Minolta AF 100-400mm F4.5-6.7 APO A-mount lens reviews
 transiently#46941 date: May-24-2023 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 2.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 3 flare control: 3 overall: 3.3 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 100-300 APO, 70-210/4, 70-210 3.5-4.5, 100-300, Tamron SP 70-300, 500/8 |
| price paid: | It was very cheap |
| positive: | Good central sharpness, even at 400mm and maximum aperture. Great focal length range, and not too big considering it goes all the way to 400mm. |
| negative: | Poor sharpness away from the centre, particularly at shorter focal lengths. Fringing (mostly yellow) and some CA. |
| comment: | I always wanted one of these, but when I finally got to try one, I ended up with something less sharp than my 100-300 APO was, less long (obviously) than my surpisingly good Minolta 500/8 mirror and actually in practice slightly less useful than either. The good performance in the centre of the field at 400mm wide open makes it quite a good moon lens, although I was disappointed when my A37 couldn't make it AF with my Teleplus 1.7x teleconverter. The Dynax 7D I bought it with was totally unable to focus it accurately but my A37 manages it fine. |
; 10MP| AVLB#46863 date: Jun-2-2022 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.7 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-400 G MKI |
| price paid: | £200 used |
| positive: | Lightweight Sharp |
| negative: | Hunts in low light. Fairly slow to focus. |
| comment: | Well as a new owner of this old lens, I am more than happy with it. I already owned a 70-400 G and was so pleaased there was a lens half the weight that performed just as well. Yes, it has a f-stop of 6.7 at 400mm, but it still performs very well on my Sony A99 on A setting. Shots taken so far show that f8 to f11 are optimal, which is fine for such a long focal length lens. The bonus is that I do not have to lug the 70-400 around all the time, as that is almost twice the weight. Maybe my copy is exceptional, but I cannot see any chromatic aberration and the test shots I have taken so far are really acceptable. Very rare to see these on the UK market, so I was lucky to get this exceptionally good lens. |
| WestCoastCannuck#44222 date: Feb-2-2019 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-400G, Minolta 400/4.5 |
| price paid: | $50 |
| positive: | Its a surprisingly sharp lens. I would have to guess that it is very close to the 70-400G even wide open. One of these days I will do a comparison. See some of my samples. Colour seem nice to my eyes. Bokeh not bad for a zoom. |
| negative: | This lens hunts. A lot. With a contrasty subject in decent to good light.... no problem. In less than ideal light it will often hunt - especially with center point focus. "Expand Flexible Spot" works better... and the zone options also work well enough. At first I thought the lens was only sharp closer in and weak at infinity.... but then when I manually locked focus I got super sharp images. Though I did not notice, I think the blurring may be a result of micro hunting - anyways, when I locked the focus on my landscapes they got sharp. It seems to have more distortion than the 70-400G... I could not stitch longer focal length shots without applying some correction first - I found the profile setting for the "Canon 100-400" worked well enough with some occasional tweaking. Fairly heavy vignetting at the long end - corrects easy enough. Worst zoom creep ever. Drops like a stone if you let it. |
| comment: | I ended up with a well used (glass perfect) copy of this lens by accident at a price that was almost a gift. After using it for a week or so I can say I will be keeping it for hiking and travel when I want the smallest and lightest long zoom I have. Handled with care it certainly does not embarrass for results! I plan on testing and using it some more first before it goes on the shelf waiting to be needed. ;) |
| Lupan#44169 date: Nov-12-2018 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 5 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 20mm f2.8 Minolta 28mm f2.8 Sigma 50mm 1.4 Minolta 85mm 1.4 Minolta 70-210mm f4 Zeiss 24-70mm 2.8 Zeiss 135mm 1.8 |
| price paid: | 120€ |
