Minolta AF 35-200mm xi F4.5-5.6 A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#26558 date: Apr-21-2016 | |
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| sharpness: 3.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.1 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 18-135 SAM Sony DT 18-200 F3.5-6.3 Tamron 18-250 Minolta AF 28-135 Sigma AF 35-135 F3.5-4.5 Tokina AF 35-200 SD Tokina 35-300 Sigma 50-150 F2.8 EX DC HSM II Sony DT 55-200 SAM Sony E 55-210 OSS Sony DT 55-300 SAM Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM Sigma AF 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO Minolta AF 70-210 F4 Minolta AF 70-210 F3.5-4.5 Minolta AF 70-210 F4.5-5.6 I/II Tokina 80-200 AT-X Pro |
| price paid: | 43 USD (used) |
| positive: | Very fast AF Internal focus (and not much focus breathing) Very little distortion 62 mm filter threads |
| negative: | Varifocal Manual focus-by-wire (MF requires AF to be enabled) Very slow MF (6.5 seconds from MFD to infinity) Fairly curved focus plane Maximum aperture decreases quickly Slightly warm color cast Small circular hood |
| comment: | The first nice looking copy was purchased at auction from a private seller on eBay. Unfortunately the aperture mechanism is sticky, but otherwise the lens works well. The seller gave me a partial refund. The second copy is much softer, but the aperture mechanism works properly. Unlike many other lenses the outer barrel turns only by zooming. A normal manual zoom can be enabled by the switch on the lens which disconnects the zoom motor. Manual zoom is then accomplished by turning the outer barrel while pushing/pulling similar to the manual focus operation 70-210/4 and the kits zooms. The rubber manual zoom grip is very small and is very blocked by the small clip-on hood. The filter threads do not turn with focus but do turn with zoom. The lens is very varifocal. The Minolta service manual even describes this lens and the 28-105 xi lens as "electronic-compensation zoom lens Varifocal type." Even the minimum focus distance marked on the lens is given as a range from "0.5 - 1m". Closest focus is at 35 mm. The A58 automatically but imperfectly adjusts the focus after every zoom even in AF-S mode and this done without using the AF sensors. There is a zoom motor in the lens, but AF and MF use the in-body AF drive. The variable speed zoom/focus control works pretty well, but a slower minimum speed would be helpful for MF when fully zoomed in. Focus peaking is also not available on the A58 and A65 for manual focus with this lens since the camera has to have AF enabled for MF to work. Focus peaking is enabled on the A68. The MF speed seems to be a single very slow speed is not affected by the AF drive speed setting on the A68. When focused accurately the first copy was very sharp in the center even at 200 mm. It wasn't quite as sharp nor is the focal plane as flat as the Sony DT 55-200, but it has much less distortion. It also doesn't have as much focus breathing as most internal-focus zooms. The 55-200 reports 160 mm at a similar field-of-view as the 200 mm end of this lens at close focus. Any zoom causes defocusing which is then partially corrected by the camera's AF motor after the zoom motion is completed. This is acceptable for still photography, but poor behavior for video recording. The zoom motor and required in-body AF drive are both rather noisy. Comparison of Tokina and Minolta 35-200 mm Zooms with others. |
; 10MPrating summary
- total reviews: 24
- sharpness: 4.23
- color: 4.46
- build: 4.33
- distortion: 4.29
- flare control: 3.75
- overall: 4.21