Minolta AF 135mm F2.8 A-mount lens reviews
 charlemeign#3781 date: Jul-2-2008 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 28-135 f/4 Minolta 50mm 1.7 Minolta 35mm f/2 Minolta 70-210 f/4 Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Sigma 20-40 f2.8 |
| price paid: | 300 |
| positive: | Sharp! TINY lens |
| negative: | None |
| comment: | While this lens isn't SUPER sharp at f/2.8, if you step it down one or two notches it is incredibly sharp. The colors are great, the build is great, and on a digital camera it is a 200mm f/2.8 that isn't that much bigger than a 50mm... Excellent for shooting portraits. |
; 16MP| lbill#3738 date: Jun-19-2008 | |
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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: | Minolta 28-135mm at 135mm Minolta 70-210mm at 135mm |
| price paid: | 300 |
| positive: | Sharp Amazing Colour Bokeh Small size light weight build-in hood |
| negative: | a bit soft at wide open(which lens doesn't?) hard to operate the focusing ring due to the "blockage" of the build-in hood |
| comment: | I've done a simple comparison with minolta 28-135mm & bearcan 70-210 at 135mm. The 135mm f2.8 (with f2.8) can beat these two legendary zoom lens in any aperture, even at f8. The bokeh and colour is just amazing. The size and weight is also unbeatable, a must have travelling portrait lens. It is noteworthy that the focal length of this lens will become (135*1.5)200mm on APS-C. |
| mrggt#3729 date: Jun-17-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | min 200mm f2.8 min 50mm f3.5 macro |
| price paid: | Ł135 [used] |
| positive: | very sharp colours contrast bokeh size |
| negative: | hood |
| comment: | love this lens now,when i first acquired this lens it stayed in my bag most of the time. now i use it on a regular basis.this is a fantastic lense |
| voets#3665 date: Jun-3-2008 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony 70-200 f2.8 G Sony 100mm macro |
| price paid: | 150 eur (used) |
| positive: | Lightweight, fast, cheap, sharp |
| negative: | None |
| comment: | A lovely lens, very useful for portraits of kids. On APS-C sensor it will be a nice 200mm equivalent. Autofocus is pretty fast, sharpness very good, even at f2.8. It won't beat the 100mm macro or 70-200mm f2.8 G, but those are a league of their own in sharpness. This lens is wonderfully small for a f2.8 / 135mm lens. So it is easy to walk around with. If you can find one at a decent price, get it, you won't be disappointed |
| LECHER#3642 date: May-28-2008 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 3 overall: 4.3 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta AF 28mm f/2.8 Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 |
| price paid: | 50.00 USD (used) |
| positive: | Unbelievable Bokah IQ Crisp Color, Color, Color |
| negative: | Slight Flare with hood extended. |
| comment: | Just picked up this lens today with the other primes up top. I got these 3 lenses and a Beercan for $125.00. Glad to say I pulled off over 200 pictures with these lenses today and I am very happy. Shot about half in RAW and the other half in JPG, just to see what kind of color and noise I would get. The 28 was good but the 50 was better and the 135 was out of this world. I decided to shoot the beach bunnies with this one and I was not disapointed. I got some really nice shots of the seagulls fighting for food. The Beercan was damaged so I didn't get to shoot it today. I will do that tomorrow as I just took it apart and fixed the forward barrel problem. Thank you, Pete Ganzel, for the great info on the Beer Baby. Didn't have any issues with Flare or viginetting with the sun at my back but a little when I got off to the side. Nice to have a built in hood. Minolta colors were all there. |
| vsldk#3461 date: Apr-13-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | - colors - sharpness - size - bokeh - built-in hood |
| negative: | missing |
| comment: | missing |
| jvandegr#3439 date: Apr-7-2008 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Nikon 135mm f/2.8 AIS, Nikon 70-200mm AF-S f/2.8, Minolta 100-200mm AF f/4.5, Minolta 80-200 f/2.8 APO G, Tokina 100-300mm f/4 |
| price paid: | $290 (near mint) |
| positive: | superb color rendition very sharp good build quality fast AF compact light weight built-in hood |
| negative: | nothing significant |
