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Minolta MD and MC Lenses
  • kavadnikavadni

    This is a place for discussion of Minolta MD or MC lenses

    I will try and give a more thought out intro at a later date, and I'll endeavour to put resources in the next post.

    http://www.personal-view.com/faqs/camera-usage/minolta-rokkor-lenses-faq

  • 120 Replies sorted by
  • AlbertZAlbertZ

    Great work, @dlzn! I like very much the characters of these lenses, I used to shoot on Konica and FD lenses, now I mainly use Veydra... but these Minoltas seems to have a very intersting cinematic character! What lenses and camera have you used in Nieuw Niveau?

  • MikeLinnMikeLinn

  • dlzndlzn

    Shot all of these mostly with Minolta md lenses. Next up I'll invest in an md tot m43 speedbooster. Enjoy watching and tell me what you think.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    Rokkor 50mm/1.4 MD Orange X F4 vs Lumix 42.5 @ F 3.2 haha funny

    Rokkor 50 F4.jpg
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    Lumix 42.5 F3.2.jpg
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  • fredfred27fredfred27

    Concerning your "Orange-X", which optical design is it? That would help when recommending lenses to others on here. Is it an MC or MD? ROKKOR or no ROKKOR? The orange ROKKOR-X only designates that it was sold in North America. Does it have the 49mm or 55mm filter thread? Since there were many variations of Minolta SR mount lenses, it is necessary to identify them fully when recommending them.

  • fredfred27fredfred27

    I am only speaking of optical (light path) designs of which there are four. There are many configurations of construction, markings and coatings included in these designs. At present count there are 13 sub-variations without taking into account lens coatings.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    The differences are in the lenses and the coatings. However, I haven't disassembled more than two of the 50mm (for the iris leaves), so there may be other differences...the photos sure look different.

  • fredfred27fredfred27

    @DrDave More than four optical designs? Can you share your source? I am curious where you have heard this. There have been different ways that the casings for the front and rear groups have been built during the run of various optical designs, but I have not seen more than four designs.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    Orange X 50mm Rokkor, JPEG from GX85 no sharpening etc. Typical Rokkor X creamy color and Bokeh. F 2.8. Background is a knotty pine bookcase. Vase Arnhem 1929. Rose: Autumn Sunset.

    Rose 2016.jpg
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  • DrDaveDrDave

    @fredfred27 I think there are more than 4. As for which version I prefer, in general, I prefer the ones that haven't been dropped. Anyway, I don't like the Bokeh of the PG even if some samples are slightly sharper wide open, and the color is not as good. The Bokeh of the PG is has a sort of tangled, brittle edge. Just kicking around the four or five 50mm I have, the orange X has the nicest Bokeh and my copy is very sharp. I've seen ones that weren't as sharp. A lot of these were lenses that I purchased in the 70s, so they are in perfect condition.

  • fredfred27fredfred27

    Concerning bokeh...I did a test with most of the standard (45, 50, 53, 55, 58 mm) Minolta SR mount lenses (and two M39 mount ones). You can see them here. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B14hN10qvwXjRENyV2Q2M2hLNWc

  • fredfred27fredfred27

    There were other diagrams of the first design that were floating around in early Minolta literature that turned out to be incorrect. They are believed to have come from the marketing department and did not represent the actual design. I disassembled lenses of the first and second design to prove the diagrams shown here were the correct ones.

    MC-X_MD-I-II_50-1.4_All_1024.jpg
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  • fredfred27fredfred27

    Here is a scan from a Japanese book called "Minolta Camera History". It shows the optical diagrams of the four versions.

    20151206_50-1.4_Diagrams_MinoltaCameraHistory_1024.jpg
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  • fredfred27fredfred27

    Which MD version? There were four distinct optical designs for the SR mount 50/1.4. The MC ROKKOR-PG (or for North America MC ROKKOR-X PG), the MD ROKKOR (MD ROKKOR-X) with the 55mm filter thread, the MD ROKKOR (MD ROKKOR-X) with the 49mm filter thread and the MD (informally called Plain MD) with the 49mm filter thread.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    Can't say I like the PG version of the 50/1.4 Rokkor as well as the MD....busy Bokeh

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    50mm F1.4 Rokkor

    image

    http://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-minolta-mc-rokkor-50mm-11-4/

    Remember about http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5688/minolta-rokkor-survival-guide/

    img910.jpg
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  • dlzndlzn

    My bad. @fredfred27 it's a Sigma 28mm. (:

  • fredfred27fredfred27

    @dlzn Minolta didn't make a 28/1.8. Did you mean 28/2 or 28/2.8?

  • dlzndlzn

    I shot these with Minolta lenses. 50mm F1.7 & 28mm F1.8

    password: moz-4

  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    Cool, @nomad :-) BTW, I have bought the original Minolta close-up lens on ebay.de for 5€ if I remember well, LOL!

  • nomadnomad

    You bet! BTW, gonna get me a focal reducer now for my Minoltas on NEX too.

  • tetakpataktetakpatak

    Both shots done with Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm f/1.2 @ 1.2 with Minolta close-up lens No.2 on Sony Nex 7, screenshots of out-of-camera JPEGs.

    I love this creamy out-of-focus area, more than 90% of the pics. I suppose @nomad will like it too ;-)

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    IMG_20150101_153747.jpg
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  • nomadnomad

    Pretty favorable, I tried a few and sold them again. The Yashicas are not bad, but most of the Minoltas are better.

    The Minoltas are generally only beaten by the Zeiss Contax/Yashica lenses by a small margin (not saying that there aren't some lemons in either line). I tested the famous 35-70mm zooms from both brands and they were head to head – some points went to the Zeiss C/Y, some to the Minolta (and both close to primes).

    The main advantage of the Minoltas is the fact that they made their own glass and tried to match color throughout their lines – a fact that was highly appreciated by photographers in the analog era.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    How do Minolta MD lenses compare against Yashica ML lenses?

  • theshittywizardtheshittywizard

    Last year some time I picked up a collection of MD/MC lenses at a flea market. I ended up with the following Rokkors: 28mm, 35mm, (2) 50mm, and an 85mm.

    Needless to say, I made out like a bandit.

    Anyways, I hadn't really found the time to mess around with these lenses until last week. I'm the kind of guy that can't resist buying a 5 or 10 dollar lens at the antique mall or a rummage sale. I have a crap ton.

    I was out with my partner shooting a promotional video for a client of ours and decided to bring my GH3 and a handful of vintage glass to play around with during down time.

    The Minolta Rokkor 50mm 1.4 PG lens is an absolute beast. A tad bit more chromatic aberration than I'd like, but Holy hell is it razor sharp.

    Note: Watermarked at the request of my business partner. Also, I probably went a little overboard on the color and sharpness here, but you get the idea.

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