Minolta AF 70-210mm F4.5-5.6 A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#23462 date: Dec-30-2015 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 18-200 Sony DT 55-200 SAM Sony DT 55-300 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 II Minolta AF 75-300 BBC Minolta AF 100-200 F4.5 Minolta AF 100-300 APO Minolta AF 100-300 APO D Sigma AF 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO Tokina AF 35-200 F4-5.6 |
| price paid: | 14 USD (used) |
| positive: | Small and light Sharp wide open Fast AF Low distortion Lens button Easy to service |
| negative: | Purple fringing wide-open Slightly soft corners Filter thread rotates with focus Minor CA Minor pincushion distortion 49 mm filter size |
| comment: | Won on eBay with a $1 bid. The plastic focus rack had some grit and grease on it, but it was fairly easy to disassemble and clean. The focus action is now as smooth as the 55-200. The zoom mechanism is smoother than the 55-200. No hood. This lens was $150 when brand-new in 1994--$75 cheaper than the slightly larger 70-210 f/3.5-4.5. "JAPAN" 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 similar. It has considerably less distortion than the 55-200. Resolution drops off a bit at the long end--more than the 55-200 and other 70-210 lenses but much less than the 100-200 f/4.5 zoom. 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. Overall a decent full-frame telephoto kit zoom lens. It is worth looking for a good copy of the slightly larger 70-210 f/3.5-4.5 instead. |
; 24MPrating summary
- total reviews: 55
- sharpness: 3.96
- color: 4.36
- build: 3.87
- distortion: 4.16
- flare control: 4.07
- overall: 4.09