Minolta AF 20mm f/2.8

Great lens for full framers If you use a full frame digital camera, you know finding a wide angle lens with greater field of view than 24mm can be difficult and expensive. For Sony a mount users (a99 for example) this lens is a dream come true. It is pretty much the same as the Sony version, but if you look you can find the Maxxum version for lower price. I have only used this lens a few times, but it does a very good job. I like to shoot in aperature priority and stay around f8 or f5.6 whenever I can. The images are pretty good even wide open at f2.8. They are even better at f5.6

Get one while they are still available. I am stocking up lenses, as the new SONY A55 is so convincing, that I will replace the NIKON D700 as a Full frame DSLR with the A900 to be able to shoot A-mount lenses in 2 different focal length, which means 20mm on the A900 and 30mm on the A55. So far I used a 20mm SIGMA 1.8 on the D700, as Super Wide Angle and also for available light, with good results. The Minolta 20mm 2.8 is mechanically as solid as any Minolta lens of that aera, and the colors are unsurpassed minolta like. The lens is prone to flare (as all Minolta wideangles), distortion and vignetting, but that is in the nature of a wideangle lens. Highly recommended for an A850/900 (20mm), good on APSC A-mount Sonys (30mm). The new SONY 20mm f/2.8 seems just to be a rebranded Version of the original Minolta lens, and with 560.00$ street it is double the price...

Sharp with classic Minolta colors A good lens for a full-frame Sony shooter, is well suited to nice and wide landscape or night sky imagery. A bit soft in the corners wide open, but stopped down to f/8 its extra crispy across full frame - recommended!