Minolta AF 28-85mm F3.5-4.5: Lens Review/Test
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- In this video I look at another 80's classic lens from Minolta, the 28-85mm F3.5-4.5. A fairly expensive lens for it's day, offering a 3x zoom range - the usual kit lenses bundled with the Minolta AF bodies were the 50mm F1.7 and 35-70mm F4 (see my other videos on these lenses)
I share my thoughts on the lens, put it through it's paces on a 24 megapixel full frame camera, and discuss the stronger and weaker areas of this lens. Prices are very low on this lens, making it a very affordable, "standard" zoom lens.
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I really like the way you do you reviews and pictures (just realistic pictures people do). Good job.
A question if you had to pic a zoom always on lens of minolta AF line, which would it be? Or would you only go prime?
Thanks
Thanks I try to show what I can, I think the 28-105mm RS is the best all round zoom from Minolta. The 24-105mm isn't bad but has quite a bit of distortion. The 28-135mm is a bit bulky in my view (and the 28-105mm is optically better)
Great review as always! Would love to see the 50mm 1.4 Minolta reviewed here!
I was trying to find the 50mm Minolta 1.4 RS, seems to be hard to find in Europe
I can get the Sony 1.4 version fairly easily though
This lens performed better than some of the text reviews I have read on it (I expect they had a poor sample)
@@MrBazReviews Yes, very rare. All the interesting minolta lenses are almost non existant in european ebay. I was lucky to find a 80-200 hs apo from ireland, everything else must be bought from japan. But certainly it will be interesting to compare the 50 1.4 with the rs version.
@@tiagokajit443 Sometimes lenses turn up on eBay in Germany/Austria/France etc. Depends on the price some give warranties, I got mine from Germany. On other lenses it depends how much interest there is, I know people adapt lenses.
There are not many Minolta users left really! There are other ones I want to look at 100-400mm APO another hard to fine one, maybe the 500mm Mirror lens.
I may yet stick with A Mount stuff even moving forward I just get on with the lenses very well and have yet to find anything I really like. New MILC stuff is very expensive and perhaps sometimes clinical in the look
I may get a 50mm F1.4, but it would probably have to be the Sony one, it's rare to see an RS Minolta around in Europe
28mm F2 another one I look out for but perhaps too rare/expensive, again don't see them often in Europe
Its a capable lens which sadly gets little respect. Takes great images.
@@KeithHeinrich It deserves more credit than it gets, it's often overlooked and shouldn't be for a standard zoom, I've no problems using this day to day.
very good review
Glad you think so!
I have this lens and find it very useful, but I also have the 35-105 (MKI) and although it is narrower, it is also longer and in my opinion a much sharper lens. Also this lens has the macro at 105mm, which is much more useful.
You are right, many consider the 35-105mm to be one of the best zooms Minolta made. However, the only downside is it's a 35mm starting point. To some that is. There is quite a big difference 28mm to 35mm at the wide end. The 28-105mm is probably their best in that range it doesn't need stopping down much at the 28mm end, and a good one is also respectable at 105mm. I might get around to doing a video on the 35-105mm, it depends if I keep any A mount stuff, since Sony abandoned it I have sold most of it off.
You are right, many consider the 35-105mm to be one of the best zooms Minolta made. However, the only downside is it's a 35mm starting point. To some that is. There is quite a big difference 28mm to 35mm at the wide end. The 28-105mm is probably their best in that range it doesn't need stopping down much at the 28mm end, and a good one is also respectable at 105mm. I might get around to doing a video on the 35-105mm, it depends if I keep any A mount stuff, since Sony abandoned it I have sold most of it off.
I never used that lens, but always wondered about it.
I did too! I didn't see any videos on it - thought it might be useful to have a look at it
It's silly cheap, and quite good overall optically
Thank you very much for this review. Well, unfortunately it looks like 28-135 is still better (if we are talking about zooms). The vignetting is too strong and the corners are soft, although the color reproduction is great, as always with Minolta.
It depends what you want. The corners are decent if you stop right down, this isn't unusual for many zooms from this era. The 28-135mm is good, yet that has it's own compromises in some areas. That also needs stopping down at 28mm. It's heavier and more expensive
The best 28 - something zoom, probably the 28-105mm which seems to outperform both of those lenses in it's focal range. Vignetting is a problem on many lenses less so on that one as well
I still use the 28-85mm, for the meagre cost on the used market - it's also get there on the 28mm end eventually, same can't be said for Sony's 28-70mm E mount kit lens! That lens is just rubbish at 28mm no matter what F stop is used
@@MrBazReviews Do you have a review on the lens 28-105 on your channel? Always been interested in this lens, but I've never owned one (like the 28-85). i have only 35-70 f4 small beer can. (we call it "baby" in my country), 50mm 1.7, 28-135 (we call it "Old Man") and a 70-210 f4. To be honest, I have been looking for a universal lens from Minolta for a long time, because I really like how it renders color and bokeh. The 28-105 is a great set of focal lengths, although I miss those 4mm and 24mm would be much better. But, I read a lot of reviews on 24-105 and in terms of optical characteristics it turned out to be worse. All the same optical distortion - even you mentioned it in this video. And there is no miracle - they had to pay for a wider angle with quality, so 28-105 can really turn out to be better. Also, I would like more faster lense to shoot at evenings in the city. But unfortunately most zooms from Minolta are quite slow - 3.5, 4 and 5.6. Oh wait. There is a G series - 28-70 and an aperture of 2.8. But even second-hand it is for some reason very expensive :( At least here.
