70-210mm recommendations sought for NEX-5N

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3461 Location: Northern Ireland

I've bought a Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 macro for my NEX-5N. I'm now looking for a quality lens in the range of 70-210mm to compliment it. I've a budget of approx £100. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

eddieitman · Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 1246 Location: United Kingdom

The minolta 70-210 F4 Good enough for Leica as they rebadged it

walter g · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 2463 Location: NC, USA

eddieitman · Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 1246 Location: United Kingdom

Also forgot the Kiron 70-210 F4 and the Vivitar Kiron made 70-210 F3.5
One of the F4 ones on ebay for £20 ATM http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIRON-70-210mm-F4-MACRO-ZOOM-LENS-in-MINOLTA-MD-MOUNT-/360461801290?pt=UK_Photography_VintagePhotography_VintagePhotoAccessories&hash=item53ed32974a#ht_690wt_986

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3461 Location: Northern Ireland

Thanks everyone. I've found a Minolta MD 70-210mm f4 on ebay in near mint condition c/w hood and case for £70 incl postage. It's a lot more than I would normally spend on a lens, but hey!, what price do you put on quality? Very Happy

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I can highly recommend the Konica UC Zoom-Hexanon 3.5/80-200. It's a bit of a big and heavy beast but IQ is great, it's not that common but does come along fairly often on ebay, I think I paid 24ukp for mine.

yinyangbt · Expire: 2012-12-27

If you didn't get the minolta yet , look at Canon FD 70-210 You can find mint between 20-50 E Great stuff !

bruzzo · Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 153

I have a Tamron 70-210 F3.5 which is this one here:
http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/tamron-adaptall-2-sp-70-210mm-f-3-5-19ah.html

I kept it since film days when I was using my FM2 till now but haven't tried it on my 5N since it's very heavy lol.

Haven't used it for quite awhile tho, the last time I used it was on a D200 and I was still impressed by it. Well built, good performance/price ratio (not sure about the market price for it now tho), with macro. The only downside is that it's super heavy. And I guess it's harder to find compared to the vivitar.

I am not sure if you can install a tripod ring on it. Would be nice if this is possible! Perfect for my 5N! But doubt that cause if you install it on the focus/zoom tube you can focus. There's a little gap between the tube and the screw mount but if u put a tripod mount there you can't adjust aperture Crying or Very sad

. I'm not sure if there's an nex adapter with a tripod mount on it, but I doubt that there's a big different using that and using the mount on the 5N body...stability wise when using a heavy lens like this one.