Playing With Lenses: April 2022

Friday 22 April 2022

Winter blanket: Minolta AF APO TELE ZOOM 100-300mm 1:4.5(32)-5.6

Cost: $39.9 (average cost: $80)

Although there was later "D" version that is considered the best version of this lens, the changes are minimal from the later and the previous versions. And I must say I'm impressed.

Picture quality is great with rich colors, good sharpness across the image and little aberration. As you can see from the samples, even when shooting completely open, I still maintained decent sharpness.

The lens itself has the same look as most Minolta APO lenses of this era, but it has a solid, well constructed feel to it.

Where this lens really shines, is the handling with a fast focus with my adapter on the Sony. For a maximum zoom length of 300mm, this is a small lens, and therefore very easy to handle. It's pretty light, although still feeling substantial, for a lens of this range, and therefore very easy to keep steady. It was a solid performer for some tele wildlife but also for some wide (if you can call 100mm wide) landscape shots.

I like this lens... I'm pretty sure i will use it more often if I need the the 300mm reach but not want to take the heavy and much larger Minolta 75-300mm.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 100-200mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.5-5.6
Minimum Aperture: F32
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Minolta AF
Optics: 11 elements, 10 groups
Blades: 9
Focusing: Auto (+ Manual)
Minimum Focus: 1.5m

Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 435g
Length: 102-112mm
Production: 1993
Serial Number: 14405445
Made in: Japan

More information on Minolta

More sample pictures at dyxum.com forums

Samples: