Minolta Lenses old and old

[harvey]

I was looking through a couple of old Minolta Lens brochures and thought that people here might find it interesting.
The first describes the lens range before autofocus and must have been right at the start of the AF era before the
brochures came out.
The second is the AF lens range from 1995.
And as I was writing this I realised I had a PDF of a Dynax brochure from 2005 (I'm ignoring DT lenses from this)

Code: Select all

MD                            AF 1995                 Dymax 2005

7.5mm f/4 fisheye           
16mm f/2.8 fisheye            16mm f/2.8 fisheye      16mm f/2.8 fisheye
17mm f/4
20mm f/2.8                    20mm f/2.8              20mm f/2.8
24mm f/2.8                    24mm f/2.8              24mm f/2.8
28mm f/3.5
28mm f/2.8                    28mm f/2.8              28mm f/2.8
28mm f/2                      28mm f/2                28mm f/2
35mm f/2.8
                              35mm f/1.4G             35mm f/1.4G
                              35mm f/2
35mm f/1.8
50mm f/2
50mm f/1.7                    50mm f/1.7              50mm f/1.7
50mm f/1.4                    50mm f/1.4              50mm f/1.4
50mm f/1.2
85mm f/2
                              85mm f/1.4G             85mm f/1.4G (D)
100mm f/2.5
135mm f/3.5
135mm f/2.8
135mm f/2
200mm f/4
200mm f/2.8
300mm f/5.6
300mm f/4.5
                             300mm f/4

                             200mm f/2.8 APO G        200mm f/2.8 APO G
                             300mm f/2.8 APO G        300mm f/2.8 APO G (D) SSM
400mm f/5.6 APO TELE         400mm f/4.5 APO G
600mm f/6.3 APO TELE         600mm f/4 APO G          600mm f/4 APO G

250mm f/5.6 RF
500mm f/8   RF               500mm f/8                Reflex 500mm f/8
800mm f/8   RF
1600mm f/11 RF

                             New 17-35mm f/3.5 G      17-35mm f/2.8-3.4 (D)
                                                      17-35mm f/3.5 G
                             New 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5    20-35mm f/3.5-4.5
24-35mm f/3.5
24-50mm f/4
                             24-85mm f/3.4-f4.5
                                                      24-105mm  f/3.5-4.5 (D)
                             28-70mm f/2.8G
                                                      28-75mm f/2.8 (D)
                             28-80mm f/3.5-5.6        28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 (D)
28-85mm f/3.5-4.5
                                                      28-100mm f/3.5-5.6 (D)
35-70mm f/3.5                35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 
35-135mm f/3.5-4.5
50-135mm f/3.5
70-210mm f/4                 70-210mm f/4.5-5.6       70-210mm f/4.5-5.6 II
75-150mm f/4
                             75-300mm f/4.5-5.6       75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 (D)
100-200mm f/4
100-300mm f/4
                                                      70-200 f/2.8 APO G (D) SSM
                             80-200mm f/2.8 APO G
                             100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 APO  100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 APO (D)
                             100-400mm f/4.5-6.7 APO
100-500mm APO TELE

                             50mm f/2.8 macro         50mm f/2.8 macro (D)
50mm f/3.5 macro             50mm f/3.5 macro         50mm f/3.5 macro 
                             100mm f/2.8 macro        100mm f/2.8 macro (D)
100mm f/4 macro
                                                      200mm f/4 macro APO (D)

12.5mm f/2 bellows micro
25mm f/2.5 bellows micro
50mm f/3.5 auto bellows macro
100mm f/4 auto bellows macro

                              Macro zoom 3x-1x f/1.7-2.8  Macro \oom 3x-1x f/1.7-2.8
                                                       
24mm f/2.8 VFC
35mm f/2.8 SHIFT CA
85mm f/2.8 VARISOFT
                              100mm f/2.8 soft focus      100mm f/2.8 soft focus
                                                          STF 135mm f/2.8(T4.5)

2x TELE CONVERTER 300-S
2x TELE CONVERTER 300-L
                              1.4X Teleconverter II APO   1.4x Teleconverter APO (D)
                              2X Teleconverter II APO     2x Teleconverter APO *D)

From the MD brochure it looks like the zooms all extend so you have a DOF scale at each zoom position.
There were some fast MD primes (35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.2).
I didn't know about VFC lenses, so lensbaby are not that innovative after all I guess.
Clearly the zooms see the most change and economics and fashion saw the end
of the more specialist glass (1600mm RF!)

For some reason my 135mm f/2.8 does not show so it must have been eclipsed by the STF.

Harvey

[David Kilpatrick]

That' a very interesting compilation. It would also be worth adding 1985 - the AF launch series - and 1999 - the final fling of the RS pre-D type AF lenses (like the 28-105mm which is omitted from the 1995 and later lists).

Of course, in the MD days a wide range of prime tele lenses was regularly used, and these were replaced by zooms. Something odd happened to macro bellows lenses, maybe because the tie-up with Leitz ended. The 12.5 and 25mm Minolta bellows lenses were the same lens as those sold by Leitz. I still don't fully grasp why bellows disappeared. Nothing actually replaces them; I used to work with some very powerful bellows set-ups.

Thanks for this work. With your permission it might be a good table to print in the magazine, especially if the missing 'eras' were inserted.