| positive: | - Very cheap price for the value - Light - Very convenient range for wildlife - Nice bokeh (Minolta touch) I bought this lens in March 2018 for shooting wildlife with my A900 (bought in 2009, still statisfied with it and my other Minolta lenses). For the price, this lens is a very good bargain. You can get decent shots with it, after some lightroom post-production.The lens is quite light for a telezoom. Of course it's not a pro lens, but if you shoot 1 hour birds in flight, you'll get some sharp pics for sure. Just make sure you're on the AF spot mode (on a A900) and that you shoot at least a 1/640th. |
| negative: | For the price you can get it now (average for 250$ on Ebay), there is nothing to complain about. |
| comment: | If you want to start wildlife photography without spending more than 300$ in a telezoom, I think it's worth to consider this lens. The AF of my old" Alpha 900 is not very fast, but I can still get decent shots with this combo. (I will post some in the gallery). |
| Milan33m#41972 date: Dec-19-2017 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.4 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony SAL 500 Reflex F 8.0, Big Beercan, Beercan, MAF 100-300 APO and all 100-300 non APO versions, MAF-75-300 all versions, MAF 28-135. |
| price paid: | ca.280 GBP |
| positive: | Long distance zoom 100-400, not so much heavy and not so expensive, well built, good colours, good minimum distance. Good for aviation pictures and birding. |
| negative: | May be lack of tripod stand. Difficult to find and quite expensive on second-hand ebay market in the EU. Difficult to find with the Lens Hood and original bag. |
| comment: | This is my second example of this lens. The first of it was mooving so hardly, probably it was broken inside. But, it was really sharp. The second one, is also sharp, good working. In comparison to Sony SAL 500 Reflex F 8.0, it is a bit less sharp, but it is more useful for aviation, as it is zooming. It is more sharper than all my MAF 100-300 and 75-300 I had. Beercans were better built, but also much heavier. It's more affordable in pricing than SAL 70-400mm, but has no motor in. Difficult to find and quite expensive on second-hand ebay market in the EU. Examples from Japan are cheaper in purchasing, but Customs duty and fees can be additional cost. Nice lens for a good price, worth to have in your bag. |
| QuietOC#29643 date: Jul-31-2016 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 3.5 color: 4 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 3.7 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 55-300 F4.5-5.6 SAM Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS II USM Tamron SP 70-300 4-5.6 Di USD Sony FE 70-300 F4.5-5.6 G OSS Sony 70-300 F4.5-5.6 SSM II Sony 70-400 F4-5.6 G SSM Minolta AF 75-300 F4.5-5.6 BBC Minolta AF 100-300 F4.5-5.6 APO/D Sigma 150-500 F5-6.3 EX DG OS APO HSM |
| price paid: | 165 USD (used) |
| positive: | Same retracted length as the 70-210 F4 Fairly light Smooth, long-throw focus control 4X zoom range Very little distortion Sharper wide-open than the 100-300 APO lenses Doesn't lose focal length with close focus |
| negative: | Axial CA Not very sharp Heavy zoom action + zoom creep Rotating/extending barrel No tripod collar |
| comment: | After many soft copies of the 100-300 APO, I am pleasantly surprised by the at least acceptable sharpness of this lens wide-open, but the CA is not as well-controlled as the smaller lens. The second copy may be slightly better than my first one. This lens originally sold for over $700 in 1995. It has generally been selling north of $250 recently on eBay. "JAPAN" Several manufacturers have released 100-400mm zooms recently including Sony. Tamron and Sigma released their budget F6.3 versions in 2017. There is an older push-pull zoom available under several brands with the same range and maximum apertures which uses a smaller 67 mm filter diameter. David Kilpatrick stated that the Minolta 100-300 APO and the 100-400 APO zooms were Tokina designs. The Tokina model was only $230 in 1999--much cheaper than their older 80-400/4.5-5.6 and 100-300/4 ATX lenses. On the A65 and A68 the maximum aperture is reported as f/6.3 at the long end instead of f/6.7 or f/7.1. The A65 reports f/5 at 135mm and f/6.3 already at 200 mm. The Maxxum 70 is more optimistic in the mid range reporting f/4.5 up to 135 mm and f/5.6 up to 300 mm where it switches to f/6.7. It is sharper at 400 mm f/6.3 than the 100-300 APO is at 300 mm f/5.6. My impression is that it performs at least as well if not better optically than the Sigma 150-500 OS that I've tried. It is much sharper than the Sony 70-400 G SSM I tried. The focus plane is fairly flat across the zoom range, but certainly not as flat as the 70-210/4 or original 75-300/4.5-5.6 or the Tamron 70-300 USD. My copy of the Sony DT 55-300 is sharper on teleconverter than this lens is without one. Stopping the lens down to f/8 greatly improves the image quality. Autofocus performance at 400 mm is similar to the xx-300 mm F5.6 zooms on a 1.4X TC, which is to say rather poor. It can autofocus quickly at 400 mm pointed at a bright light source, but it is very prone to hunting in typical indoor lighting. Autofocus seems to be accurate. Surprisingly the A65 will AF this lens with both the 1.4X and 2X Kenko chipped teleconverters all the way to out 800 mm F13. In actual use the AF is practically useless with the 2X, and very poor with the 1.4X. Test chart comparison with xx-300 zooms. |
| Freddan_6#18346 date: Sep-6-2015 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta AF 100-400/4.5-5.6 APO Minolta AF 75-300/4.5-5.6 Big Beercan Tamron 200-400/5.6 |
| price paid: | 1900 SEK |
| positive: | Long reach. Very little distortion. |
| negative: | Zoom creep. Hunting above 250mm. Not the best build, maybe my copy was used heavily before I bought it. I had to send to repair after a while, the focus stuck. Repair costed as much as the lens. |
| comment: | Much more hunting than the 75-300. Needs stopping down for center sharpness above 250mm. Sharper and less flares than the Tamron. At the short end sharpest of my compared telezooms. At the long end not that sharp. Needs to stop down to f:11 for edge sharpness above 250mm. Works best with A77/A99 with manual focus override. |
| cordyc#18343 date: Sep-1-2015 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 75-300 |
| price paid: | 225 USD (used) |
| positive: | -great value for the money -good detail even at 400 |
| negative: | zoom creep, so using a strong band to hold it in place |
| comment: | Very happy with this for the price. Took awhile to find one in US and I understand why. For the money this is a big step up. |
| JimmyMelbourne#13221 date: Apr-5-2015 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Beercan Big Beercan |
| price paid: | 100 CHF |
| positive: | Weight Size Price |
| negative: | Nothing to mention, perhaps a little soft at the long end. Screw drive is a bit out dated these days but with careful shooting does not pose a big issue. |
| comment: | Found this for a low price so happy with the purchase. Update: adjusted my points up to 5, this lens is actually great, sharp even at 400 wide open. No issues with it at all. |
| Ratsters#11887 date: Jul-1-2014 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 3 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.1 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta AF 75-300 (Sharper then the 100-400) Minolta AF 70-210 (The sharpest, excellent for studio work) |
| price paid: | 400 |
| positive: | Lightweight (Border line on hand held) Cheap price Good sharpness stop down Accurate focus in good light Manual focus does the trick Good overall telephoto Very good minimum focus distance |
| negative: | No tripod collar mount Bokeh is disappointing from 300mm to 400mm (f6.7) Zoom creep in low light AF in low light difficult |
| comment: | I was looking for a lightweight, long reach telephoto lens that can be easily be carried around, at a very affordable price.... this lens delivered! It can be hand held easy but you need good light and high ISO (400 to 800), a tripod collar mount would have been great to have. I would not use this lens for birds or wild animals, it is not sharp enough and focus creeps to much, but for general purpose it's excellent, that's why I gave it a 4.5 on sharpness. Colors is another story, older Minolta coating I presume is the problem, but nothing that cannot be fix in Camera RAW. If you are not a serious wildlife photographer looking for that perfect “National Geographic” shoot.... then go for it, because the next step in sharpness are all the G telephoto lens, and THEY are expensive! |
| ing.arellano#11629 date: Jan-22-2014 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 5 overall: 4.4 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | 460 |
| positive: | 400mm Color |
| negative: | missing |
| comment: | missing |
| sssh8300538#10669 date: Nov-7-2012 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | SAL70400G |
| price paid: | 475 USD(used) |
| positive: | Sharp on SLT-A77, best at F9.0 Very good between 135-300mm Nice color. |
| negative: | Slow focusing comparing to sony 70400G |
| comment: | missing |
