Minolta AF 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5

Good lens with great color not a prime lens quality, good buy if less $150 As most of you know, the Minolta 35-105mm is a legendary lens. This is not necessary that every Minolta automatically is the best one. In fact, even among all good lens there are good and not very successful copies. The copy what I got is not the best one. I compared it with Minolta 28-105mm and Sigma 18-200mm DG. In the same conditions, with flash on, in sharpness the Sigma 18-200mm was winner, to my surprise. Second place took Minolta 28-105mm and then 35-105mm. But the sharpness is what I was looking for. I used Sony a560 camera with Check Focus LV. In door this lens, even with flash on, was not too sharp at 35mm but sharp enough at 105mm in the same conditions. I took about 20 pictures with the same result. The copy of lens, what I got, is in the good conditions, there are not even deep scratches on the barrel, however, as I said, I expected something better. It is still has a good color, but again, I used Skylight 1B filter to bring more saturation, when I was taking pictures of sunset. I could distinctly see a difference with and without that filter. Lens is sharp on both ends of zoom outside (perhaps because of more UV light), if object not far away. It has a great macro. The macro, however, is provided by switching in macro mode with switch on lens. MACRO MODE DOES NOT HAVE AUTO FOCUS COMPATIBILITY. You have to adjust the focus, holding camera release button half pressed (to see camera focus confirmation), then turning zoom barrel to find a focus, then you need to turn off the auto focus on your camera, and finally, make a fine tuning with aperture barrel. It's a pain, but pictures are great. Minimum focus distance of Minolta 35-105 in normal mode is 1.5 meters, in Macro Mode is about 9 inches. Auto focus is much faster in normal mode in comparison to Sigma 18-200 DG. There is some color aberration in high contrast scene, lets say: if you take a picture of sky in the woods you'll notice blue fringing around trees. Portrait pictures are good, not fascinating, if to compare with Minolta 50mm f1.7, but good enough and sharp enough if person is withing a minimal focus distance (1.5 meters). Keep in mind, this is not a APO lens, so you not going to get great pictures in distinguished details. You may think about good colors but do not expect the same quality as you'd be expecting from prime lens. One more thing. I reviewed Minolta 35-105mm "beercan" - old type Minolta. This is the one which deserve an attention not a reshaped one. not a xi type. You not going to have any good from them.

I've got a good one here.... smiles. The cost of buying Sony or Zeiss lens for my A700 has become quite prohibitive and so I have reverted to looking at the Minolta (and indeed Konica-Minolta) lenses to perform the functions I need. In effecting an eBay search by "Minolta Maxxum" you will find a plethora of lenses to suit your Sony Alpha body. Being a Minolta-man from the days of film, I have the advantage of having used some of these lenses, back in the day. This particular lens I required for portraiture, more than anything else, and I am pleasantly surprised at how snappy the autofocus is........... having shot images via AF and Manual I am very happy with its performance. Always annoying with Minolta though, is the size/thickness of the manual focus ring......... It is very, very thin and right at the lens-end of the unit... useable, Yes.. a little tricky?.. Yes. Just takes a bit of practice. So Yes, I am happy with this particular lens and the brief but random tests I have performed with it. As with all reviews, I offer caution that not all like-type lenses are the same.......... lenses differ/ sellers differ. Always do your homework before making an offer..... clarify any grey areas by asking questions of the seller.

Solid lens that yields razor sharp photos, metal construction. Heard so much about the lens quality among users that I had to try this Minolta product even though it was made back in 1985. I am not disappointed. has an almost dimensional look to the images and the colors are just magnificent. it has a solid metal feel which adds weight but does not bother me by its results with my A35 camera. Sharp images and ability to do macro make it versatile. Only the 35 mm reach at wide angle does it seem limited in range. I use a 20-35 to make up for that. What it does it does well in most situations. More lenses should be made like the Minolta 35-105.