I'm new to forum-lens questions

[Cdubs]

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum. I am a proud owner of a Sony A700 camera! I bought it because I own a minolta maxxum 400si. I've had my A700 camera now for over a year. I have two lenses, a Sigma 70-210 4-5.6, and the Minolta Lens that came with my 400si when I purchased it over 10 years ago. I have many questions and thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer, but here are my first few questions.

My Sigma lens is now broken. I took it to my local camera store because the lens makes a grinding noise on my A700 and won't focus or let me take pictures. (it just started doing it about a month or so now, so it did work with the A700 initially). Should I bother repairing it? Or just junk it? The man at the store told me it would probably cost me as much to fix it as to buy a new lens. (He didn't really look at it though, he just made a "general" observation.) So if anyone has feedback on your experience with lens repair and cost that would be great.

Ok my second question. I have obviously been on the lookout for a new lens now. I've been researching lenses on the net and came across this forum. The man at the store initially showed me the Sony A75300 lens and luckily I didn't buy it right away. Ok, so I'm now looking at this "Beercan" lens (had to do more research to find out exactly what everyone is referring too!) and I'm pretty much sold. I've seen some on ebay for $150->300 but read on another forum that one cannot know when you buy on ebay that you would be getting a "legit/real" minolta maxxum beercan lens. Is there anything I should look out for when looking at the lens? Also, any other suggestions you may have as to where to get one?


That's it for now.

Cdubs

[zrfraser]

Try KEH.com. They have great prices on lenses and you can be assured you are getting the real thing.

[Cdubs]

Thanks for that, I'm going to check there! I'm so excited about this lens now, another question, what is the difference then between an f2.8 and f4 lens (for example sony 70-200 f 2.8 and the beercan lens?) which would be a "better" lens? I've been taking pictures for quite some time but have never really stopped to learn what all the "lingo" means, so if you can explain it to me as simple as possible I would be forever appreciative.

[zrfraser]

F2.8 would be more sensitive to light allowing you to use a faster shutter speed, which is handy in sports.

[OldClicker]

Thanks for that, I'm going to check there! I'm so excited about this lens now, another question, what is the difference then between an f2.8 and f4 lens (for example sony 70-200 f 2.8 and the beercan lens?) which would be a "better" lens? I've been taking pictures for quite some time but have never really stopped to learn what all the "lingo" means, so if you can explain it to me as simple as possible I would be forever appreciative.

Ther lower the f-stop number, the larger the maximum aperture (hole) and the more light is let in. - TF

[Canuck935]

I got my beercan off of ebay. I'm not sure how a beercan could be "faked," so as long as you know what you are looking for it will be the real thing. I think sometimes people get confused since there are several versions of the 70-210 and also several lenses that may be referred to as the "beercan."

The one "true" beercan is the Minolta 70-210 f/4. See dyxum.com for the most comprehensive a-mount lens database known to man. Here is the listing for the beercan.

The differences between the f/2.8 and f/4 lenses are speed, size, weight, and cost, with the f/2.8 ranking higher in all categories:

Speed: The Sony 70-200 f/2.8 has the larger constant aperture, allowing more light into the lens for faster focusing and shooting. It also incorporates SSM in-lens focusing motor for smoother, faster focusing. The Minolta 70-210 of course has a smaller aperture (f/4) and uses the body-based screw type focusing motor.

Size: The beercan is 168mm long with 55mm filter width. The f/2.8 however, is 196mm long with 77mm front filter width.

Weight: The beercan is 695g, and the f/2.8 is twice as heavy at 1340g.

Cost: My beercan cost me $200 (used), and the Sony 70-200 f/2.8 rings in at $1700

So what the beercan gives you is bang for the buck as a low cost alternative to the f/2.8's. Of course, there's also the reason why the beercan is so highly regarded. One word: Bokeh. I would buy the beercan for it's bokeh characteristics alone.

From an image quality and usability perspective, the Sony/Minolta 70-200 f/2.8 takes the cake. The fast aperture, SSM focusing with focus hold and range limiters, as well as the modern optics all trump the beercan. The optical weakness of the beercan is chromatic abberation (CA), which shows up as purple fringing along high contrast edges. Avoid these situations though, and the beercan will reward you.

Check out the beercan thread in this forum for some examples. Also, here's the flickr beercan group with hundreds of examples, though this group also includes other lenses that are sometimes referred to as beercans.

Oh, and welcome to the forum! :thumbsup:

[pisco]

I have 2 beercans both bought through ebay. The 2nd lens is way better looking (no scratches at all on the body neither glass) but is not as sharp at f/4. I guess it's a matter of luck.

I read that the fast autofocusing of the A700 might strip the focusing system of some Sigma lenses. You can get really cheap Sony 18-70 lenses on ebay from all the guys like me that bought kit lenses and then bought the CZ16-80.

[Cdubs]

Thanks for all the responses! It's nice to have somewhere to go to and read all about this stuff and ask questions! I appreciate all your answers!! I didn't realize the price tag difference before I asked the question about the lenses. WOW!! I guess I will have to dream about the f2.8 lens, and purchase the minolta beercan. I read about bokeh (just today after reading posts about it), so I've learned quite a bit today. haha! I still get all this fstop and aperture and shutter speed stuff mixed up. But I'm trying to play around with my camera more, and not just use the "auto" mode, so I can actually start to take somewhat impressive pictures.

That stipping of the focusing system sounds exactly right. I was going to open the lens myself and see what I could find, but I don't think I'll bother. Maybe if I'm bored one day.

So the other lens I'm thinking about is the minolta 50mm f1.7. (because of what I've read on this board). Any other recommendations?

[Canuck935]

The 50 f/1.7 is probably by far the most popular Minolta lens. They're widely available, cheap, and fast. I have the f/1.4 version and I admit I hardly use it, but it's nice to have when the situation arises or when I'm feeling especially creative.

As for other lenses, it depends on your budget and your shooting style. If you are looking for good budget lenses, a good one to look into is the Konica-Minolta or Tamron 28-75 f/2.8. It'll cost more than the beercan + 50 f/1.7 put together, but it's a great value in terms of bang for the buck.

[Cdubs]

I've been searching for the beercan and I came across this question on one of the auctions. The auction is for a "Minolta Sony Digital Beercan 70-210mm F4 AF Lens (22)" (not sure what the 22 means), and one of the questions to the seller is

Q: Is this a "double crossed x" version? Or does it have the macro function? 10-Dec-08
A: macro,thx

What does that mean? I'm so afraid of purchasing the wrong thing (it would be just my luck!!) HELP!!

[OldClicker]

I've been searching for the beercan and I came across this question on one of the auctions. The auction is for a "Minolta Sony Digital Beercan 70-210mm F4 AF Lens (22)" (not sure what the 22 means), and one of the questions to the seller is

Q: Is this a "double crossed x" version? Or does it have the macro function? 10-Dec-08
A: macro,thx

What does that mean? I'm so afraid of purchasing the wrong thing (it would be just my luck!!) HELP!!

The (22) is the minimum f-stop.

When Minolta originally came out with the Maxxum line, they used a double xx that slanted down and only used one line for both Xs. Exxon (see their trademark) sued them for copy write violation and they had to stop using it. The special xx simply means that it was one of the first and is of collector value only. I would prefer a later copy as it would probably have less wear.

TF

EDIT: Here is a brochure with the crossed x. - TF