MINOLTA TAMRON AF 28-200mm XR 3.8-5.6 LENS or minolta 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6? I bought the 28-200 do i need the other?
The simple answer is yes.......................I presume you mean on a film Dynax? Do you need both? That's more tricky, on a "covering the same focal range" then clearly the Tamron covers the Minolta range and quite a bit more. I suspect however that it's rather less compact and rather heavier and there may be occasions where you wish you had carried a smaller lens, especially if you are in a situation where you simply aren't using the 200mm end. Also the Tamron, having a longer zoom range, may be slightly more optically compromised than the shorter zoom range Minolta lens. Also Minolta are justly renowned for quality lenses. I suggest that you hold on to both lenses for a while and see whether you use both fairly frequently or if you use the Tamron almost universally. If the latter proves to be true then that's the time to pass the Minolta along to someone else........
As Nigel says both the lenses will give wide angle on a film Dynax, and the good thing about the Tamron is that they license the technology from Minolta and therefore will/should be fully compatible with the Digital. In the main I would always agree with this statement, however Minolta like other manufacturers do produce consumer zooms down to a price and the 'quality' doesn't always live up to expectations, dependant upon which version of 28 - 80 you have, it may be that the Tamron is every bit as good, image quality wise, if not potentially better than the 28 - 80. The only way to be sure is to try both lenses out and compare the results.
