The first thing someone usually tells you upon purchasing your first DSLR, is to ditch the kit zoom lens and get yourself a prime. In the Sony universe, most will recommend the Minolta 50mm 1.7. It’s a great lens, built solidly, and performs sharply. It also can be had for roughly $80. I’ve owned one, then sold it, then searched for it again. I went a different route, spend a few more bucks and obtained the f1.4 version of Minolta’s standard lens. Here’s why:
-on the a77, light is important and I could use the extra third stop
-as far as bokeh on a crop sensor behavior is more like the full frame equivalent of 2.1 vs 2.55, rather than 1.4 vs 1.7.
-sharper overall at wider apertures
-Sony equivalent is twice as much as the Minolta
They are both great choices as short tele-portrait lens (remember 50mm on an aps-c is really 75mm) and are built from an era of durability. They are also really small compared to other brands since the focus motor is screw driven and doesn’t require a mechanism in the lens body. So they are truly pocketable. The manual focus ring is tiny however, and though the rotation is smooth on the copies I’ve had, it really was designed for autofocus. An autofocus that is loud but quick on the a77.
and now a video shot with it….
Michael Merto 