Minolta AF 50mm F1.4 A-mount lens review by N_Raged
 N_Raged#10354 date: Jul-3-2012 | |
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| sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.7 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Minolta 50mm f/1.7 Minolta 85mm f/1.4 G RS Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 |
| price paid: | $200 CAD (used) |
| positive: | +Very good bokeh when stopped down to f/2.0. +Center resolution @1.4 is very usable. +Great colour. |
| negative: | -Some fringing at large apertures. -Not the sharpest prime overall. -Busy bokeh around f/1.4-1.7. |
| comment: | All the common fringing issues associated with old Minolta lenses is present. Purple and Pink fringing plague highlight areas of the image, but goes away when stopped down to f/4. Lateral chromatic aberration is minimal throughout. Very similar to the 50/1.7 here. Contrast is a bit low at f/1.4 with some veiling that doesn't obscure detail, but firms up nicely by f/2.0. Much better than the 50/1.7 in this regard. Absolute sharpness (aka. micro-contrast) when stopped down to anywhere between f/2.8-8 isn't this lens' strong suit. The kind of sharpness can be described as more "pleasant sharp", rather than "pixel peeping bleeding sharp". Makes it great for portraits. On par with the 50/1.7. All that being said, I always wanted to upgrade my Minolta 50/1.7 because everything above f/2.8 was just hideous. Now I'm quite happy with this 50/1.4. A very pleasant image maker. Bokeh at f/1.4-1.7 have a slight outlining effect to them which makes it look busy. At f/2.0 the bokeh is completely uniform and blends together oh so nicely to make seamlessly creamy background transitions. |
; 10MPrating summary
- total reviews: 124
- sharpness: 4.68
- color: 4.81
- build: 4.64
- distortion: 4.77
- flare control: 4.13
- overall: 4.60