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Best 200 mm lens

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Bill_Green

Member
Has anyone compared the available 200 mm lenses available, particularly on the A7/r? I have a shoot coming up that I will probably be doing with the A900, but I won't have time or budget to test all the option ahead of time. The Minolta 200 HS G, the Sony 70-200/2.8, the Sony 70-200/2.8 II, in the FE mount the FE 70-200/4. I suppose there are several manual focus options too that may work better with the A7/r than with A900 where nailing critical focus is a bit challenging.
 
O

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I have the Minolta 200/2,8 HS, Sony 70-200/2,8 and the Sony FE 70-200/4. I only use the Minolta and Sony f2,8 zoom on A900/A99 and the Sony FE zoom on my A7r. So I don't have any direct comparisons. But from my overall experiences with these three lenses, I would say the Minolta 200/2,8 is the best, follow by the Sony f2,8 zoom (overall). But I found that the Sony EF zoom is an excellent performer at zoom range between 70mm to 100mm.

I also like the Leica-R 180/3,5 APO which I found to be better than the Sony FE 70-200/4 on my A7r.
 
Show Performance

Show Performance

Member
Going to chime in on the Minolta 200/2.8 HS APO. Incredible little lens. I use it on the A900, A7 and the A6000.

A buddy has the Minolta 80-300/2.8 and the few sample snaps I shot with it looked great too. I just prefer a straight 200mm to the zoom - smaller and sharper.
 
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benroy

Subscriber Member
Perhaps I should have finished my thought..."if you can find one in the US"...I stay away from international purchases. And again, allow me to put in a plug for the 70-210 Minolta "beercan"...best bang for the buck in the whole array of 70-200 focal length lenses.

Roy Benson
 
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Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
Bill_Green said:
Has anyone compared the available 200 mm lenses available, particularly on the A7/r? I have a shoot coming up that I will probably be doing with the A900, but I won't have time or budget to test all the option ahead of time. The Minolta 200 HS G, the Sony 70-200/2.8, the Sony 70-200/2.8 II, in the FE mount the FE 70-200/4. I suppose there are several manual focus options too that may work better with the A7/r than with A900 where nailing critical focus is a bit challenging.
Click to expand...
I have two 180mm lenses—Leica Elmar-R 180/4 and Elmarit-R 180/2.8 v1. Both work brilliantly on the A7. The Elmarit-R 180 v1 is a rather hefty thing, if you need the speed it's great, but the Elmar-R 180 is far far smaller/lighter with virtually no difference in imaging quality.

G
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Folks not much is going to touch this lens wide open. 3 lenses come to mind Leica 180 F2 Cron R mount, Nikon 200mm F2 and Canon F2 and older 1.8 after that the Minolta maybe the best bargain. But again one thing to know is the paint on the lenses has a tendency to wear off , so you may see a great lens with great optics but a poor finish on the body. This is pretty normal for this lens. The other part it has no tripod mount from what I can remember and also there is 2 versions of this lens from memory . One is high speed AF and one is not. Story goes it was one of the most sought after lenses for doing weddings over in the Asian countries when film was around. Maybe someone with some more knowledge can elaborate more on my comments as its been awhile since i had one.
 
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philip_pj

New member
The 200 HS is also very nice to manual focus on the a7r, and it especially appeals to fans of Minolta colour and contrast. It looks heavier than it is as well. It's one of those lenses you can rely on to always give its best. Sony really should have re-released it after the takeover, it is another one waiting for a higher Mp camera.
 
F

Fife

New member
If you have strong arms and don't mind size, weight & Manual focus only, the CZJ Sonnar 180/2.8 in Penatcon 6 is a pretty fun and dreamy lens. Cheap to boot.

Otherwise the Minolta AF APO HS 200/2.8 would be the fast AF prime of choice in A mount of course.

Similar quality to the Minolta 200/2.8 if you want zoom and tripod mount would be the Minolta 80-200/2.8 AF APO HS for about the same price. Otherwise, Minolta 70-210/4 "beercan" if you want to mess around for the price a filter or two.
 
J

jfirneno

Member
Bill_Green said:
Has anyone compared the available 200 mm lenusesnses available, particularly on the A7/r? I have a shoot coming up that I will probably be doing with the A900, but I won't have time or budget to test all the option ahead of time. The Minolta 200 HS G, the Sony 70-200/2.8, the Sony 70-200/2.8 II, in the FE mount the FE 70-200/4. I suppose there are several manual focus options too that may work better with the A7/r than with A900 where nailing critical focus is a bit challenging.
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The "best" is of course a very subjective term. Best at what? Best in what sense? I'll put in a plug for the Minolta 200mm F4 Macro.

Pluses:
It's very sharp. It produces beautiful images. It's a 1:1 macro. It autofocuses with the LAEA4 adapter.

Minuses:
It's out of production. It's only F/4. It's insanely expensive (unless you're used to Leica prices).

Regards,
John
 
B

Bill_Green

Member
jfirneno said:
The "best" is of course a very subjective term. Best at what? Best in what sense?
Click to expand...
Fair question, and I don't really have an answer, just an all around lens. I have a Leica 180/2.8 pre-APO and I really need to sell it. It is a great lens for close portraits and fine for landscapes, but I have a hard time focusing it between about 75-125' which is where my subjects seem to be at that focal length.

I might pick up the beer can lens as a knock around lens to go with my Minolta 35-70/4, which is a great lens for the price. In looking for the 200 HS, I've found a number of older Minolta 300/2.8 lenses. Maybe the 300 with a 135 is another way to go as my 180 is often either too long or too short.
 
J

jfirneno

Member
Bill_Green said:
In looking for the 200 HS, I've found a number of older Minolta 300/2.8 lenses. Maybe the 300 with a 135 is another way to go as my 180 is often either too long or too short.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting strategy. The 300mm must be expensive (and heavy) but I'll bet it's a very good optic.

Best of luck,
John
 
J

jfirneno

Member
dunders said:
I have been pleased with my Micro-Nikkor 4/200 on the A7r.

100+mph, 100% crop:

Click to expand...
Paul:
Nice focus on a very tricky subject. I was very surprised at how versatile a 200mm macro can be. I find myself using it for some pretty unintuitive tasks. Sharp, rugged design. And I find f/4 plenty fast enough for my needs. I'm ususally shooting at 5.6 to 8 for more depth of field. The only thing it's not is fast focussing on the A7R. And it decidedly looks like the tail wagging the dog when the little camera is attached to the adapter and the lens. I like to attach the lens foot to a monopod and spare myself the arm strain.

Regards,
John
 
iiiNelson

iiiNelson

Well-known member
If manual focus or weight is not an issue the Contax Zeiss 180/2.8 is really nice and has a floating element to allow you to focus as close as 5.5 ft.
 
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