David

[Javelin]

I have the 100mm bellows lens. I think I posted a pic or 2 here with it a while back. it's incredibly sharp and I'd like to find the others but they must be pretty rare. I see the 100's come up fairly often though. I saw the shift lens in a photo not long ago but I have never seen one for sale. Actually rokkor files has write ups and pictures of these special lenses

[harvey]

Thanks for this work. With your permission it might be a good table to print in the magazine, especially if the missing 'eras' were inserted.

David

I will double check the details and see if I can fill it out any further.

I did wonder who owns the copyright to the Minolta brochures; probably Sony.

Harvey

[David Kilpatrick]

Konica Minolta still own the copyrights. They made that clear to me and promised legal action if I ever reproduced their material after KM sold to Sony.

David

[pakodominguez]

I didn't know about VFC lenses, so lensbaby are not that innovative after all I guess.

VFC and lensbabies are totally different beasts (REF: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/24mm%20VFC.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) I wish Sony will re-introduce this lens !
Regards

[Greg Beetham]

I have a lovely Minolta MD brochure possibly late 80's (no date on the back page on that particular one) that has a full two page spread of all the lenses, I was nearly going too scan those two pages and post it but in view of what David said that might not be wise, Minolta might get cranky if they found out.

BTW Harvey there is a typo with the 100-200 and 100-300 MD zooms...they are both f5.6's not f4's...if you want to worry about it.

Greg

ps. I also have Minolta AF system brochures for 1991 and 1992 and one interesting thing I noticed so far (haven't gone through and compared every lens) was the AF 80-200 f2.8 Apo was black in the 91 brochure and was transformed in the 92 brochure into a white lens with G added to the lens specification name.

[harvey]

BTW Harvey there is a typo with the 100-200 and 100-300 MD zooms...they are both f5.6's not f4's...if you want to worry about it.

Yes you are correct, my mistake. I will check this again at the weekend.
The MD brochure "MINOLTA LENSES" does not have a date. The one I have has LBH 203-A1 printed on the back cover.

ps. I also have Minolta AF system brochures for 1991 and 1992 and one interesting thing I noticed so far (haven't gone through and compared every lens) was the AF 80-200 f2.8 Apo was black in the 91 brochure and was transformed in the 92 brochure into a white lens with G added to the lens specification name.

If you could scan the lens tables and send to me I would appreciate it. (try the private message thing)

The 2005 brochure has

28-100 silver/black and black
28-80 silver/black and black
70-210 black and silver
75-300 silver/black and Black

where the black of /black looks like the zoom ring.

Harvey

[David Kilpatrick]

There is no problem now with reproducing the material. They were paranoid about the Sony deal. While Sony ignore me and the history of the club, mainly for personal reasons connected with the man in charge, KM is now gone. They would have pursued me for the 70 years of Minolta page, which reproduces an entire poster for which the same man sent me the files! He doesn't want the club, but he was very willing to send me all the resources he could find before leaving KM, as well as arranging the warehouse product clearance. No bad feelings - he just reckons I'm an old fart and 100% out of touch with the generations he needs to sell Sony to!

David

[Greg Beetham]

What a peculiar point of view that is David, the generation he's talking about, that is, most of em probably wouldn't be seen dead with a DSLR anyway, they would be too busy texting, and yes I would have thought that old Minolta brochures used in a historical sense, not a promotional one, might not be that much of a transgression.

Harvey, if you have an MD Lens brochure it's probably pretty much the same as I've got, but the bottom of the back page on this one reads,

NLB 505E-B3 9242-4401-01 Printed in Japan
Some part of that is probably a date, but you would have too know how to interpret it.
Greg

ps. I'll do some scanning when I get a sec, and send you a copy of the lens lists in them.

[Greg Beetham]

Harvey I thought I might post these here in case anyone else is interested, maybe even Olaf might like to have a look, let me know if this is ok for size, the original brochure was about the same size as this, and there is a 1000 pixel width limit here anyway.

As you can see 1992 was a big year in lenses, many changes compared to the previous year, astonishing really, what Minolta achieved in one year, when you take a close look.
Greg
ps I guess you could always zoom the browser to 125% for a slightly better look....maybe.
I had a lot of trouble getting a half decent settings/result with my scanner.

[harvey]

Harvey I thought I might post these here in case anyone else is interested, maybe even Olaf might like to have a look, let me know if this is ok for size, the original brochure was about the same size as this, and there is a 1000 pixel width limit here anyway.

Thanks a lot. I was nervous of posting parts of the brochures but I think you can always use extracts for review or criticism but I'm no expert. And to address one of David's requests this is the original 12 lens autofocus lens line up from 1985.

24mm f/2.8
28mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.4
50mm f/1.7
135mm f/2.8
300mm f/2.8 APO

35-70mm f/4.0
35-105mm f/3.5-f/4.5
28-85mm f/3.5-f/4.5
28-135mm f/4-4.5
70-210mm f/4

50mm f/2.8 macro

The few sources I found (including a launch review of the 7000) were consistent on this list. The 7000 camera manual has a picture of the 12-lens lineup.
The 135mm f/2.8 cost me £94.90 in 1986 and the 28mm f/2.8 £99.00 in 1987. Inflation would multiply these prices by around 2x. In 1987 that was my kit (including the discounted AF 50mm f/1.7 kit lens) and the cost was not too bad for a poor student.

Harvey

[harvey]

I have tried to gather together the various Minolta lens tables from the brochures and correlate with a couple of the lens databases on the web.

The result is the following document where I have attempted to present this information as concisely as possible.

If anyone spots any errors or can scan more lens catalog specification tables (not 1985, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2005) then I would be grateful.

Harvey

[pakodominguez]

Nice!
Thanks Harvey