Minolta AF 28-135mm F4-4.5 A-mount lens review by karchon
 karchon#5948 date: Aug-30-2009 | |
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| sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Tamron 17-50mm Sony 70-300G |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | Sharp all around |
| negative: | MFD Not for low light |
| comment: | When i bought this, I was completely skeptical of the hype. It felt cumbersome when i took it out of the box. What i did love when i took it out of the box was its huge front element. Absolutely sexy IMO. I took it to a graduation shoot a few months back, and I was not impressed with the image quality. The graduation was obviously in poor light but I expected more due to the hype. I defaulted back on the Tamron for the f2.8. Not having touched it for a few months (other than keeping it clean), I decided to put it through the tests yesterday to see if i should just sell this heavy glass for a hefty profit or keep for FF a8/9xx. I tested this against the Tamron and my Sony G 70-300mm, as i feel these lens give a good standard of my minimum sharpness requirements. With an a700, I tested f4, f5.6, f8 from ranges of 28, 50, 70, 135mm during sunset and after sunset (to test low light) handheld & tripod, against a high contrast object at infinity. Results blew me away. The Minolta 28-135mm had sharper images all around with better color saturation. However, it was not sensitive to light contrast as the Tamron was through out the range. With the Tamron, areas of low light had better illumination in the final product. The Minolta yielded more "dark" areas. This explained why the graduation pictures from the 28-135 did not look good. However, the colors from this lens reminded me of my 35-105 Orig - was so saturated wonderful colors! I will keep this lens for the rest of my life simply because it really is prime sharp stopped down. It was sharper than the 70300G and the Tamron 17-50mm. My only grip is the MFD. I love the weight even though it throws my a700 off balance. This will definitely be used on my FF when i get it. I still need to test flare control as i have not had a good chance to do so. (Remains at 3 rating) |
; 12MPrating summary
- total reviews: 201
- sharpness: 4.62
- color: 4.82
- build: 4.80
- distortion: 4.41
- flare control: 3.44
- overall: 4.42