About six months ago I purchased a pristine Minolta 100-300mm APO (D) lens, and today I tried it out for the first time! I have been so busy with my Samyang 8mm, and various other toys, that I just never had gotten around to using this one. I bought it for iceberg captures, (as well as for an upcoming day trip to a nearby island for photographing Atlantic puffins and other seabirds) but what was supposed to be a bumper crop year for bergs around here has to date been anything but, so it has just sat unused in my camera case. Until today.
My daughter Jacqueline and I took advantage of our first nice-weather day in a couple of weeks, to go exploring across Fogo Island with our cameras, and had a great time; we both managed to get plenty of "keepers". I had heard some wonderful things about the 100-300mm APO (D), and it is indeed everything I dreamed it would be... and then some! At 300mm (f/8) this lens is incredibly sharp, and the colour is typically "Minolta" perfect.
The attached duck images were captured (handheld) at the full 300mm, with one of my A500's. I tried many variations of settings, but our feathered friends were so lively that I boosted the ISO up to 1,600, thus increasing the shutter speed to 1/2,000 sec, (at f/8) which got the job done.
This is an outstanding lens that I highly recommend for folks such as myself, who want some reach but cannot afford pricier glass. After an afternoon of playing with my new lens, I currently have no desire for anything "better", as in more expensive/longer reach.
Glen
http://www.FocusOnNewfoundland.com 
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