| comment: | Sharp wide open, very sharp from f/4. It can rival my Nikon 70-200mm AF-S for sharpness when stopped down. One of the few lenses that can keep up with the resolution of the higher resolution Alpha cameras, and it's really only bested by the Minolta 80-200mm f/2.8 APO G, Tokina 100-300mm f/4, and the Zeiss 135mm f/1.8. Each of those lenses is slightly sharper, but not any better for color, focus speed, or build quality. This 135mm pocket rocket has the typical amazing Minolta color rendition, and wonderful tonality. Autofocus speed isn't quite as fast as some modern silent wave motors, but it's still very fast and I've never missed a shot for it. Of course, I would prefer a larger manual focus ring, but this hasn't been a problem so far. Flare is seldom a problem when the built-in lens hood is used. I have yet to notice any significant chromatic aberration with this lens, but I rarely shoot at f/2.8. Solid build that can take a few hits. Relatively easy to find used 55mm Minolta filters for this lens. For a more flexible and less expensive alternative, get the Minolta 100-200mm f/4.5, which is not as sharp at 135mm, but just as compact with great Minolta colors. |
| Themisa#3425 date: Apr-3-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | - Tam 90 - Beercan - 200 HS |
| price paid: | € 225,- |
| positive: | - small and light, - beautifull colours, - sharp, - solid build |
| negative: | - focus ring - bit of flare when using 2.8 - focys distance |
| comment: | This is really a nice lens to work with. Like it a lot. Not that much to say...when you have the change to get one, just do it, you can't go wrong with this one. |
| ccwaggers#3410 date: Mar-29-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | km 100 2.8, sigma 70-200 2.8,km 28-135, sigma 28-70 2.8 |
| price paid: | 300 USD |
| positive: | af speed,light,sharp,built in hood |
| negative: | missing |
| comment: | great lens for kids, portraits and action shots. I like the length as it enables you to catch them unawares |
| Bodiniusz#3344 date: Mar-7-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 100/2.8 macro, 100/2.8 soft, 28/2.8, 50/1.4, 70-210 beercan, 75-300, kit |
| price paid: | 220 usd used |
| positive: | Image quality, speed, retractable lenshood, not too big/heavy, well build, oof |
| negative: | little too long |
| comment: | Superb image quality, beautiful oof, high speed focusing and bright lens, very useful retractable lenshood, For its bright pretty small and light, very well build. 2-3 time cheaper than 100mm (macro, soft, 2.0) and more usefull - however on some situations to long focal length (200mm on ASP-C) After few weeks of comparing to 100mm f2.8 macro and 100mm f2.8 soft I can say that 135mm is my most beloved. Although it is a little bit too long, it is compact, good iq (incl. bokeh) has fast AF and is much cheaper. hard to find (mine is Maxxum with crossed x's) |
| cloudless#3184 date: Jan-15-2008 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | 50mm 1.7, 18-70 kit, 100-200 4.5 |
| price paid: | 300 USD (used ex+) |
| positive: | Bokeh!!! |
| negative: | Built in lens hood. |
| comment: | This lens is incredible for portrait work! The only drawback is the distance factor. I sold it to get some other gear and am already thinking about buying another...if I can find one. Just plain old BEAUTIFUL images from this lens. The only tough part is learning how to use it to its potential (wide open for portraits at higher shutter speeds whenever handheld because the amplification of movement from longer focal length). |
| DANX#2911 date: Nov-6-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 100mm f2.8 100mm f2.8 soft focus |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | sharp, high quality color, build. |
| negative: | none |
| comment: | Excelent, excelent.... |
| Yaouank#2873 date: Oct-26-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 24-85 f3.5-4.5 RS 24 f2.8 50 f1.7 28-75 f2.8 |
| price paid: | 200 € (USED) |
| positive: | - Just great! |
| negative: | - Colors a bit too hot sometimes - Narrow focus ring |
| comment: | This is a hard to find, but great lens that I will never sell. Beautiful bokey! Very sharp from f/4, a bit softer at f2.8 but it is what you require for portraiture. The minimal focusing distance is a bit long. |
| silversurfer#2785 date: Sep-27-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Tamron 90 Di Minolta 100 F2 Minolta 100 F2.8 Macro D |
| price paid: | 300 USD (used) |
| positive: | Small size Sharp Nice bokeh |
| negative: | Built in hood is nice, but flimsy |
| comment: | Good lens. Very contrasty in enough light. 2.8 makes it pretty fast, but needs stopping down for ultimate sharpness. |
| Grubeater#2539 date: Jul-11-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 70-210/4 beercan. |
| price paid: | 200 euro (used) |
| positive: | Good build, sharp, small and light, fast AF. |
| negative: | CA wide open, |
| comment: | My copy took a fall with one of the former owners, some rubmarks on the front element and filterthread damaged. Points given as if it was in new state. |
| veevee#2436 date: Jun-11-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | 200 euo |
| positive: | - colors - sharpness - size - bokeh - built-in hood |
| negative: | - narrow focus ring |
| comment: | Very good lens, especially I like color rendering. Excellent portrait lens on film cameras and also on digital`s, mainly outdoors. |
| pnaciona#2430 date: Jun-9-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 100mm f/2.8 macro |
| price paid: | 135 USD (used) |
| positive: | compact size solid build extremely sharp pleasing bokeh |
| negative: | minimum focus isn't close enough |
| comment: | This lens is amazingly sharp and renders pleasing bokeh in most situations where I've used it. If you need a long portrait lens and don't have the budget to get the 135mm Zeiss or STF, this is your lens. Focusing is fast with this lens. Colors are, well, Minolta colors are awesome! |
| Torchwood#2399 date: Jun-1-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Canon 135 F2.8 SF. |
| price paid: | 100 UK |
| positive: | Sharp and fast, comapct and light |
| negative: | Front element coating soft, scratches easily beware . Poor focus ring . availability |
| comment: | A bit sharper wide open than the equally cheap canon 135mm F2.8 Softfocus but not as nice a lens handling wise, like most Minolta lenses it has a thin hard focus ring which is unusual on a tele prime even a short one. Optically the lens sings right from the widest aperture and the bokeh is very nice indeed.. one thing to beware of is the front element, the coating seems soft and the three I've seen have had scratches there. AF is fast enough. |
| never satisfied#2327 date: May-19-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | 50mm f1.4 85mm f1.4 G 100mm f2.0 80-200mm f2.8G |
| price paid: | $250AUD (used) |
| positive: | Small, sharp, quick AF & cheap. |
| negative: | MF ring and lens hood |
| comment: | I purchased this lens about 6 years ago to go with my Dynax 9 and never used it. 135mm on film seemed so 'in between' until I got my 7D and as a 200mm f2.8 is great. The AF is quick enough, it's small, light and very sharp. The lens hood is comical as are most early Minolta AF's; it's not deep enough to really shade anything and if it gets a good bump it's stuck there for ever. My 100mm f2.0 has a bayonet hood that is much better. While we only have an APS chip to work with the 135mm is a bargain, but once we get the much speculated full frame the 135mm will go back to being 'in between' again. It's not as sharp or as fast as the 100mm f2.0 but as a short tele at 200mm (1.5 crop) it holds its own. |
| Frenske#2325 date: May-19-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | - KM 100-200 - Sigma 70-300 APO |
| price paid: | 89 GBP |
| positive: | - Sharp - Reasonable fast - Reasonable fast focus - Built in hood |
| negative: | - Need to extend hood to MF |
| comment: | Fantastic lens. If you find one under 100 pounds - buy it. Over that price, personally I would not do it. Unless you need the fast f2.8, I would buy the much cheaper underrated KM 100-200 or buy a beer can. MF ring could have been built better. Wish it focus point was closer by! |
| ABramley#2245 date: May-2-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sigma 70-300 APO Minolta 70-210 f4 |
| price paid: | Ł120 (2nd hand) |
| positive: | Sharp 200mm 2.8 on digital Portrait lens on film Very compact, very lightweight Cheap! Good hood design - you can't lose it. Very fast AF. |
| negative: | Hood does rattle a little bit. Tiny MF ring which can't be used unless you extend the hood. |
| comment: | Very, very sharp towards the centre and seems to go well with my shooting style. Have never shot landscapes with it so can't comment on sharpness of outer regions. AF is very fast. Never noticed too much in the way of CAs. Very good value. I have to say, if I had Ł700 though, I'd definately like a look at the Zeiss 1.8, just because I love this focal length so much. |
| fitzerator#1956 date: Mar-12-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.6 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | This is an upgrade from my Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 The 135mm blows this other guy away when comparing focusing speeds and image quality (controls chromatic aberration a lot more than the superzoom). |
| price paid: | $145 used on eBay |
| positive: | I use this on my 7D for all my sports stuff. It's a 200mm f/2.8 equivalent. It's pretty fast on focusing and works great for outdoor sports. |
| negative: | Its focusing isn't as quick or accurate (hunting) as my KM 28-75 f/2.8. The focusing ring is tiny! |
| comment: | I'd definitely get this lens if you are looking for a little bit higher quality sports lens but can't afford a fast zoom. |
| Maurus#1891 date: Feb-24-2007 | |
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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: | Min 100-200 f 4.5 Min 24-85 f 3.5-4.5 |
| price paid: | 210 € (mint) |
| positive: | Sharp wide open, fast AF, good colours, lightweight |
| negative: | Nothing except one might wish for closer focusing |
| comment: | I cannot compare this lens to the more expensive and heavier tele primes or zooms (which I don't own) but compared to my other lenses this lens is brillant. Sharp wide open, nice colours, fast AF. For its size and weight the lens is hard to beat. Its main limitations are the focal length (some might want either longer or shorter on digital) and the minimal focusing distance (1m). (And of course it's no STF.) |
| Maffe#1779 date: Feb-7-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | 100/2 200/2.8 |
| price paid: | 98€ |
| positive: | Light, fast AF, cheap |
| negative: | non |
| comment: | This is a great lens, small, light and fast AF and useble wide open. I sold mine becouse heavy competition from 100/2, so I almost never used it. |
| xyfler#1651 date: Jan-13-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I have experience with this lens |
| compared to: | 100mm f2 70-210 f4 200 f2.8 |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | beautiful color and very good sharpness. Very good for portraits |
| negative: | slowish Af bokeh shape relative softness wide open some CA wide open |
| comment: | This is a superb lens. Its not as sharp as the 100 f2, which must be one of the sharpest lenses there is, but this lens is very sharp from f4, and has very good natural color. Very small size. Seems more manageable and easy to use than the 200 2.8 on digital. It was also superb on film. Sharper with better colors than the beercan. I havnt really tested it for flare yet. If I find anything new I will adjust the review. |
| Vader#1647 date: Jan-13-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I have experience with this lens |
| compared to: | 50/1.7 24/2.8 70-210/4 24-85/3.5-4.5 24-50/4 35-70/4 kit |
| price paid: | 125 USD |
| positive: | built in hood is great |
| negative: | Wish it would focus a little closer |
| comment: | Called a shop across the street from where my wife works and they said they would let it go for 125. Had her pic it up on the way to meet me at a holiday party and was quite pleased when she handed it too me... absolutely in like new condition!!! What an experience to snap on such a small lens and look through the vf to get such a tele view!!! Got great candid portraits throughout the course of the party and was absolutely blown away when I reviewed them on the computer. Without a doubt, the best bang for my buck to date!!! |
| dlouvton#1645 date: Jan-12-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I have experience with this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | $200 |
| positive: | -great color -very sharp -fast AF -small/compact |
| negative: | none for the price |
| comment: | after using it i no longer use the beercan or the 70-210/3-5-4.5 lenses. It's a great lens with nice colors and goes perfectly with a 1.4x TC. |
| Dumont#1644 date: Jan-12-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 85/1.4 Orig, Minolta 85/1.4 GD, Minolta 50/1.7 RS |
| price paid: | 250 USD |
| positive: | Very sharp, well built but small not heavy, nice bokeh wide open, stopped down it's nice if there are no circular highlights. |
| negative: | Iris shaped highlight bokeh very clearly trapezoidal when stopped down. I find the minimum focal distance a little too long. |
| comment: | Even though I got a discount I think I overpaid a tad since the the filter ring has a dent in it (it should be a DIY project - let's see). Sofar I am impressed with the IQ, the AF is pretty fast but sometimes it does hunt although it does find the focus, as opposed to some lenses that hunt and then give up. I like the IQ also when used in conjunction with a 1.4x TC, makes a nice 200mm/4. I might consider getting rid of my beercan. |
| mark victor#1557 date: Dec-22-2006 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I have experience with this lens |
| compared to: | 100 2.8 Macro. |
| price paid: | $185 USD |
| positive: | -Very fast focus ( impressive) -Very light weight -Sharp Sharp Sharp even wide open - all metal barrel.. nice build quality |
| negative: | wish the barrel can be a little larger for better handling and better look. 1.5X crop factor makes the lens a little too long for portriat sometimes... But it's still acceptable. . |
| comment: | Bought this lens little more than 6 months ago on ebay. Paid only 185 USD. This is one of the best purchase I ever made. A very good lens for stage shooting. |
| ph0t0man#1448 date: Nov-20-2006 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Tam 90 Mac Di, 200/2.8 |
| price paid: | $240 |
| positive: | Small, fast, light, and sharp |
| negative: | built is a tad flimsy, not quite as good as shorter primes. Maybe it is just the hood? |
| comment: | What a wonderful little lens. Compact and sharp, great choice for indoor sports or outdoor portraits. |
rating summary
- total reviews: 139
- sharpness: 4.69
- color: 4.92
- build: 4.65
- distortion: 4.91
- flare control: 4.44
- overall: 4.72
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