IS lens is almost series "L" quality, which is remarkable considering the price. Again, check the SLRGear website...so you also can learn about the sweet spots.

Is it actually possible to buy it new somewhere with a different kit lens (for instance, the 55-250mm, which is the one that I want for film). Also, about the film - just try it for a really short clip of some trees blowing in the wind sometime for a test - the colour will blow you through the roof. My school uses the T2i's and there is nothing like them.

Thanks for so much help!

I've started searching a starter kit online with the 55-250mm lens on top of the other.

Flying Fish · Jan 18, 2012

The Canon EF-S 55-250 f/4-5.6 IS is a great bargain at its price and it's pretty decent, but it doesn't compare with say a Canon EF 70-200 F/2.8L (I have both), and not even remotely with the newer 70-200 f/2.8 II IS L.

The color and contrast are better on the L lenses and they focus faster, and the sharpness is truly amazing. But you pay for that. The 55-250 is an excellent choice as a starter lens; I don't think you can beat it without paying more than twice as much.

FF

Digirame · Jan 18, 2012

For that person or persons that said the EF-S 55-250mm IS lens has "almost" the quality of a series L lens (and I can't remember the exact words), I don't think that they went overboard. It's all what we mean by "almost". We know for example (as a broad generalization) that when we pay ten times the price for a high grade lens (over the cost of nice quality less expensive lenses), that things are not going to be ten times better. We get better quality for a lot more cost; there's a premium for that. It also depends on specifically the type of lenses we are discussing...so there can be no argument for something as general as that.

That's great you have nice lenses. What type of photos do you take? I just started using Canon as a second system. I enjoy the versatility of having more than one type of brand. I'm glad I made the decision to branch out some that way. It gives us a larger perspective of the types of photos that these different brands (with their large array of equipment) can provide for us.

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