| maricontis#10224 date: May-19-2012 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | tamron 55-200, minolta 100mm macro D, minolta 500mm f/8 |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | size and weight focal range f/6.3 to wide end! |
| negative: | quite rare |
| comment: | I go often trekking on Alps. I bought this lens (matsuyiastore on ebay) because it seemed a good compromise between size and focal range (and affordability), and soon was amazed about unexpected performance, assuming it is a non-G lens. Colours overall (I am not keen in postprocessing). AF may be slightly inaccurate, but it is a blade even above 350mm, if you adjust it manually. So I give 4,5 to sharpness. I do not complain about lack of tripod mount because I seldom carry a tripod, but obviously you need natural supports (rocks, trees, knees etc) and the result is scratching the lens hood. Zoom creeps quickly but that would be easily fixable if you'd need it. However I give 5 to build because if it was a bulky metal it would double its weigh, and I hadn't buy it! |
| Effstop#10071 date: Apr-1-2012 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.1 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-300G |
| price paid: | 300 AUD (used) |
| positive: | Image quality light weight |
| negative: | slow (max f6.7 at 400mm) AF tends to hunt in less than bright light |
| comment: | I was lucky to pick up a minty copy on fleabay for significantly less than I thought I was going to have to pay - lucky me! I really like this lens, although realistically it's only viable handheld in good light. It loves a good tripod, and I have achieved some excellent moon shots with it. In side-by-side comparisons with the 70-300G, it gives a little away in sharpness, colour and contrast, but renders excellent detail at max focal length stopped down a couple and is not embarrassed by the more expensive G. CA is not an issue. Without a good contrast to focus on, it will hunt but once you understand that this is a slow, dark lens and adjust your technique accordingly, you can obtain some surprisingly good results for a pre-digital coatings lens (mine is stamped 1995). All in all, I'm very happy with mine. I'd love a 70-400 G, but until I can afford one, this will do just fine. |
| alphaein#9434 date: Sep-18-2011 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.4 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 70210 f4 beercan 70300G f4-5.6 |
| price paid: | 500USD (RM1450) ~USD500 |
| positive: | -Lightweight for this range -Superb sharpness wide open across the range -Half price from original brand new price -Sharp and contrasty |
| negative: | -abit slow (135@f5,150@5.6,200@6.3 onwards) -No tripod collar mount -noisy & slow focus (tested on A700) hunts in low light -Bokeh not as creamy as beercan -Zoom Creep (maybe fixable) |
| comment: | This copy I bought was 3rd hand, however it came MIB(mint in box) and was virtually brand new. lucky to get a well kept good copy. Bought this lens because I'm planing to go into birding. also I wanted a compact lightweight long tele lens for easy travel and general shooting as I do not get paid for most of my photography work, I do not need all the extra bells and whistles or extra stop of light. Compared it with the 70300G, I loved the G's quiet and fast focus, sharpness and also the build, I did not have a side by side comparison but I think its almost at par with the 70300G in terms of IQ. didn't want to pay the extra premium for the G, the 70400G would have done better in terms of IQ but its Wayyy too big for my needs, and wayyy to expensive for my hobby. I did compare it with my fav 70210 beercan, and I can say the 100400 is sharper & has greater contrast. but the down side is, built quality, and feel was in a lower class to the beercan. Although the copy I got was optically perfect (very sharp IQ, with no signs of damage or dust) and the cosmatics was overall very good, the plastic piece next to the lens mount was very loose, which was annoying and causes the zoom action to be very loose, making it zoom creep with minial resistance. I was so annoyed that i decided to open the lens mount to try and fix it. luckly it was just a matter of screwing tight some screws internally and Whala... it's as good as new. apparently it even fixed my zoom creep issue, I bought a 72mm UV filter recently and it seems to reduce air movement in the zoom making it creep even less. Now I like this lens even more. I think its a keeper. |
| paso144#9397 date: Sep-6-2011 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.7 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 80-200APO 500mirror |
