Sony 50mm f1.8 or minolta f1.7?

[shellz090]

I've decided I want to treat myself to a portrait lens and am looking for a little guidance. I'm using a Sony a330 and was originally looking at getting the sony 50mm f1.8, but after doing a bit of research I've discovered that I can also use Minolta lens' also.
I've looked on eBay and found the Sony one for £100 brand new, where as the Minolta's range from about £60-90 ish second hand.
My question is would it be worth getting a second hand Minolta over the brand new Sony?

Any help would be great!

 

[onomatopoeia]

The Minolta is better built and will work on full frame, should you decide to upgrade your camera in the future. The Sony will be new whereas the Minolta will likely be 10+ years old (not in itself a problem, but there are always risks inherent in 2nd hand purchases). Also, being an older design the Minolta lens only has five pins rather than eight, which means ADI flash metering won't be available (some information on that here http://alphastrobist.wordpress.com/what-is-adi-flash-metering/ )

I owned a Minolta 50/1.7 and liked it a lot, I haven't owned the Sony. The dyxum website has information and reviews of both:

http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Minolta-AF-50-F1.7_lens17.html
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Sony-AF-DT-50-F1.8-SAM_lens523.html

 

[Faldrax]

Just to agree with what Mark has written - the Minolta 50/f1.7 was the first lens I bought after I got my A200, lovely little lens, feels very solid on the camera.

When I got it, the 50 f/1.8 had not been brought out, so the choice was easy, now it's really down to how confident you are buying a s/h lens. If you can get a decent copy for £70 (I wouldn't pay more than that for it) it's worth the saving.

 

[finn_uk]

Never used the Minolta but I can vouch for the Sony, really enjoy using mine.

May be wrong but I think Sony may be doing cashback on it at the moment.

 

[jetsilver]

Got my Sony 50 1.8 from Argos for £89. If you can pick one up for that sort of money I'd get the Sony over a used Minolta.

 

[Tricky01]

Never used the Minolta but I can vouch for the Sony, really enjoy using mine.

May be wrong but I think Sony may be doing cashback on it at the moment.

SAL5018 gets £30 cash back at the moment:
http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/1237485521135#/1237485881105/1237485881308?campaignId=15013960&s_kwcid=sony%20alpha%20dslr|25697370210

This was how I bought mine a few years ago. I'd disagree about opting for the Sony over the Minolta though. Ok, a new lens has it's years warranty etc. but the minolta is a much better built lens whereas the Sony - while acceptable - is very very plasticy. The point that the Sony is a DT lens (so won't work on the A850, A900 or A99) may not be relevant to you now, but it could be in the future. It's also easier to sell a lens to a larger market!*

*Most full framers may actually go for the 50 1.4 (sigma, Sony or the soon to be announced/released carl zeiss versions), but you'll get your money back on a minolta.

 

[Faldrax]

Got my Sony 50 1.8 from Argos for £89. If you can pick one up for that sort of money I'd get the Sony over a used Minolta.

Good price - you do see bargains like this occasionally, and be able to snap hem up quickly.

 

[applemint]

The Sony 50mm was £70 (after cashback) @Amazon a few weeks ago but the price has gone up to £129 (£99 after cashback), same price at Castle Cameras:
http://www.castlecameras.co.uk/sony-dslr-lens-50mm-f18

The Minolta goes for £50 to £80 on ebay, or if you don't want to risk buying a used lens on ebay, some camera shops selling second hand gear have it for around £75 - £80, some of them with a 6 month warranty.