Minolta AF 70-210mm F4 (beercan) A-mount lens review by cgl88

cgl88#2416 date: Jun-5-2007
sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.8	tested on: film camera: APS-C: 6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP; 16MP; 20MP; 24MP full frame: 12MP; 24MP; 36MP; 42MP; 61MP
ownership:	I own this lens
compared to:	Tokina 70-210mm Sony 18-70mm Kit Minolta 50mm f/1.7 Minolta 28-80mm zoom xi
price paid:	0 (Gift from Uncle)
positive:	Solidly built lens with excellent sharpness and color saturation
negative:	Somewhat heavy, auto-focus can get 'lost' at 210mm or in lower light
comment:	This lens reminds me of the good old days: products with quality performance that are built to last. The legendary 'beer can' lens is a treat to use on film and on digital. It works very well with the Sony a100. I have not taken enough shots on the a100 to experience CA (I avoid it anyway because its a known issue with the other lenses). The lens is heavy, but then again photography is a trade-off. A heavy lens comes with a solid build and excellent glass. It is a real bargain if you can snap one up for under $200 on eBay. No wonder the other brands love to bash poor KM/Sony: such cheap glass cannot be had with their cameras unless they pay 4x more! This lens is great for portrait, nature, sports (learn the workarounds due to slow focusing though), bokeh.