Minolta AF 135mm F2.8 A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#25509 date: Feb-27-2016 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 4 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony FE 85 F1.8 Tamron SP 85 F1.8 USD Canon EF 85 F1.8 USM Minolta MD 85 F2 Sony 85 F2.8 SAM Tamron SP 90 F2.5 Macro Canon EF 100 F2 USM Minolta MC 100 F2.5 Minolta AF 100 F2.8 Soft Focus Minolta AF 100 F2.8 Macro RS & D Cosina 100 F3.5 Macro Sony 135 T4.5 STF Canon EF 135 F2.8 Softfocus Vivitar 135 F2.8 Close Focusing Minolta MD 135 F3.5 |
| price paid: | 156 USD (used) |
| positive: | Compact and solid Internal focus Little focus breathing Flat focus plane No distortion Minor lateral CA Nice smooth rendering Generous 1/3 turn focus throw Common 55 mm filter size Easy to service |
| negative: | Alignment/Variation Heavy Axial CA Small circular hood Minimum flare control Tiny, recessed, plastic focus ring Reduced focal length with close focus |
| comment: | Purchased and used five copies of this lens. The first was a beautiful looking early edition with crossed XX's. This lens is about the same size and weight as the Tamron SP 60 F2 Macro. It is much smaller than the older Vivitar Close Focus or the STF. On APS-C it acts like a 200 mm f/4 lens on full-frame. This was tied as the second cheapest Minolta AF lens when originally released in 1985. The original retail price was $140--the same as the 28 F2.8 and $35 cheaper than the 35-70 f/4. It now often sells for much more than those lenses. "JAPAN" During my initial testing of the first copy many of the manually-focused, tripod/delayed timer pictures were blurred in the center, but occasionally one in a sequence was sharp. After a thorough dis-assembly and cleaning the lens seems to be more consistent. It may have been a slightly sticky aperture causing the blur. The second copy is much sharper at least as sharp as the 55-300 though with much less CA control. It does have better CA control than the MD 135mm F3.5 at the same aperture setting. This the first lens I have had that shows very little change in field-of-view while focusing. At close focus it acts much longer than the end of the internal focus zooms like the 18-135 SAM and 28-135. The angle-of-view is a bit wider than the unit focus MD 135mm F3.5. The built-in plastic hood is rather undersized and doesn't lock into place like the one on the Minolta AF 50 F1.7 RS. The second performs well enough wide-open to consider it superior to the best zooms. The heavy axial CA can still be a problem. A modern design with similar specifications would be a nice alternative to the larger, faster 135 mm offerings. Test chart comparison with 11 inexpensive zoom lenses. |
; 10MPrating summary
- total reviews: 139
- sharpness: 4.69
- color: 4.92
- build: 4.65
- distortion: 4.91
- flare control: 4.44
- overall: 4.72