| price paid: | 250 euro |
| positive: | Size vs focal length Colours Sharpness Price |
| negative: | Build |
| comment: | This is actually a lens I paid about it's market value. But I wanted to round up my line-up on the long focal lenghts and this was perfectly fitting in. I use this for the occasional shooting of my kids at distance and sometimes wildlife. The pictures come out with the nice Minolta colours and are sharp as long as you take the appropriate shutter times in consideration. The long end needs some stopping down for optimal sharpness. All in all a great lens/range for the price and definitely a keeper for me. |
| robert.pierrick#9340 date: Aug-16-2011 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.7 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 100-300 xi 100-300 APO |
| price paid: | 320 euros |
| positive: | Fast focusing on A33. Beautyfull bokeh at f6.3. Steady shot work fine with it, its possible to take very accurate pictures at f6.3, 1/100 sec without any tripod . |
| negative: | Double weight than the 100-300 xi. Zoom ring hard to rotate with the small A33. |
| comment: | Best sharpness at 360 mm and f11 on a tripod. With the SLT A33, and without a tripod, it's possible to take descent pictures at 360 mm above 1/30 s with the maximum aperture (f6.3). Excellent shots beyond 1/100 s. No purple fringe comparativly to the Xi zoom but sharpest than the Xi at F6.3 and F8. It seems also sharpest than 100-300 APO, but then main difference is its weight : twice the 100-300 Apo. |
| bruno#8485 date: Jan-6-2011 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.4 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 18-250 |
| price paid: | 475 |
| positive: | Extremely fast focus on the A-33. Have not experienced any focus hunting in even lower light situations on the A-33 Small in size for the zoom range. This is a natural for the A-33. It should work as well on the A-55 |
| negative: | Non so far. I am a Happy Camper with this lens |
| comment: | This lens paired up with the new Sony SLT A-33 is Amazing. I think the extremely fast focus of the A-33 makes this lens a real walk around lens. I seem to get clarity at full zoom from as close as 10 feet. Still experimenting with the lens, but so far I have found no negatives. |
| OursoulsDad#8418 date: Dec-18-2010 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | (shouldn't this be compared "with"?) Sony DT55-200 f4-5.6 kit lens. |
| price paid: | about 200 GBP used |
| positive: | In relatively good light, the 400m range is tremendous and it responds relatively well when I am shooting birds or other animals at distance. The good shots have been particularly good, so for the price, I have been happy with its performance. |
| negative: | The barrel creep is annoying, making things particularly difficult if trying to pick something out at a different height. It often hunts and quickly struggles in low light. Admittedly, I am normally using the lens at or near the 400mm and therefore f6.5, so this might be expected. My lens has part of the hood thread broken. The hood stays in place, but I need to be extra careful not to knock it. Noisy. I think my 55-200 kit lens is sharper and has better colours. But I am no expert and this might just relate to me using it at 400 all the time. |
| comment: | Except for the barrel creep, I cannot complain about this lens. I wanted the range, didn't like the 500 reflexes' bokeh, couldn't afford the G lenses, etc. Despite my grumbles, I have been exceptionally happy with its performance for the price (I forget the exact price). It has enabled me to take nature pictures that I just would not have been able to get with my other lenses. |
| adam#8207 date: Nov-8-2010 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-300 Various Canon-mount lenses |
| price paid: | 415 |
| positive: | Compact. Great range. Fast AF. Sharp when accurately focused. |
| negative: | Needs good light. Noisy AF. No tripod collar. Vignetting wide-open even on APS-C. |
| comment: | I bought this lens as an inexpensive stopgap solution until I can afford a Sony 70-400. Good color and contrast. Backfocuses a bit on my A33, but sharp manually-focused up to about 300mm, acceptable past that. Nice build quality for the class...obviously no weather-sealing, but other than that it's built to last. Zoom and manual focus are smooth and well-damped. Could use a tripod ring. This lens is in an interesting class, since it used to be priced as a midrange lens and it can now be found for low-end prices. It's excellent for a low-end lens...reasonably sharp, great range, slow but it works fine in good light. I'd highly recommend it if you need 400mm, can't afford something better, and don't expect miracles. |
