Minolta SR 100mm macro lenses comparison:
- Minolta MC Macro Rokkor QE 100mm 1:3.5 (Hills&Valleys/Knurled, MCII)
- Minolta MD Macro 100mm 1:4.0 (New-MD, MDIII)
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MC II Minolta MC Rokkor PF 85mm 1:1.7 - MC II Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 Minolta MD III
Minolta MC Rokkor PF 85mm 1:1.7 vs. MD 85mm 1:2.0 – comparison
Minolta SR 85mm lenses comparison:
- Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 (MD III)
- Minolta MC Rokkor PF 85mm 1:1.7 (MC II)
Monster’s battle – both lenses are legendary.
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MC I Minolta MC II Minolta MC Rokkor PF 100mm 1:2.5 - MC II Minolta MC Rokkor-QE 100mm 1:3.5 - MC I Minolta MD 100mm 1:2.5 Minolta MD III
Minolta MC Rokkor PF 100mm 1:2.5 vs MC Rokkor QE 100mm 1:3.5 vs MD 100mm 1:2.5 – comparison
Minolta SR 100mm lenses comparison:
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor PF 100mm 1:2.5 (MC II)
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor QE 100mm 1:3.5 (MC II)
- Minolta MD 100mm 1:2.5 (MD III)
100mm is a very popular portraiture focal distance for today, greatly demanded by photographers. Historically, the number of available 100mm lenses is much less than 85 mm or 135mm for example, and prices can’t be called small. Each of these three tested objects has its own feature that makes the lens strong. Therefore, the final choice is likely to be based not on the sharpness but on personal preferably of a photographer. Anyway, let’s select a champion in resolution.
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MC II Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 - MC II Minolta MC Rokkor QD 135mm 1:3.5 - MC II Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 Minolta MD III
Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 vs. MC Rokkor QD 135mm 1:3.5 vs MD 135mm 1:2.8 – comparison
Minolta SR 135mm lenses comparison:
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 (MC II)
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor QD 135mm 1:3.5 (MC II)
- Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 (MD III)
135mm is the very popular focal distance for many styles of photography: portraiture, landscapes, street-photo, etc. – it’s great for scenes which are required a compressed perspective for a more tight feeling of the picture. This comparison should show the difference between very budget manual 135mm lenses. Actually, Minolta produced the only one expensive 135mm – the famous MD 135mm 1:2.0, and all another 15 models for SR-mount looks cheap enough, so, three are here.
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MC II Minolta MC Rokkor PE 200mm 1:4.5 - MC II Minolta MC Rokkor QF 200mm 1:3.5 - MC II Minolta MD 200mm 1:2.8 Minolta MD III
Minolta MC Rokkor QF 200mm 1:3.5 vs. MC Rokkor PE 200mm 1:4.5 vs MD 200mm 1:2.8 – comparison
Minolta SR 200mm lenses comparison:
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor QF 200mm 1:3.5 (MC II)
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor PE 200mm 1:4.5 (MC II)
- Minolta MD 200mm 1:4.5 (New-MD, MD III)
Comparison of lenses Minolta MD 200mm 1:2.8, Minolta MC Tele Rokkor QF 200mm 1:3.5 and Minolta MC Tele Rokkor PE 200mm 1:4.5
At first glance, it seems that the fight is not very fair, because newer MD version is faster than previous MCs. But it turned out that speed is important of course, but not very much, look at the results.
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MC II Minolta MC Rokkor HF 300mm 1:4.5 - MC I Minolta MD 300mm 1:4.5 Minolta MD III
Minolta MC I Rokkor HF 300mm 1:4.5 vs MD 300mm 1:4.5 – comparison
Minolta SR 300mm lenses comparison:
- Minolta MC Tele Rokkor HF 300mm 1:4.5 (MC I)
- Minolta MD 300mm 1:4.5 (New-MD, MD III)
This focal distance is enough long to use “on sensor stabilization” during real photography, but for testing, OSS-systems are inappropriate because may affect the results. So, for this comparison, a combination of two tripods was used. It was looked a bit funny but I’m sure that the camera and lens were fixed enough.
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Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 Minolta MD 75-150mm 1:4.0 Zoom Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 Minolta MD III
Minolta MD 75-150mm 1:4.0 Zoom vs MD 85mm 1:2.0 vs MD 135mm 1:2.8 – comparison
Minolta MD 75-150mm 1:4.0 Zoom comparison with primes
- Minolta MD 75-150mm 1:4.0 Zoom (MD III)
- Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 (MD III)
- Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 (MD III)
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MD 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.5 Zoom Minolta MD 28mm 1:3.5 Minolta MD 35mm 1:2.8 Minolta MD 50mm 1:1.4 Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 Minolta MD III
Minolta MD 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.5 Zoom vs MD 28mm 1:3.5 vs MD 35mm 1:2.8 vs MD 50mm 1:1.4 vs MD 85mm 1:2.0 – comparison
Minolta MD 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.8 Zoom comparison with prime lenses:
- Minolta MD 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.8 Zoom Macro (MD III)
- Minolta MD 28mm 1:3.5 (MD III)
- Minolta MD 35mm 1:2.8 (MD III)
- Minolta MD 50mm 1:1.4 (MD III)
- Minolta MD 85mm 1:2.0 (MD III)
One of the best zooms from pre-AF era is going to fight against famous primes on the most used focal distances. Yes, that primes are powerful, so a victory of zoom looks impossible but it will be cool even if it will show at least a close level of sharpness. (more…)
Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.0 Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.8 5 elements 5 groups Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.8 7 elements 7 groups Minolta MD 28mm 1:3.5 Minolta MD III
Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.0 vs MD 28mm 1:2.8(7×7) vs MD 28mm 1:2.8(5×5) vs MD 28mm 1:3.5 – comparison v2
Minolta MD 28mm lenses comparison v2: Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.0 vs MD 28mm 1:2.8(7×7) vs MD 28mm 1:2.8(5×5) vs MD 28mm 1:3.5 – all are MD III
The first battle of 28mm Minolta MD III lenses was the very first lenses-comparison on this site. That time I had copies of MD 28mm 1:2.8 5×5 version and MD 35mm 1:3.5 in bad cosmetic appearance. I believe that it didn’t affect the results of the tests, but after I got other copies of these lenses I’ve re-made tests. Here you can see the second comparison. Actually, there are no changes – the result is close the same, as it was for the first time, but article design and conclusion text are changed for better visualizing.
Canon FDn 35mm 1:2.0 Canon New FD Lens Comparisons - Wars Minolta MD 35mm 1:1.8 Minolta MD III
Canon FDn 35mm 1:2.0 vs Minolta MD 35mm 1:1.8 – comparison
Canon FDn 35mm 1:2.0 vs Minolta MD 35mm 1:1.8 – comparison
The 35mm focal distance is in second place after ‘fifties’ by popularity and it makes the fighting for ‘the best 35mm lens’ award is very important. Additionally, this pair of fast 35mm – Minolta MD and Canon FDn – are very well known as great performers and have a legendary status lenses. It’s strange to me that I can’t find head-to-head comparisons on the internet. So, let’s do it.