Customer Reviews

Minolta Maxxum AF 70-210mm F/4 Telephoto Zoom Lens

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had this lens for a couple of years now and am pretty happy with it.

The good:
Cheap. A good copy can be had under $200.
Very well built.
Excellent image quality.
The famous "Minolta colors".
Reasonably fast at f/4.0.
Constant f/4.0 throughout range.
Length does not change while zooming.
Sharp wide open.

The bad:
It's a 20+ year old lens, hence older technology and older coatings.
A bit of CA.
No focus limiter.
Heavy.
AF is slow (but good on the Sony A700).

On the whole, this is the only constant f/4 medium telephoto lens in the Sony alpha (Minolta AF) line up. No third party and no Sony equivalent.
Great image quality. Nice warm colors. Sharp wide open and great at 5.6 and beyond. Nice heavy feel. Metal body, built to last. Great for portraits and street, sports. Versatile length and good speed.
When it misses focus, it needs to zoom in and out and that could take 2-3 seconds on my Sony A100. Focus limiter would have been useful.
Good bang-for-the-buck lens.
This lens has actually built up a cult following among the old Minolta shooters, which has continued into the Sony alpha line up. People rave about the "Minolta colors", the image quality etc. There might be a bit of exaggeration in other reviews, as with anything which has built up a good reputation.
On the whole, I don't see any reason why one might not want to buy this lens.
If you can afford $700 or more for a 70-200/2.8, you can pass up on this but for a hobbyist on a limited budget, one of the best lenses in the AF mount.

So far I am very happy with this high quality lens. Much sharper than newer Sigma lens. Constant aperture is also a good feature. The down side is that it is a little long and heavy but worth it. Also called the "beer Can" lens.

I bought this Beercan legendary lens thinking it was going to be great - but my copy was great most of the time but would not focus clearly or produce a sharp image at the 210 end unless you were in sunlight. Was not dependable on my Sony a33. I have a 100-300 Minolta APO which produces better images tack sharp.
Returned to seller

Once i removed the uv-filter that was stuck the lens really delivered. It's amazingly sharp at F4.5 from wide all the way to tele. I love how it looks and feels. It's much sharper than my big beercan which needs to be stopped down to F8 for the same sharpness as F4 on the beercan.

If you can get one cheap, its well worth it, better than kit lenses. I would say its sharper than the Mini Beercan but not sharper than the 80-200/2.8HSG. Much sharper than the Sigma 70-300DL macro. Softens a touch as it gets closer to 210mm.

Can suffer from a bit of flare and CA with strong lighting, but generally the colours it produces are very good.

It seems to be built well and I have found it to be reliable.

Highly recommended


positive:
Very sharp from 4.5 on
great color
great bokeh at long end
constant aperture

negative:
heavy and tad awkward because of length
little bit slower than prime lens.