From ultra wide angle to portrait to medium zoom, this lens goes with it all! For Minolta case owners, it makes the old 24-105 obsolete. The lower end of the focal length should handle most group shots even with a digital camera conversion factor of 1.5. And the fact that the aperture switches to f/5.6 at around 30mm shouldn't affect image quality in any way, especially if you're using flash and/or shooting indoors. Don't hesitate, get this lens.