Minolta AF 28-135mm F4-4.5 A-mount lens review by dumbasadoorknob
 dumbasadoorknob#8756 date: Mar-7-2011 | |
|---|---|
| sharpness: 3.5 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 3.9 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Min 24105 Min 35105o Min 70210 Sony 70300G Tamron 28300 |
| price paid: | USD 269 used |
| positive: | Minolta colors Clarity Internal focus |
| negative: | Heavy No lens shade Old, hard used |
| comment: | My copy of this lens is perfect at both ends, but quite unreliable in the middle. It clunks when it is put on the camera and the screwdrive is engaged -- and I suspect that is an indication of the internal focus slide being loose or worn. I have also found this to a lesser extent with my beercan. So I suspect that all older Minolta zooms that clunk will have a similar outcome. When it is good, it is as good as the other reviewers report -- but it is inconsistent. I dropped my 35/2 and camera on hard stone this winter -- and the lens shade smashed, and saved the lens -- so I'll never buy another lens without a hard plastic lens shade. This lens doesn't have a hard shade, a defect, and it would've smashed -- or worse, my camera would've died. My Min 35105o is better overall. My 24105, an attempted replacement, is a weak lens -- and here I suspect plastic parts. My Sony 70300G is better in almost every way -- except that it does not focus internally. Even with its problems, the 28135 is a far better lens than my son's Tamron 28-300. It would indeed be wonderful if there were a modern replacement for the length and f-stop of the 28135, since it is a perfect tourist lens. Extra thoughts: I had forgotten to mention that, in using the 35105o and the 28135, I have really come to dislike the position of the focus ring on the 28135. My little finger ( and sometimes my thumb) naturally fits at the intersection of lens and body -- and every time I move for a new focus, the ring twists and crimps my finger, or jiggles the lens, and it is really annoying. This means that the 28135 (even if my copy were perfect) is unattractive to me. Can I take it all back?? I've just discovered that my 28135 was set (and not, I think, by me) at -7 microadjust. Now that it's at +3, the lens produces edible results. I still don't like the focus ring or the lack of a lens shade, but oh, do I like the images now. It and my 100400 are now inseparable. |
; 36MPrating summary
- total reviews: 203
- sharpness: 4.63
- color: 4.83
- build: 4.80
- distortion: 4.41
- flare control: 3.44
- overall: 4.42