Minolta AF 35 F2 RS  reviews

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Mary90   review date: December-11-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 20/2,8
Minolta 24/2,8
Minolta 28/2
Sony 35/1,4

price paid:

600

positive:

all excellent

negative:

No.

comment:

My favorite lens. I've never part with it, I like it more than the Sony 35/1,4.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Oleg   review date: December-11-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 28/2
Minolta 100/2

price paid:

400

positive:

Very good in everything.

negative:

They are not.

comment:

Very sharp, excellent color, compact and lightweight. Very often I use this lens. Especially good for a full frame. Highly recommended.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Nazzy   review date: November-07-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 28/2
Minolta 35/1.4

price paid:

540

positive:

Sharpness, color and size.

negative:

None.

comment:

A very sharp lens. Legendary color. Small and light. My favorite lens! Very rare, but I recommend finding a copy.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: sapkoe   review date: November-05-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 50 f1.4
Minolta 28-70 f2.8 G
Minolta 20 f2.8 RS

price paid:

520

positive:

This is the best lens.

negative:

Not.

comment:

The best lens I own for general photography. Very usable right at f/2. Very good bokeh.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Kolyaroma   review date: November-05-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 28/2
Minolta 50/1.7
Minolta 17-35/3.5 G

price paid:

400

positive:

A very sharp lens.

negative:

They are not.

comment:

It is a wonderful walk around lens!

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: pureaxis   review date: February-15-12  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta - AF 28 F2
Minolta - AF 35 F2 RS
Minolta - AF 35 F1.4

price paid:

660 USD (mint)

positive:

-Sharp at widest!
-Colors
-Small size
-Resist flare better by old version (slightly)
-Better build finish than old version

negative:

Rare

comment:

Awesome lens, great for indoor and close group shots. Wonderful qualities and color. Very hard to find.

sharpness: 4 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: seevve   review date: January-04-11  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

- 35/1.4 G
- 24/2
- 85/1.4
- 50/1.4 (Sony/Sigma)

price paid:

700$ (MINT)

positive:

+ Fast focusing
+ resonable sharp from wide open in the center
+ compact and lightweight

negative:

- extends on focusing
- non SSM
- expensive and rare (hard to get)
- no weather resistant
- Hard Vignetting on Full Frame cameras (not exist after F4)
- practically no CA

comment:

This lens no ideal, but if i can choose only one prime lens for my A900 i choose this little prime.

It have very good sharpness stopped down, colors and contrast are neutral. On A900 wide open and at F2.8 hard vignetting. 35mm it's my preferable focus length. Bokeh is not shine. It's no so pleasant like from 35G in near macro shoots, but better than shooting people than 35G and 24-70za@35mm. Also 35/2 much sharper than 35G. Sharpness comparable with 24-70 and very good.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: glina   review date: December-04-10  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

50/1.7
17-35G
28-135
24-85

positive:

Excellent sharpness. Reliable results in any conditions. Useful from F2.

negative:

None really. Bokeh could be better but this is not a portrait lens.

comment:

This is probably my best and most used lens. Never got a bad shot from it which could be attributed to lens weakness, and that should say a lot. Sharpness and color is better than 50/1.7. Contrast and flare control is better than 28-135, bokeh is far better than 24-85. Only the 17-35G compares well, but it's almost 2 stops slower.

For APS-C users, the 35/1.8 is probably a better bet, but for FF there is no replacement, other than perhaps the 28/2. Highly recommended.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 4 

flare control: 4 

user: dumbasadoorknob   review date: August-26-10  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Sig 17-35
Tam 28-75/2.8
Min 35-105

price paid:

usd 420 new

positive:

Pocketsized
Minolta colors
Utterly dependable

negative:

Not good for close faces

comment:

This is a wonderful lens. I like it as much as I dislike the Min 20 RS, and for much the same set of intangible reasons. It always delivers, -- colors, detail, background blur, exposure, contrast. It shows a form of perspective distortion, where noses on close-up faces are overlarge -- but that's inherent in any such lens. I have learned to avoid those kinds of photographs. It is sharp in exactly the way I like, and it is smooth at the same time. The longer I own it, the more I enjoy it.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 4 

user: Maffe   review date: August-12-08  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 35/1.4, CZ24-70, Minolta 28-70G

positive:

Light, sharp even wide open, fast and fast AF

negative:

comment:

One of my favorit lenses!
Fast AF even on 7D lightning on a700.
Compared to 35/1.4 it´s sharper, smaller but the 35/1.4 have that little special something that this lens don´t have.

