Minolta AF 135mm F2.8 A-mount lens review by arize84

arize84#11853 date: Jun-1-2014
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 4.3	tested on: film camera: APS-C: 6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP; 16MP; 20MP; 24MP full frame: 12MP; 24MP; 36MP; 42MP; 61MP
ownership:	I own this lens
compared to:	Canon 135L
price paid:	300 USD
positive:	Sharp Beautiful color and contrast Small and Light weight Snappy focus
negative:	Chromatic Aberration
comment:	I only discovered the Minolta 135 2.8 in the last couple of months. The first thing you will notice is that this lens is super short and lightweight for a telephoto; it's about the same size as the FE 55 1.8 which makes for excellent pairing with the A7. Second the lens is super sharp even wide open, not as sharp as the Canon 135L but still plenty sharp; where it beats the Canon is in colors, it produces beautiful saturation and contrast. Also the Minolta has a very snappy and relatively quiet autofocus though not as impressive as the Canon version. The lens' one con is its near lack of control for chromatic aberration. That said, I'm not sure if it's because of improvements in LR5 or the uniform nature of the len's CA, but it is remarkably easily to completely remove in LR. I love using teles for discreet street shooting but I'm often hampered by the weight and size, the Minolta solves this problem for me; and it's of course a wonderful portrait lens to boot.