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The size of the Minolta 135mm 3.5 MD II is similar to the 85mm f/2, so it's very compact for this focal length. It's just fun to use it. The built-in hood is just great.
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Clicking on a crop loads the whole image in original size. A tip for Retina display users: Zoom in 1.5x or 2x. Otherwise you are not really in 1:1 mode.
Images are developed from RAW files in Ligtroom 5. All adjustments are Lightroom standard (sharpness: 25/1/25/0). |
Soft and loads of chromatic aberrations.
Better, but the chromatic aberrations stay.
Improvement at the edge. Chromatic aberrations stay.
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Regarding resolution, the Minolta 135mm MD II is not comparable with the 85mm f/2. It's miles behind.
Wide open, everything is soft. Details are there, but the contrast is low. Lateral and longitudinal aberrations rule the image. There is a brighter area in the center.
The lens improves dramatically with f/5.6. Brightness is even, sharpness is better, but the chromatic aberrations stay. This is not a top lens, that's for sure! Let us play the game the camera companies play so well: Corrections with software. Chromatic aberrations are easy to correct in Lightroom. Lateral ones with one click, longitudinal ones with the defringe-tool. That works well with some lenses and not so well with others. |
Here it works very well. After chroma correction, I applied a bit more sharpness with the detail-tool. Five minutes later, the pictures has improved drastically. Look at the crops below. Click on it to get the original size and zoom in. What a difference!
It's your decision. You can buy a good, expensive lens that doesn't need correction. You may buy a cheaper one which will be corrected via software (in camera or in Lightroom). You can buy an even cheaper, vintage one where you do the corrections yourself. Don't buy an expensive one which will be corrected much by software. Obviously the manufacturer tries to trick you. Be careful, nowadays software corrections are done by camera writing to the RAW-files. |
More Sharpness and almost no chromatic aberrations
Sharp and no chromatic aberrations!
