Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 vs MD 135mm 1:3.5 – comparison

Published by Tony on 2018-09-052018-09-05

Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 vs MD 135mm 1:3.5 – comparison

• Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 (MD III)
• Minolta MD 135mm 1:3.5 (MD III)

Minolta MD 135mm f/3.5 has a great sharpness. It’s true and a lot of resources confirmed it. But just imagine – if the cheapest and simplest Minolta MD 135mm has so great reputation, what’s about others?

Tested lenses reviews

Minolta MD 135mm 1:2.8 vs MD 135mm 1:3.5 – resolution/sharpness

Long-distance test description

• Camera Sony A7II (24mpx, full frame) – RAW (ARW), tripod, A-mode, ISO 100, WB fixed, SteadyShot OFF, manual focus correction for every shot
• Targets (buildings) – fixed by gravity power on the distances in more than 200 meters
• ARW post-processing – Capture One, default settings, 100% crops 300×200 px

Scene preview

Test results

Minolta MD 135mm lenses comparison – final conclusion

The well known and very popular Minolta MD 135mm 1:3.5 has a good reputation, but despite this, it still loses to a faster MD 135mm 1:2.8 – on any of positions, but I want to especially notice that in the middle and corner – the difference can be seen up to F8. Does it mean that MD 135mm F3.5 is a bad lens? No of course. The sharpness of this lens is enough for a lot of photographer tasks, and with a combination of lightweight, it can be very useful. What about MD 135mm 1:2.8 – for today this lens so unexpectedly cheap, that it has to be bought even if not needed right at the moment.