| dumbasadoorknob#7991 date: Sep-18-2010 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.7 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Min 500 Reflex Sony 70300G |
| price paid: | usd 356 used |
| positive: | Minolta colors Great range sharp at all lengths |
| negative: | weak, but adequate, hood |
| comment: | This is a very pleasant lens to use. It focusses accurately at all lengths, and is sharp enough for me all across the frame at all lengths. The hood is adequate, but not like the 70300G, -- when fully extended the lens is long but not enormous: the focussing is fast enough, but not instant; the weight is fine. I like the slightly slimmer Minolta size to the modern bulkier lenses. It isn't a battery draining lens. I simply enjoy the Minolta colors. The 72mm filter size is convenient since I have the Min 200g, 85G, 28-135 and 20RS, all of which use 72s. I haven't yet travelled with this and the 28-135 as a pair, but I certainly intend to do so. The f6.7 at the long end hasn't been a problem for me. The lens is maxxed-out for its length, so I find that even a 1.4x extender produces noticeably weak images -- but when used as the 100400 alone, it is just perfect. It will AF on 1.4x in Southern Cal, but not with a 2x. It isn't quite as "sharp" as either my 500Reflex or my 70300g at distances, although I am comparing it to two unusually good lenses in my bag -- but it takes really beautiful images at full extension and shorter lengths. I got a hummingbird today at 400mm and twenty feet away, with its tongue at full extension, and the tongue was sharp as a razor. It complements those two lenses rather than substituting for either. This was a keh BGN, and it had no problem that a quick wipe with Armor-all didn't cure. Keh comes though again! |
| cruiser#7720 date: Jul-24-2010 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 100-300mm APO D |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | +very sharp |
| negative: | -zoom creep -size when travelling |
| comment: | Excellent sharpness. Better than the Minolta 100-300 APO D. The zoom creep was annoying though. For travel I preferred the 100-300 APO D for its more compact size. |
| Ovas#7167 date: Mar-27-2010 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 75-300 big beer can |
| price paid: | 430US$ |
| positive: | Highest range zoom from MINOLTA. Very sharp on APS-C. Nice colors and good quality picktures on 7d. |
| negative: | H E A V Y ! |
| comment: | On my 7D this lens have given me lots of good picktures. It is sharp and balances well with the camera when I use the battery grip. On my A900 it gives good results. It is specially sharp wide open wich is very good as it is f6.7 at the 400mm end. On my A580 it is like on the 7D: good picktures, sharp and nice range. It handles well and seems to be well built. Have bought a second one. This is much better on my A900 - so there are variations in production. This one I am ceeping. |
| Depth of Field#6616 date: Dec-21-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-200 2.8 |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | lightweight Compact Focal range Much cheaper (if you can find a good copy)than the sony 70-400 |
| negative: | slow AF Don't like the bokeh,not that smooth Zoom creep hunts a lot in low light |
| comment: | missing |
| Streep#6301 date: Oct-30-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 24 2.8 Sony 50 1.4 2.8 Minolta 28-70 G Sigma 70 2.8 18-250 tamron |
| price paid: | 500 Euro |
| positive: | Colour Bokeh Sharp (for a zoom) Lightweight Small size |
| negative: | AF in low light zoomcreep |
| comment: | This lens produces; Beautiful colours, nice bokeh and you can get really sharp pictures. Sometimes stopping down is necessary for the best result, but the biggest aperatures will get an OK result. This combined with it's relatively small size and light weight for a 400 mm lens makes it an unique lens. You can zoom to 400 mm and make good pictures without using a tripod! Downsode of this lens is it's AF speed in low light. Beside that, AF speed on a a700 is OK. |
| pdeley#6132 date: Sep-28-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 3.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 3.9 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta AF 300 f4 APO HS Minolta AF 500 f8 reflex Sony AF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 Sony AF 70-400 f5.6 G Sigma 400 f5.6 APO Sigma DL 70-300 f4-5.6 DL Macro Super Canon FD 300 f2.8 fluo Canon FD 400 f4.5 |
