Unlock the Full Potential of Your Sony A450: Discover the Top 6 Lenses for Breathtaking Photography!
The Sony A450 is a great camera, but finding compatible A-mount lenses can be difficult. This is because the A-mount was discontinued in 2021.
What makes the SLT-A450 unique is that it is a Single Lens Translucent camera. SLT cameras use a mirror that is fixed in place. Light can pass through the mirror. The mirror does not move out of the way, like on an SLR or DSLR.
6 Best Lenses:
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- Standard Lens - Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
- Portrait Lens - Sony 85mm F1.4 ZA CZ
- Zoom Lens - Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
- Wide Angle Lens - Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
- Fisheye Lens - Sony 16mm f/2.8
- Macro Lens - Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Below, lenses are divided by type of photography and focal length. The inclusion of alternative lenses covers different budgets.
Standard Primes
Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
- Outstanding optics.
- Small and light weight.
- Can be difficult to find new.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM)
- Circular aperture.
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An awesome blend of light weight and very compact size. Accurate and quiet autofocus is supplied from a built-in motor.
Rounded aperture blades provide beautiful bokeh and precise control of the depth of field.
Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7
- Built-in lens hood.
- Amazing value.
- Light and compact.
- Widely available used.
- Coupled autofocus.
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This design was released by Minolta together with the unveiling of the A-mount. As a consequence of the age of the lens, the autofocus is driven by the motor built into the A450.
Mechanically coupled autofocus can be jerky and noisey. If that is not a concern for you the output is outstanding. {The bokeh is attractive and you will end up getting a classic image rendering|You’ll end up with attractive bokeh and a classic rendering.
An additional large advantage of the lens is the price. It is substantially more affordable when compared to the Sony 50mm f/1.8 and also may be the least expensive lens on the list.
Sony 50mm f/1.4
- Outstanding optics.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Circular aperture.
- 55mm filter threads.
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A little bit faster when compared to the Sony or Minolta f/1.8, however that can really make a difference when you are working without much light. That undoubtedly comes at an additional expense.
It is still a light and compact lens that works well on the A450 and fits into almost every camera bag.
A slightly cheaper option is the Minolta AF 50mm f/1.4. Take into account that they can be tough to get a hold of in usable condition. It also uses coupled autofocus, which is worse than lenses that were designed with built-in motors}.
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Sony 85mm f/1.4 ZA
- Incredible bokeh.
- Excellent value used.
- T* coating to reduce flare and increase contrast.
- Astonishingly sharp wide open.
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Sony sought to show off what the A-mount is capable of doing. The lens was manufactured by Zeiss. The ZA (Zeiss Alpha) indicates that Zeiss designed the lens specifically for the A-mount.
This is a spectacular lens. Razor sharp corner-to-corner with spectacular colors that renders impressive portrait photos.
Potential downsides are that it is a bit heavy because it’s built like a tank and it can seem slow to autofocus. Be aware, that you’ll run into those same problems with any 85mm f/1.4.
Minolta Maxxum AF 85mm f/1.4
- Possible to find a good used deal.
- Superb image quality.
- Uses autofocus coupler.
- Double-Gauss design.
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In terms of price, this lens fits between the others. Locating a used lens in acceptable condition could be a challenge on account of a limited supply available.
While the lens has autofocus, it is driven by the in-camera body motor that uses a mechanical coupler. This makes the lens a bit loud and slow.
A Double-Gauss optical design is older and contains a total of six elements. A benefit to this is images possess a distinct look that cannot be created by contemporary lenses that contain a lot more lens elements.
Sony A450 Zoom Lenses
Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
- Very usable zoom range.
- Great value used.
- Constant aperture.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM).
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A fast zoom lens that is good for indoor shooting, night events, travel, and family photos. The autofocus is quiet and the lens is well made.
The lens is often compared to the excellent Zeiss 24-70mm lens, but it’s about 1/2 the weight and has a lower price. Both create professional photos.
Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 SAM DT
- Telephoto zoom range.
- Great for portrait or wildlife photography.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM).
- Inexpensive.
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A cheaper option that can still produce outstanding results. It isn’t a pro lens, consequently as long as you don’t need high end technology, it is an excellent lens.
As a telephoto zoom, it gives you an outstanding zoom range for getting photos of wildlife, sports, and children outdoors.
Picture sharpness is great and the autofocus is snappy. It’s made out of plastic, which helps minimize weight.
Sony 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6
- Super telephoto zoom lens.
- Great for portrait or wildlife photography.
- 2.81 inches in diameter and 4.81 inches long.
- 55mm filter threads.
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This qualifies as a super-telephoto lens. It is a great budget option for when you need a lots of reach.
The lens is only 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) in diameter, 4.8 inches (12.2 cm) long, and comes in at 1 pound 2 ounces (510g). While not considered light, many professional telephotos are multiple times heavier.
For improved performance look for the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SSM ED G-Series. It is a more expensive lens.
Wide Angle Lens
Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
- Has a aspherical lens elements.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Great value when purchased used.
- Circular aperture.
