Minolta AF 70-210mm F4.5-5.6 II A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#28614 date: Jun-28-2016 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 3 overall: 4 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 18-200 F3.5-6.3 Sony DT 55-200 SAM Sony DT 55-300 F4.5-5.6 SAM Minolta AF 35-200 F4.5-5.6 Xi Minolta AF 70-210 F4 Minolta AF 70-210 F3.5-4.5 Minolta AF 70-210 F4.5-5.6 I Minolta AF 75-300 F4.5-5.6 BBC Minolta AF 100-200 F4.5 Minolta AF 100-300 F4.5-5.6 APO/D Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO Tamron 18-250 F3.5-6.3 Tokina AF 35-200 F4-5.6 |
| price paid: | 23 USD (used) |
| positive: | Small and light Nice ribbed rubber focus grip Sharp wide open Fast AF Low distortion |
| negative: | Purple fringing/haziness wide-open Slightly soft corners Filter thread rotates with focus Minor CA Minor pincushion distortion 49 mm filter size |
| comment: | Clean silver copy with original hood and caps that came in a beat up original box. "JAPAN" The zoom mechanism feels heavier than the I version and makes metallic noises like the kit lenses. Optical performance is very similar to the I version--very good central sharpness wide-open all the way to 210 mm. The field-of-view is similar to the f/3.5-4.5 version and slightly wider than the older f/4 version throughout the range. The focal plane is more curved than the other lenses, but the center sharpness is better. Center sharpness is much better than the 100-200 F4.5. It has considerably less distortion than the 55-200. It is slower than the 55-200 over most of their shared range. f/4.5 compared to f/4 at 70 mm. f/5 compared to f/4 at 100 mm. f/5.6 compared to f/4.5 at 135 mm. It extends almost an inch more than the 100-200 and 55-200. It is slightly shorter than the 100-200 fully retracted. Wide-open it shows a lot of purple fringing in high contrast areas similar to the 75-300, 35-80, and 24-85 lenses. The 55-200 has a similar issue wide-open on the short end, but is very well controlled at the long end. Both lenses are fine once stopped down to f/8. The hood is useful on the 35-80 II kit lens for APS-C use. Overall a decent full-frame telephoto kit zoom lens. I prefer the focus ring on this model, but the zoom control on the previous version. It is worth looking for a good copy of the slightly larger 70-210 f/3.5-4.5 instead. Test chart comparison to the Minolta AF 70-210 F4, 100-200 F4.5, and 100-300 APO. |
; 24MPrating summary
- total reviews: 9
- sharpness: 3.33
- color: 3.56
- build: 2.78
- distortion: 3.44
- flare control: 2.89
- overall: 3.20