The Minolta A mount is finally dead :-(

I allready have all the a-mount lenses i want. Well, maybe some day I will replace my white minolta 400mm that died decade ago.
As for the bodies, I just can't stand any evf, that doesn't work for me.  I have the minolta DSLR and the sony with an optical viewfinder. 
Maybe I'll buy an A900 if I find one dirt cheap.
And that's it. 
technically for people like me, A-mount was dead a very long time ago.

Hopefully there’s life after dead.

Many are still using their old and newer bodies and will keep doing that as long as they are satisfied with the quality.

There is even more life for the old lenses. I have just recently bought a second hand Sony La-ea4 adapter and converted this one with a Monster adapter circuit board to La-ea4R. It brings a lot of more focusing points together with a faster focusing speed. Still have to run more tests, but the Minolta AF 100mm macro f2.8 , 100-300 AF D, 70-210 f4 beercan, 80-200 f2.8 high speed and 400 f4 high speed are a lot faster then before , and correct focusing. Haven’t done tests under different light conditions.

Happy me, hope to find more good A mount glass in the near future at reasonable prices.

Long live A-mount on my E-mount bodies. (And my old Minoltas)

MikeInOr wrote:

My Maxxum 7000 with crossed X's from 1985 isn't dead. Neither are a dozen other A-mount bodies that I own.

I am sorry to hear that your A-mount camera is dead... but mine definitely aren't!

oh no, I didn't mean it like that. The 7D is still my go to DSLR, the one I really enjoy using in most situations.
I meant it's dead in the sense I didn't care that they stopped making A-mount lenses: beside my dead white 400mm that I'll eventually replace if I find a cheap one, I actually have all the lenses I need, and I'm happy with them.

All the A-mount gear are not dead as long as people still use the gear.  I still have a lot of Minolta gear, including a working 7D SLR.  I love the pentaprism  optical viewfinder.  As for Minolta, I even have a Minolta brand dash cam on my Toyota.  I know,  the Minolta label may not be from a company related to Konica Minolta, but it's a great little camera.   Maybe, there is some Minolta DNA in this knock off.

Sad news indeed.
But then again, that LA-EA5 adapter looks pretty nifty, so there's still plenty of life left in the A-mount lenses themselves.
I can't see the point of selling off half a dozen to a dozen A-mount lenses - most of which do a decent enough job for still photography - in order to spend it on one or two E-mount lenses.
Regards,
Renato

I take back what I said above.
.
I've been checking the lens compatibility of the LA-EA5 at the Sony site at
Lens Compatibility with LA-EA5
When I choose a compatible camera listed in the DPreview article, click on it, then click on any of the Konica Minolta lenses listed after the Sony SAL lenses, it says in the first line
"Autofocus Cannot Be Used".
.
So, if their chart is to be believed, Sony have made the LA-EA5 adapter solely to work with Sony SAL lenses and abandoned KM lenses and presumably the older Minolta lenses.
.
If so, this is truly despicable.
Regards,
Renato

Renato1 wrote:

I take back what I said above.
.
I've been checking the lens compatibility of the LA-EA5 at the Sony site at
Lens Compatibility with LA-EA5
When I choose a compatible camera listed in the DPreview article, click on it, then click on any of the Konica Minolta lenses listed after the Sony SAL lenses, it says in the first line
"Autofocus Cannot Be Used".
.
So, if their chart is to be believed, Sony have made the LA-EA5 adapter solely to work with Sony SAL lenses and abandoned KM lenses and presumably the older Minolta lenses.
.
If so, this is truly despicable.

You need to check the chart carefully. LA-EA5 autofocus with screw drive lenses is limited to just four newly released cameras: A1, A7RIV, A7RIVA, and A6600. This has been widely discussed ... and yes, it is pretty despicable if Sony doesn't promptly provide firmware updates for several more existing cameras so they can support that.

Even if such a thing happens, the adapter still does not provide autofocus during video with any camera/lens combination.

Thanks very much for that explanation.
That is good news also about the Sigma and Tamrons working, albeit in a tiny range of cameras.
Regards,
Renato
.
.
MikeInOr wrote:

Renato1 wrote:

I take back what I said above.
.
I've been checking the lens compatibility of the LA-EA5 at the Sony site at
Lens Compatibility with LA-EA5
When I choose a compatible camera listed in the DPreview article, click on it, then click on any of the Konica Minolta lenses listed after the Sony SAL lenses, it says in the first line
"Autofocus Cannot Be Used".
.
So, if their chart is to be believed, Sony have made the LA-EA5 adapter solely to work with Sony SAL lenses and abandoned KM lenses and presumably the older Minolta lenses.
.
If so, this is truly despicable.
Regards,
Renato

My Sony LE-EA5 and A7RIV work with all of my dozen or so screw drive A-Mount lenses including Sigma and Tamron screw focus lenses with the exception of my single mid 90's Minolta powerzoom lens. When I researched the LE-EA5 adapter there was a note specifically excluding the mid 90's powerzoom lenses.

I believe screw drive autofocusing is only supported on the A7RIV and A6600 bodies. Other bodies support motor drive lenses with the LE-EA5 lenses but only the A7RIV and 6600 support autofocus with the screw focus lenses.

Thanks very much for that information.
I've been out of action for about seven months or so due to back issues and operations, so haven't been paying much attention to anything.
.
It does seem remarkable that Sony releases a new gadget that only works as fully as it can with its more expensive newest cameras. There may be hope though. I bought a humble NEX 3 a few weeks ago for A$50 to keep in the trunk of my car, and when I updated it, saw that its latest update from many years ago, made it compatible with the LA-EA4.
.
Let's hope they get around to doing the same for a ream of current cameras.
.
Interesting about the video never autofocusing. Though I suspect that most people with the older lenses never envisoned using them for video, and wouldn't be perturbed.
Regards,
Renato
sybersitizen wrote:

Renato1 wrote:

I take back what I said above.
.
I've been checking the lens compatibility of the LA-EA5 at the Sony site at
Lens Compatibility with LA-EA5
When I choose a compatible camera listed in the DPreview article, click on it, then click on any of the Konica Minolta lenses listed after the Sony SAL lenses, it says in the first line
"Autofocus Cannot Be Used".
.
So, if their chart is to be believed, Sony have made the LA-EA5 adapter solely to work with Sony SAL lenses and abandoned KM lenses and presumably the older Minolta lenses.
.
If so, this is truly despicable.

You need to check the chart carefully. LA-EA5 autofocus with screw drive lenses is limited to just four newly released cameras: A1, A7RIV, A7RIVA, and A6600. This has been widely discussed ... and yes, it is pretty despicable if Sony doesn't promptly provide firmware updates for several more existing cameras so they can support that.

Even if such a thing happens, the adapter still does not provide autofocus during video with any camera/lens combination.