Minolta AF 85mm F1.4 A-mount lens review by RDoe
 RDoe#5617 date: Jul-1-2009 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 3 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | - Sony 50mmF1.4 - Tamron 90mmF2.8 Macro |
| price paid: | 550E (used) |
| positive: | - Bokeh (to die for) - Buid, like a tank - Precise AF - Color - F1.4 - Balanced well |
| negative: | - LOUD AF! - CA visible (not problematic) - MFD - Not as sharp as expected (see under) - Slow AF (not really, just precise) |
| comment: | Sharpness The sharpness is good to great but from F2.8 on with maybe max between F4-F8. This was, although I knew, the disappointing bit of the lens (not really). Compare to my Sony 50mmF1.4 is it not as sharp as the 50mm between F1.4-F4, which was some sort of expected, but still a let down. On the other hand makes this a more perfect lens for portrait, that's why I bought it and the Bokeh is to die for, man! Color Minolta glass, well color is always great! Build Minolta first generation build like a tank! Distortion Well fixed lens, so no problem. Flare Could do better, but haven't really tested it yet. All in all there are three things that struck me as a negative, although I did expect it as it was stated in other reviews, like; - Noisy AF, I thought it was broken, phew. - MFD, I was used to use my Tamron90mm Macro for portraits and it MFD (well it is a macro), so the 1m MFD is sometimes a problem. - Sharpness, between F1.4-F4 it is not as sharp as the 50mmF1.4 Well in the end I got a new copy (well new, I think it never left a store because it is so smooth). I like the focal length on APS-C and the F1.4 is cool. About picture quality the drawback is the lack of an APO coating for some CA, but that CA is fixeable in PP. THe weird thing is that it is more noisy than the newer lenses. Probably due to coatings. After a few days of use I get the urge to compare it to the sigma50-150F2.8 (no real match, I know) but when photographing an event the zoom makes more sense to me. So now I'm faced with a dilemma. So sell the Minolta (-snif-) nd get the 50-150 as the new event/portrait lens together with my 50mm or keep it ...... and buy the 50-150 within a few months (girlfriend will never understand me ... ;-)) |
; 14MPrating summary
- total reviews: 56
- sharpness: 4.76
- color: 4.80
- build: 4.88
- distortion: 4.96
- flare control: 4.43
- overall: 4.77