Minolta AF 28-100mm F3.5-5.6 D A-mount lens review by QuietOC
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sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4 | tested on:
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ownership: | I used to own this lens |
compared to: | Sony DT 16-105 Sony DT 18-55 SAM I/II Sony DT 18-70 Sony DT 18-135 SAM Sony DT 18-200 Minolta AF 24-50 F4 Minolta AF 24-85 Minolta AF 28-80 D Minolta AF 28-105 Minolta AF 28-105 RS Minolta AF 28-135 Minolta AF 35-70 F4 Minolta AF 35-80 II Minolta AF 35-105 Original Minolta AF 35-105 New Sigma AF 35-135 F3.5-4.5 |
price paid: | 19 USD (used) |
positive: | Small and Light Decent sharpness Rather flat focus plane Mostly parfocal Minimal CA Nice wide rubber zoom grip |
negative: | Weak AF gearing Stiff, noisy zoom action Moderate zoom/focus shifts Moderate focus breathing Narrow, hard, plastic focus ring gets blocked by hood |
comment: | The first silver copy came with a broken Maxxum 50 camera. The plastic AF teeth at infinity were either already damaged or quickly destroyed by the A58 (a teleconverters may have been involved.) I purchased the second copy separately for a bit more, but it came with the hood and caps and worked well. A third black copy came with a Maxxum 70 camera. The two working copies are optically better than the lens with the stripped gearing. Both of those still seem to be slightly decentered. The design is very similar to the Minolta/Sony DT 18-70 kit zoom and the earlier II series kit zooms. Like the earlier II kits zooms the lens is most contracted at 50 mm. F4 from 30 to 35 mm F4.5 to 40 mm F5 to 50 mm The 18-100 D performs similarly but slightly better than the smaller 28-80 D. Optical performance on the wide end is very good. Like the other kit zooms it gets softer over its telephoto range. It has similar barrel distortion as the 28-105 at the wide end and very slightly less pincushion at the long end. Its 100 mm end has a slightly narrower field of view than the 105 mm end of the 28-105 at close distances. Overall a very decent full frame kit lens that is let down by a poor build and often mediocre telephoto performance. Practicality just as good as the older, larger 28-105 F3.5-4.5. Test chart comparison on an A65 with the 28-105 F3.5-4.5, 28-135 F4-4.5, and others. |
rating summary

- total reviews: 20
- sharpness: 3.63
- color: 4.15
- build: 2.90
- distortion: 3.80
- flare control: 3.45
- overall: 3.59