Vivitar Lens compatibility with Minolta Maxxum 5

Question

Will a Vivitar Series One Zoom 28-300mm lens work correctly on a Minolta Maxxum 5 Digital Camera?

Answer 1

Vivitar is a third-party lens maker that can make a lens in a variety of camera mounts, so there's no way anyone can answer your question without being able to see the specific lens you're talking about. I'd suggest looking through a visual guide to lens mounts to see if the Vivitar uses the mount for the Minolta AF or Sony A-mount systems (the mount the Maxxum 5 uses).

This is Minolta's autofocus mount. The manual-focus SLR mounts, (Minolta MD and Minolta MC) cannot be used directly on the Maxxum 5.

Answer 2

Very briefly, lenses are generally only compatible with one particular mount, so if you want a lens for a Minolta Maxxum 5D, then you need to buy an A-mount lens, which is the name of the mount used on that camera. Minolta developed the A-mount for their interchangeable-lens autofocus cameras, and Sony also uses the A-mount. (Be aware though that Sony also has interchangeable-lens cameras that use another mount called the E-mount, and E-mount lenses are not compatible with A-mount camera bodies. Also, don't confuse A-mount with Sony Alpha (α), the brand name that Sony uses to refer to its range of interchangeable-lens cameras as a whole, encompassing both A-mount and E-mount.)

You will find A-mount lenses from Sony and Minolta and also third-party lens manufacturers such as Sigma, Tamron and Tokina amongst others.