Minolta AF 100-300mm F4.5-5.6 APO A-mount lens review by JeremyT
 JeremyT#7125 date: Mar-20-2010 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | SAL 75-300 Beercan |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | - Reasonably sharp - Very small for its range - Slightly less CA than beercan / 75-300 |
| negative: | - Still has CA, especially wide open near 300mm - Needs stopping down for optimal sharpness on long end |
| comment: | I bought this lens for fairly cheap due to the fact it was missing its hood and the filter ring was damaged. Its performance is very similar to the SAL 75-300mm. Wide open near 300mm the 100-300mm APO has less CA than the 75-300mm, but it also seems like it's slightly softer, so it's mostly a wash. Stopping down is required for optimal performance near 300mm. I'm a little disappointed in this lens as reviews implied it would be better than the 75-300mm. In practice there's not a lot of difference in IQ, and you're mostly just getting a smaller lens in exchange for 25mm less on the wide end. If you aren't concerned about size, I'd go with the 75-300mm, which is wider, performs similarly, and is much cheaper. On the other hand, this lens is a good bit smaller, so it makes a great travel zoom when you don't have room to spare. The "D" variant of this lens appears to be optically identical, so I'd probably stick with this non-D version (which is much cheaper). ADI for this sort of lens is definitely not worth a 50% premium. |
; 12MPrating summary
- total reviews: 69
- sharpness: 4.20
- color: 4.58
- build: 4.00
- distortion: 4.51
- flare control: 4.26
- overall: 4.31