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Outstanding image quality from a lens that is wider than the kit zoom. Distortion is very well controlled. Vertical lines will stay vertical, unless the focus is very close.
As well as being great at capturing stunning landscapes, it’s an ideal lens to travel with. The lens is wide enough so when you see something you will be able to get everything in frame.
Sony 20mm f/2.8
- Great for landscapes and architecture.
- Coated optics for clarity and definition.
- Rear focusing system for fast autofocus response.
- 72mm filter threads.
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It is well engineered and does an amazing job of reducing distortion. On top of that, quite a lot of energy has been done to reduce internal reflections and flare.
The lens has excellent image quality for astrophotography, architecture, and landscape photography. No worries using a polarizer as the rear focusing system doesn’t rotate the rear element.
Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 DX II
- Wide angle zoom lens.
- Hardened Alumite finish.
- Advanced optical coatings.
- All metallic moving parts.
- Designed for APS-C Sensors.
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It doesn’t have tremendously fast autofocus, but the auto/manual focus clutch helps make it an ideal option for manual focusing. A push or pull of the focus ring switches the lens from manual to auto focus or vice versa.
The Tokina has a larger aperture when compared with the Sony 11-18mm, which is not a huge deal for landscape or architecture photos. Where you’ll observe something different is with astrophotography. That’s a circumstance where you would want to take advantage of the 1-to-2 stop advantage the Tokina has.
Fisheye
Sony 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Sharp corner-to-corner.
- 4 built-in filters: Normal, 056, B12, A12.
- 8 inch minimum focus distance.
- Aspherical and Extra-low Dispersion elements.
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Having built-in filters is important because it has a fixed petal-style hood. There is no way to attach a lens filter to the front of the lens.
- 056 - Accented contrast for black and white photos.
- B12 - Correct color by eliminating red tones.
- A12 - Correct color by eliminating blue tones.
This lens has nearly everything you could want from a fisheye lens. An exaggerated distortion is easy to achieve. If you don’t want that, it is possible to get a image that is sharp from corner to corner without vignetting.
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
- Internal focus.
- 180 degree angle of view.
- Manual focus.
- Minimum focusing distance of 12 inches (0.3m).
- Designed for APS-C sensors.
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The lens contains a bulbous front that means lens filters can not be used. It has a snap-on petal-shaped lens hood that you’ll want to make sure that it is included if you buy a used lens.
Build quality can be hit or miss as a consequence of the very low price. Almost all owners are very pleased with the images they get. It is still important to fully test the lens when you obtain it to make sure it is not a dud.
Macro Lens
Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
- 9 aperture blades.
- Focus range limiter.
- High contrast and resolution.
- 55mm filter threads.
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The best balance of weight, cost, and working distance for the Sony A450. The autofocus can be somewhat loud, but for shooting macro photos, manual focus is easier than using autofocus.
For the highest quality images at 1:1 magnification the lens should be stopped down by a minimum of 2 stops. By doing that you will get a wider depth of field, which is very important for macro photography.
Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro
- 10.4 ounces (295g).
- Focus range limiter.
- Focus Hold button for full creative control.
- 55mm filter threads.
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A 50mm lens is not that useful for 1:1 magnification because of how little working distance you’ll have. At that level of magnification, the front lens element will need to be about 2 inches (5 cm) away from the subject.
This lens does an excellent job at tabletop, close-up, and copy work. It has a focusing distance that is closer than a standard 50mm prime. It is an ideal choice for nature photography as it can fill the frame with a small subject, such as a flower.
Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M 1:1 Macro
- Available in a variety of camera mounts.
- Improved resolution, chromatic correction, and optical coatings.
- Super Performance (SP)
- Focus clutch to switch between AF & MF.
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Even though this lens does have autofocus, the focus ring feels great when manually focusing. Closed down 2 or more stops and you will get tack sharp photos.
Furthermore, be careful when getting the lens as it’s offered in different lens mounts.
Used A-Mount Camera Lens Prices
Pricing is frequently in flux. Over the past handful of years, participation in film shooting has been rising. As there are Minolta 35mm film cameras that use A-mount lenses, some upward pressure is put on the price of lenses.
The A-mount also does not hold a major share of the market. For that reason, a smaller number of third party choices exist and the lenses made by Sony are frequently on backorder.
To obtain the least expensive price, look at prices on multiple websites. For used lenses, be prepared to pay for when you come across a good deal as they tend not to be available for very long.
What Lens Mount Does the A450 Use?
The Sony A450 uses the Sony A-mount. It’s also the same as the Minolta A-mount. This is due to Sony acquiring Konica Minolta’s imaging division in 2006.
The A-mount was designed by Minolta for the release of interchangeable lens autofocus cameras in 1985. It is still Supported by Sony.
Standard Lens Cap Size
55mm, but in reality the sizes vary widely. Previous Minolta lenses have 49mm filter threads.
There are many lenses that have much larger filter threads than 55mm. It is not hard to find to see 77m or 72mm filter threads. It would’ve been good if Sony used only 2 or 3 different filter sizes.