Magnicon AF 28-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Macro

A zoom with prime image quality I've always lusted after a Zeiss 24-70, but this is a much better value. I'm frankly shocked at the IQ, and I dare anyone to tell the difference between it and the Zeiss. It's a constant aperture lens, so you can shoot at f 2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. It's bulletproof, all metal and glass, oozing with quality and gravitas. Big 72 mm filter ring lets in lots of light, and the bokeh is the best of any zoom I've seen. The clear heavyweight champion for A mount zooms in this range. Between this and the beer can, there's nothing you don't have covered. While the "secret handshake" 28-105 is good, and a better walk around range, its IQ doesn't hold a candle to this. I use on E mount, with the LA-EA4R Monster Adapter mod for the Sony LA-EA4 adapter. The Monster mod does 2 things: it removes the adapter's mirror (improving IQ and letting in another crucial half stop of light), and it enables the Sony camera body's built in eye autofocus (IAF), including animal IAF, for these older A mount AF lenses. The fact that the Monster mod allows you to save literally tens of thousands of dollars on E mount lenses is really the tip of the iceberg, even though that alone should be sufficient for most users of E mount bodies. But the real value is getting the luscious, dreamy vintage IQ of these world class lenses, and being able to use all the modern IAF technologies of your mirrorless camera. That's why you'd want these A mount lenses. And this one is the high water mark for this zoom range. You'd literally have to spend 10x more to get an E mount equivalent, and I guarantee you'd prefer the IQ of this anyway. Read full review

More From the Minds at Minolta Minolta made many great lenses including the professional grade AF 28-70 F/2.8 G lens. Considering this lens was introduced in the 1990's, today it functions very well on the SONY A-mount a99 SLT. Heavy, but great Minolta optics. Lacks the auto focusing speed and special coatings of today's lenses, but takes great pictures. Alternative to this lens is the SONY 24-70 F/2.8.

Nice lens I finally got a chance to use this lens. It's not quite as sharp as I had hoped but it's a really nice lens and perfect for my newborn sessions. It has a bit of wear on it but for the age it's fine.