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Minolta Lens Compatibility

by Lee
(Clarendon, PA)

I have a Minolta Maxxum 5 35mm camera and am considering an upgrade to Digital SLR. I have a number of lenses for the Minolta and am wondering if those lenses can be used on a digital SLR. I know Sony took over Minolta so that would be the most likely fit. Thanks for your help.

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Minolta Lens Compatibility

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Sep 25, 2009
 reverse?
by: chad

i have a Minolta Digital SLR and i was wondering the reverse... will Sony's lenses be compatible with my minolta DSLR and will there be communication issues as you described above?
Jul 21, 2009
 Minolta Lenses Only Compatible With Sony DSLRs
by: Digital SLR Guide

This is a good question, and one that has been asked several times - I'm glad that you asked it again so that the answer can now be available to everyone else!

Old Minolta lenses are ONLY compatible with Sony digital SLR cameras since Sony bought out the entire Minolta DSLR line back in 2006.

So, the basic answer is that yes, you should be able to ATTACH your old Minolta lenses to a new Sony DSLR. How well they work is another matter.

Old lenses don't have the same electronic contacts as the new ones, which means that there is less communication between camera and lens.

When the camera doesn't communicate with the lens as well, several things may happen: 1) autofocus may not work and 2) aperture control from the camera may not work.

The only way to know for sure how well your old lenses will work on a new DSLR is to take them to a local camera shop and - if they will let you - try them out on some floor model DSLR bodies.

This should help you determine if you can get by with the old lenses or if you need to upgrade your lens collection to work with modern digital SLRs.

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