Often times you come across great minolta MD/MC lenses and wonder if they can be used on your alpha. Well the short answer is yes!. However you would have to use an adpater to be able to mount your lenses or get a 2x converter that minolta made for MD/MC to AF mount.
The three ways you can use a legacy Minolta MD/MC lens on your Sony alpha.
1- Glassless adapter is the cheapest at $30.00 you can use any old minolta MD or MC lens on your alpha. The only catch is that it can only be used as a macro lens. It will not focus to infinity due to the extra flange thickness of the adapter.
2- MD/MC adapter with glass is the next one which has a glass element in between to adjust for the extra thickness and will focus to infinity. Cost is $50.00 Generic brand and a cheap solution to most looking for a budget solution
3- A minolta made 2x-M/A-S converter/adapter, this is a minolta recomended solution a 2x converter which takes any MD/MC lens on one side and mounts to any maxxum minolta or sony alpha model. Most pro's who have a lot of old lenses use this over the cheaper adapter as the minolta quality glass in the converter is supposed to be of superior quality. Cost-$100.00
There is yet another way for DIY folks(not recommended) if you are adventurous enough and have a few MD/MC lenses lying around.
Email me at
alphamaxxum@gmail.com if you need any of the above adapters or want to know how to DIY
It also is not worth the effort to get a converter if it is just a regular zoom lens. But I would get one if you have some primes or something with really good glass.
Remember you will not have the auto features working, which means you have to set the dial on the camera to manual and set the aperture ring on the lens and focus manually. The cool part is that you will see the effects of various apertures through your viewfinder.
