Minolta AF 400mm F4.5 HS APO G A-mount lens review by barri

barri#1357 date: Oct-28-2006
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5	tested on: film camera: APS-C: 6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP; 16MP; 20MP; 24MP full frame: 12MP; 24MP; 36MP; 42MP; 61MP
ownership:	I have experience with this lens
compared to:	Minolta 2.8/100 Macro Sony 1.4/50 Sigma 75-300 APO Sigma 7.2/500
price paid:	1690 Euros (used)
positive:	very sharp, ultra sharp when stopped down. great build quality can be handheld no back/front focussing issues
negative:	no SSM a little bit heavy slightly slow focus
comment:	This is a great lens. very sharp - even when compared to the 100mm Macro. can be used also wide open. I have not tried converters yet, but they are not needed at 1.5x crop factor anyway. can be handheld, but is a bit heavy. Mono/Tripod is recommended. Currently gives a nice 600mm with the Sony Alpha100. If Sony ever goes full-frame, the lens can still fully cover the far end of your focal range, when matched with the 1.4x TC. Photography beyond 600mm is anyway too difficult IMO. Highly recommended. update: you can get a little bit of purple fringing under extreme conditions... but it's only a very minor issue.