Playing With Lenses: February 2021

Cost: $60 (market price around $50)

This lens is often referred to as the Big Beercan, as a brother of the famous Minolta Beercan (70-210mm f4).

I actually purchased 2 copies of this lens. The first was not in good condition, and refused to set the aperture properly. The second one, in much better shape, and bought from a local source via Facebook, worked significantly better. But what really made a difference, was the conversion of my Sony LA-EA4 adapter to a MonsterAdapter or LA-EA4r. Focus was suddenly much faster, much more accurate and even enabled eye-focus on my Sony.

And that's when I fell in love with this lens. In other reviews, users complained about sharpness in the long end, or significant color aberration. But I have seen none of it. Good sharpness, rich colors, very little color aberration. Bokeh is nothing special, but not bad either. And used wide open, it really can isolate the subject nicely. I'm really impressed with a 30 year old long range zoom lens. It should not be this good!

The lens is good looking, with a shiny black coating, and a decent quality feel. The sold build, avoiding plastics, does make this lens large and heavy, in contrast with later versions made of plastic that were lighter, smaller but also of lesser image and build quality.

The lens has a focus limiter switch, but I thought that to be useless when out in the field and constantly switching from birds nearby to far away.

This is a great lens... if you only go out and shoot wildlife occasionally, this is a great little investment, at least if you already have the MonsterAdapter. This lens will for sure not just be a lens in my collection, but one to grab when I know I will be shooting birdies...

More examples on Flikr.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 75-300mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.5-5.6
Minimum Aperture: F32
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Minolta AF
Optics: 13 elements, 11 groups
Blades: 9
Focusing: Auto (+ Manual)
Minimum Focus: 1.5m
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 900g
Length: 163-196mm
Production: 1986
Serial Number: 20102971
Made in: Japan

More information on Minolta

Samples: