Thank you for your appreciative comment, Narayana. It has taken a couple of years of picking and choosing.
For the current cost and its overall value, the
α700 DSLR is a very sensible choice. You will find yourself very comfortable with its operation, after having owned a
Maxxum 7000. Also, you will save a substantial amount in developing costs (paper and film) with every 36 shots you take. It adds up quickly, if you do the math. That good feeling of savings makes it a lot more fun to take images and also have
instant feedback from the camera on how the image turned out.
Keep an eye on the
Minolta 35~70mm f/4 MACRO when you do finally use it on the DSLR. I think you will not be impressed with the result. It may look fuzzy and in need of a tune-up. I have it listed in my gear list as a 35mm-film lens only for that very reason.
When you can make the change, may I suggest a solid replacement for that lens is the
TAMRON SP AF 28~75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO ... providing very sharp and excellent color images. Sell the 35~70mm f/4 lens to someone that may still be shooting film ... and get some money out of it. Like I mentioned, I feel that it is much better
on film than a digital sensor.
Better yet, instead of the 28~75, the first lens you might want to consider is the
TAMRON SP AF 17~50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF). Because the
α700 is a crop sensor (APS-C) camera, it multiplies the focal range of your lens by a factor of 1.5x.
Doing the math ... the 17~50 x 1.5 = 28~75 ... so that's what your images wind up looking like they were shot through.
If you did go ahead mount the actual 28~75 lens on the
α700, "the math" says your images will look like they were shot with a 42~105mm lens. That focal length is excellent, outdoors, whereas the 17~50 excels indoors..
I mention this just in case you were not familiar with this
digital crop factor change when you switch from film to an APS-C DSLR camera. As always, get what you practically can out of your existing glass, but also be prepared to make some basic changes in it to get your digital work looking "spiffy."
For some further discussion on digital glass for the SONY DSLRs, please check this
LINK.
Good luck on your transition