Perfect for street and as one lens only.

Highly recomended!

sharpness: 4 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 2 

user: infrastellar   review date: February-12-07  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

not compared

price paid:

500USD

positive:

size, weight, sharpness even its not a G.

negative:

flare against the sun

comment:

I like this lens because of its weight and size. But also its performance from f2 to 3,5 is amazing, and DOF games in such focal lenght come in handy as well. This lens is pretty sharp at 2,0 /difficult to observe due to shallow DOF/, and gets better and better stopped down. I am very satisfied with this purchase, and will let go my zoom 24-70 together with purchase of 50/1,4.

update: now I have returned from the mountains, and I have to tell you, that the flare control is very very poor. I really dont like it.

sharpness: 4 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 4 

user: ABramley   review date: January-17-07  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

50 1.7, Sigma 18-125, Sigma 70-300 APO, SIgma 20 1.8

price paid:

L150 (used)

positive:

Everything, price

negative:

It's rare!
Lens hood doesn't quite fit properly

comment:

Provides a great FoV on my 7D and I haven't had a problem with it yet. Sharp images with lovely bokeh wide open. Slightly larger than a 50 1.7, but still compact. Feels solid - highly impressed.

After a bit more use I've had to drop the flare rating down - I don't notice flare in every day use, but if I'm shooting at night with bright objects it's easy to provoke.

After a bit of a900 use, central sharpness is still very high at f2, but the borders are an absolute mess. They come in as it gets stopped down. Go with a 4 for sharpness as I'm not sure that border performance wide open is expected, and they get very good very quickly.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Panito   review date: October-06-06  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

17-35/3.5G
24/2.8
24-50/4
28-75/2.8(D)

price paid:

250€

positive:

Very sharp wide open, become excellent from f2.8
Beautiful bokeh
Nice color
Fast AF
Excellent standard on digital
Compact

negative:

None

comment:

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Dumont   review date: October-05-06  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

Minolta 50/1.4 old style
Quantaray 24/2.8 (rebadged Sigma)

positive:

Beautiful bokeh, light and MF ring much better than old style lenses. Becomes a standard lens with 1.5x crop factor.

negative:

None that I can think of.

comment:

One of my first "rare" lenses, definitely a keeper! I am curious to see how it will do with Infrared. I noticed that the lens does suffer for some flaring even with it's hood, but that was against the afternoon sunset, not 100 percent sure that would not happen to any wide angle lens...

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: redmalloc   review date: August-28-06  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

28/2.8
Tamron 17-50/2.8

price paid:

500 USD (mint)

positive:

small, light, sharp, color

negative:

price, hard to find!

comment:

A very nice lens that Sony will hopefully re-release since it is so hard/expensive to find.

It is light, it focuses fast, it is sharp, the bokeh looks good to me. Each image that comes out of it seems to surprise me with its color and/or sharpness. I have no hesitation using it wide open.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: Bob5D   review date: May-21-06  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

18-70mm DT kit lens.
50mm f1.7

positive:

Good balance on 5D.
Very sharp even wide open.
New focus ring very usable.

negative:

Hard to find.
Is it too good for 6mp?

comment:

This lens is always on my 5D. My kit lens stays in the bag most of the time since I bought this.
Interior shots can be taken in almost all situations with the fast f2 and AS.
The big rubber grip makes this easier to manual focus than my old 50mm.
Can't wait to try this on a full frame sensor as the 1.5x crop factor is only minor niggle.
Highly recommended if you can find one.

sharpness: 4.5 

color: 5 

build: 4 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 4 

user: Kiklop   review date: March-05-06  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

28/2.8, 17-35D, 28-75D, 50/1.4

price paid:

230 € (used)

positive:

- light and compact
- sharp

negative:

- not with this lens

comment:

I love this lens. This is one of those lenses that I'm very proud to own. With 100/2 this is my favourite lens. Sharp, with excellent contrast and color balance makes all prints somewhat "better" than usual.
In strong backlight a bit of CA can be seen, but nothing serious and worth worrying about.
Either this or 28/2 are must have primes IMHO, especially on 1.5 cropped sensor.
**Full frame**
Excellent; part of my heavy duty kit now.

sharpness: 5 

color: 5 

build: 5 

distortion: 5 

flare control: 5 

user: lifephoto.it   review date: December-17-05  

tested on film camera:

tested on APS-C:6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP:; 16MP:; 24MP:

tested on full frame:24MP

compared to:

positive:

Super, the best Minolta lens

negative:

comment:

Minolta improuved the MF blade.
;-) THE BEST ONE