Minolta 24-105mm D

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bfitzgerald
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Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Ok so the "new lens" has turned up via the bay bargain of £100 (plus a bit for postage)
Opening the package, the lens is absolutely new not even a fingerprint on it no signs of use ever even the mount was pristine very unlikely it has ever been out of the box bar a quick look, so fair dues to the seller who was honest (not I've been using it for a few years quick Mr Sheen job and declaring it "new" rather than mint or whatever). Hood lens caps all as new instructions this probably went AWOL from a film 7 kit and has not been used, and if it has it's one of the best examples I've seen of a s/h lens :mrgreen:

Quick play on APS-C reveals that at the tele end is just fine wide open all the way up to 105mm at f4.5, this was a problem on the 24-85mm where it was hazy in the tele range making f4.5 not really usable which kinda bothered me a bit. I'll be running a roll of 35mm film through it to see how it stacks up on full frame, that's the only way to test it fully. On APS-C it's ok wide end f3.5 though a tad lower on contrast not entirely unusable if you were inside and stuffed for light, it's improves quickly on stopping down a bit, I have to hit FF to see what goes on there.

there is some CA (in some highlight areas) but it does not look excessive on digital so far so I'm not sure that's a problem
The lens is even smaller than I remembered, it's stupidly small size for such a lens the comparison to the Canon 24-105mm L is chalk and cheese that's a far larger heavier lens, though it does have very good build. Build on the Minolta is "decent" as in better than kit lenses, but of course nowhere near pro..ok for what was a mid priced zoom lens, very similar to the 24-85mm. Focus ring has a fair bit of resistance, the zoom is fine though it's a bit stiff (another sign the lens has not had use)

Couple of quick tests shots
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mikeriach
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by mikeriach »

Very nice purchase, might have to contemplate something similar for a walkabout on the A99 so interested to see your feedback on FF.

Mike
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Hi Mike I have a roll of 35mm loaded into the film 7 I took with me I'm back in the UK for a bit (sadly my brother in law passed away suddenly) I will try to take some shots when I get out and around a bit.
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Good lens Barry now that lens corrections have been introduced in LR/ACR etc. It does need them. Compare the size with the latest Sigma and it's a mere peanut of a lens...
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Well I got my film back did a few scans now my power supply seems to have died on the scanner so I've ordered another one (I tested it no voltage coming through)
Anyway I saw enough to come to some conclusions about performance on 35mm

This is a test shot I took whilst driving through Wiltshire a typical farmland scene. I used a roll of the oddball super cheap "Tudor" ISO 200 film I picked up a few of those for very little so it's not the finest grain but seems ok for a normal ISO 200 film. As per normal I'm down to f11 on 24mm here
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And this is what's going on in the extreme corners
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Conclusions so far are:
It's capable of sharp results at the wide end and the corners are good stopped down
There is some vignetting even stopped down at the 24mm mark, at the tele end a bit at f4.5 though not as much and dropping it down a little vignetting is a non issue. So watch out for that wider end, it's not a hard edges vignette a creeping one that's fairly soft and correctable. Probably a design compromise as the lens is so small and compact. Tele end corners tighten up stopping down it's good in the centre at f4.5

Distortion is a moustache type at the wide end and the pincushion is fairly strong at 105mm. I'd find the tele end more troublesome but it's fairly easy simple distortion to deal with, at the wider end for some shots it won't really be noticed much.

On APS-C the vignetting is a non issue as it's cropped out entirely and you get a fairly handy 36-157mm with a very usable f4.5 tele end, the 18-135mm is at f5.6 at about 60mm if you're not in need of the wider end it makes for a pretty good APS-C lens too 36mm isn't that wide but it's wide enough in some cases and a better option than a 28-something on APS-C.

I've not seen major CA problems in fact not much at all really I know lenses can vary significantly on this
Compared to the 24-85mm sample I had the distortion and vignetting are less of an issue on that lens v the 24-105mm. I was fairly happy with the 24-85mm at the 24mm end stopped down the corners were decent (not tack but quite good) but the 24-105mm beats it here no question. Tele end the 24-105mm is much better than the 24-85mm which I found had veiling haze and needed stopping down.

For me anyway a keeper. At that price and a brand new lens the compromises are there but with some corrections vignetting and distortion there is no reason to doubt it should perform well on FF digital. The lens is ridiculously small for the range it covers quite a feat really and I'm sure the designers made some trade offs to get there. Still hard to complain about it, I showed it to a 24-105mm Canon owner and they were quite shocked at how small it is. I have been using the Canon 24-105mm L on a friends 5dMkII a few times that also has similar issues vignetting at the wider end is also a problem, distortion is quite similar on both lenses, the Canon's a touch soft at the tele end usable but a little vague at f4 105mm, leaving aside the build and sealing aspects optically the Minolta is not shamed by the Canon and is probably a touch better at the 105mm mark, stopped down wide end the Canon is a little better not a lot in it though.

I'm a bit surprised Sony discontinued the lens it was affordable and optically good for the range it covered, I'm sure with a bit of tweaking the vignetting and distortion could be tamed a little better in an updated design, even if they added an in lens motor with DMF it would likely still be fairly compact and a good normal zoom lens for FF users. Strange...

The marketing splurge I read on this lens suggested it was the first 24-105mm lens no idea if that's true but looking at the size of the Canon and Sigma 24-105mm's and their own compromises (which are similar to this but in a much bigger package) it seems the lens designer who worked on this Minolta was pretty on the ball
classiccameras
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by classiccameras »

Excellent report Barry, and thank you, it looks to me as a keeper, and there really is no drastic PP needed. I wonder how it stacks up against the Sony 16-105.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Not used that lens most owners seem to like it I think the choice was a little harder with the 16-80mm offering many I know went for the Zeiss. I had hoped Sony would update the 16-80mm I've used a few copies and wasn't really convinced on the build despite the decent optics
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by classiccameras »

I see little chance of that Barry with the current direction Sony are heading
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Now you know why I'm digging around for bargain lenses I've no intentions of any exotic purchases even though lenses tend to hold their value if the A mount direction isn't a good one then they certainly will fall significantly over time. Anyway Sony discontinued this lens (a questionable move) like I said before if you don't make it I can't buy it.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Interesting to see the "new" Canon EF 24-105mm f3.5-5.6
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/ ... ifications

Bigger, slower, no focus distance scale, more expensive, much larger filter size
It could be an amazing lens (we shall have to see) but it's funny to see
I suppose it's a bit more affordable less bulky than the 24-105mm f4 L it will be interesting to see how that stacks up optics wise

I'm not a fan of Canon's STM it's not great for manual focus
I got a replacement power adapter for the scanner and had a look at some more scans, again the output quality is better than I expected from the lens (minor points aside)
Vignetting is less visible in some shots stopped down at the 24mm mark (varies on the type of photo) For folks looking for a bargain 24- something I can recommend it easily
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by Mark K »

I bought mine together with Dynax 7 at the price of 350USD...and well...tried it on A7r...
The flares simply killed everything
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Minolta 24-105mm D

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Hmm not noticed too many problems on that the hood could be deeper but I shield strong flare with my hand
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