On the local social internet marketplace, I can find almost any Minolta lens for pretty cheap. But... they are all in different conditions and I had to try to order different ones several times until I got a good copy. If you constantly order and try, then it already ceases to be "cheap enough" :) Therefore, I want to be sure. I also heard about the 24mm 2.8 prime lens, which, as they say in various reviews on UA-cam, makes amazing quality. But constantly reattaching the lenses (especially when I'm in a hurry when shooting in the city or dynamic scenes) is a real hassle. I also have a Sony 50mm DT. Despite the fact that this is for a crop camera - the vignette is not that big. But the quality is amazing. But I like Minolta even more :) And also i wan't to say that you have a very good channel! I've watched different videos in the past.
@@MrBazReviews Found it. I needed to search on your channel before bothering you with that question. There is search function in the video tab. 28-105. Yes, 2019 video.
@@Max-Kramer I did videos on the 24-105mm and 28-105mm. I kept the 28-105mm, the 24mm is nice but there is a lot of distortion on that lens, and strong vignette, overall in the 28-105mm range I found the 28-105mm to be better, than the newer lens.
That is my take, I also get better performance on the 17-35mm at 24mm, so I have that range covered.
Though I am likely to move away from Sony due to A mount neglect sadly, I may keep a few things or try some manual focus Minolta's. Huge shame but I tried some E mount bodies and the ergonomics are just not working for me at all.
The G stuff is still on the expensive side, perhaps within reach due to used prices dropping on some. I've not used the 28-70mm G, so can't say how that is.
I have the RS version of the 28-105mm I have tried a few copies, as ever they can vary, but at 28mm the 28-105mm is better than the other zoom lenses I have used..
I do like the look of the 28-85mm though, I often use it, and it's probably a bit under rated, it's super cheap used, and has the contrast the 28-100mm D's don't have (OK lens really used that too, just low contrast)
@@MrBazReviews Don't leave Sony. Today, due to the race of technologies and because of the constantly heated interest from numerous bloggers, people become victims of marketing and they forget that they already have enough effective tools in their hands to carry out most of their ideas. "They constantly dreaming about gear that would theoretically allow them to shoot well, instead of learning how to shoot well with what they already have". (this is a quote from the video from some channel, if I wrote it down correctly, since ENG is not my native language). Your A99 (and also a99 II) is a fantastic camera! Full frame, S-log support. What else do you need? :) Well, I use a7-III, but what does it give me? Permanent sex with LA-EA4 adapters. Now they have also released LA-EA5, as you certainly know, but there are problems as well. Sony does not reject A mount. They just stopped supporting it, but they can't deny their own heritage. This is the natural course of things. In the same way, the MD mount was once forgotten. Still, quite a lot of time has passed since the days of A- mount. In addition, if you go to another system, you will have to re-learn everything and master a completely different park of optics. And by the way, unlike other manufacturers, Sony at least released adapters to somehow extend the life of their A-mount. Yes, these adapters are a kind of crutches. But show at least one manufacturer who would care so much. Nikon and Canon simply left no choice for their users. And they have long lost this race. Now they are trying to enter the market of mirrorless cameras and they have not made any adapters for their users. Fujifilm fundamentally releases only crop cameras. The same goes for Olympus. So where are you left to go? Stay. Otherwise, the world will lose another good person who respects vintage lenses! :) P.S. But yeah... the prices of E-mount is.... no words I have, lol. We got what we got. Somehow we have to manage how to live with it and find some used stuff or ... just to master our skills for manual focus, since there are so many lenses that are much better than modern ones without any character. They are better only in the terms of focus speed and no cromatic abberations. And in the terms of constructions - the vintage lenses still better. And... beautiful.
In the thumb nail for this video there is a minolta body. What camera is that?
Dynax/Maxxum 7 35mm film body
would an adaptor allow this on a zv-e1 for video primarily
You won't get any autofocus even with the newest adapter, the LAEA5. Sony won't allow AF for video (only photos), sort of crippled the adapter a bit I assume to put people off buying bargain lenses like this.
Don't know if that's a problem but worth mentioning.
Would you recommend this as a beginner lense?
It's decent enough for a low price. Why not if the range suits your needs