50 F1.8 lens for A200

[inertia]

Ok, this is my first post...and thread! I have had my A200 for a while and have been extremely impressed by the quality of images i can achieve from such a budget body! But with the two stock lenses i have found it extremely hard to take a good indoor or fairly close shot. Having had a quick look around i have found the SAL50F18 which is a budget lens but gets a reasonable amount of praise for cost vs result.

So in short, has anyone here had any first hand experience with this lens? Will it be what i am looking for? As i mainly want it for indoor and portrait shots.

Cheers,

Steve

P.S. Apoligies if this has been covered but i am a n00b at the search function!

[bigdazzler]

I havent used that lens mate but for what you want to do it will serve you well. 1.8 is pretty fast for low light and 50mm (75mm equiv. on an A200) is a good length for portraits.

I have a 50 1.4 and use it a lot for my portraiture, but for that extra stop of light the price goes up about 300% .. think the 1.5 is about $500-$600.

[davesmith]

Another option is the old Minolta 50 f/1.7 which is highly rated but also in plentiful supply. Not sure what they're going for these days but I picked up mine about 12-18 months ago for about $90.

[bigdazzler]

of course Dave .. that didnt even occur to me.

Good little lens by all accounts too.

[inertia]

From the reviews of the Minolta 50 f/1.7 it looks like it would be suit my needs well. I suppose the next question is if anyone knows of a place in Perth that would stock or get one in for me? Or is there any good online stores?

Oh and thanks for the help, im new to the photography world but enjoying it so far!

[bigdazzler]

best bet for that lens is ebay mate .. its pretty old and I doubt youll find a new one anywhere in Australia. Theres usually plenty on ebay though.

[negatron]

Sony / Minolta gear is a lil harder to track down in oz than the canonikon equivalents.

Perhaps try B&H photography? its us based but our dollar is doing well now.

[aalb]

hi guys, i agree with dave the min50/1.7 has good reviews though i own a min50/1.4 also....fast lens good for portraits but i sometimes use it for my landscapes :D

steve, try it on ebay and look for the 2 good japan-based sellers, matsuyuita and ian.hobday (i think??)

cheers

[inertia]

Is the minolta stuff available in Hong Kong? I am going there in a week and thought i might pick up a cheap lens while there!

[bigdazzler]

I could be wrong mate but I dont think you can buy the minolta glass new anymore, only used.

[inertia]

Well a quick update to this thread but I was recently in Hong Kong and found the 50 F1.8 for about $170 but then found the 50 F1.5 for $235 and the shots seemed better to my eye so i went with it! Takes fantastic shots for what i wanted! Now i suppose ill have to learn how to use it proficently!

I also picked up the F42AM Flash for a bit over $200 so now i have a decent flash!

[feral]

nice lens choice , im running the same body and am pretty keen to see what this lens can do , oh and im also in perth