Minolta AF 28-135mm F4-4.5 A-mount lens review by ghmcs
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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ownership: | I own this lens |
compared to: | Sony 16-105 f/3.5 (APSC only) Minolta 28-105 f/3.5 Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 Tamron 24-135 f/3.5 |
price paid: | 330 USD (used) |
positive: | extremely good image quality, quick autofocus for this zoom range, high performance-to-cost ratio |
negative: | size and weight, oddball filter size, zoom creep, long 'minimum' focus distance |
comment: | I wasn't quite prepared for the large size and weight of this lens. I'd much rather carry the smaller, lighter Sony 16-105 around all day. That said, for a 25 year old lens, the performance is extremely good even by today's standards. The camera's view TTL is very bright and clear. And, for full frame, what other choices are there in this very useful zoon range, especially at this price? Minor annoyances - the odd 72mm filter diameter, and zoom creep. In fact 'creep' doesn't quite describe it; let the lens dip much below horizontal and the zoom just takes off. UPDATE for full frame digital. After using this lens for a year, I'm still impressed by it's optical performance. Sharpness across the entire image, resolution and color are superior to both of the Tamron lenses listed above. It's not, however, better than Minolta's own 28-105. So, I'm ready to give this lens up for something smaller, lighter, closer minimum focus and just accept the fact that I have to switch to a telephoto lens a little more often. |
rating summary

- total reviews: 202
- sharpness: 4.62
- color: 4.83
- build: 4.80
- distortion: 4.42
- flare control: 3.44
- overall: 4.42