| price paid: | 525 USD (used) |
| positive: | Compact, light and well-built for its focal range |
| negative: | Softens above 200mm, focus ring stiffens above 300mm, AF slow and inaccurate |
| comment: | I bought this lens used but with the optics in excellent shape. Nevertheless, it was noticeably soft above 300mm even at f8 or higher and definitely not in the same league as the primes listed above or the 70-400 G. CA is under control but not completely absent. AF was slow and inaccurate even on my A700, and manual adjustment at longer focal lengths was hampered by noticeable tightening of the focus ring (turns smoothly below 300mm but becoming jerky above). Overall I was disappointed compared to most of the other reviews here and after a fair amount of testing returned my copy. If you own at least one good prime tele and an alpha with over 6 Mpx then I'm inclined to think you may also find this lens somewhat overrated or outdated. |
| godsakes#5101 date: Mar-26-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 3.5 color: 3 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 3.9 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | beercan minolta 100-300mm (non APO) sony 70-300mm G |
| price paid: | L350 |
| positive: | very compact CA under control Value |
| negative: | slow AF sharpness falls off over 300mm |
| comment: | the main selling point of this lens is it's compact and hand holdable - most zooms lenses of this range will be around double the weight and really intended to be used mainly on tripods. this lens is fairly sharp better than the minolta 100-300 (non APO) around the sharpess of the beercan with better CA control but not quite as nice colour, sometimes a little washed out and requires a bit of extra saturation post processing to give the images more punch. I recently had the chance to try out the 70-300mm G against this lens and while the G did produce a crisper picture i was very surprised how well this lens held up between 100-300mm but gets much weaker between 300-400mm. Bottom line the minolta 100-400mm offers decent (but not exceptional) IQ, a wonderful range in a compact and usable size. It's a lens that you don't have to worry about leaving home and the same can't be said for the bulkier lenses of it's class. For those who aren't primarily wildlife/bird photographers but want something to cover the long range as a secondary concern (over say the landscape side) this lens is ideal. |
| Daninho#4740 date: Jan-24-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 75-300 Beercan Minolta 70-210 Beercan Minolta 75-300 New Sony 70-300 G SSM |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | Sharp Colour Sharp wide open Sharp 400mm |
| negative: | AF not that fast, but OK |
| comment: | Wonderful lens, perfect focal range, sharp wide open, even at 400mm (A700 better at F8), nice Minolta colours, superb dimensions for a 400mm range - JUST LOVE IT! Here you can see my sample images: http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11341&PID=445104#445104 Best regards, D. |
| Petronix#4677 date: Jan-13-2009 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sigma 75-300 KM 70-210mm 4 |
| price paid: | 500€ |
| positive: | -Sharp -Nice bokeh -Wel build |
| negative: | -external focusring -tripod mount could be helpful |
| comment: | After long time searching, found one in new condition in Japan. Is for me the ideal walk around lens in nature........ When low light condition ..... hunting...(a lot :-( ) But for me the ideal price/qualitylens in these mm range. Now working on my A700. |
| sporky#4598 date: Dec-30-2008 | |
|---|---|
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta "beercan" 70-210/4 |
| price paid: | 580? |
| positive: | Light (for the focal range) Relatively sharp |
| negative: | Slow |
| comment: | I got this lens hoping to do some nature photography. At 400mm, it is good for birding, but only when there is good sunlight. Image stabilization can only help so much at 400mm, so you'll find yourself pushing up the ISO to get a sharp picture when using the long end handheld. I'm quite pleased with this lens; it's great compromise between speed, long telephoto, and size/weight. |
rating summary
- total reviews: 51
- sharpness: 4.42
- color: 4.63
- build: 4.18
- distortion: 4.63
- flare control: 4.39
- overall: 4.45
to add your review
you need to login
you need to login