Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III on Sony A7

The Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III is one of the sharpest lenses Minolta built. Even in the digital age it can deliver.

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).

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/2.0

Not really there.

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/2.8

Center is good edge not so.

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/4.0

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/5.6

Top across the frame. It's an excellent lens!

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/8.0

No wishes left.

Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III f/11.0

f/11 is also very good, but you may see diffraction effects.

Conclusion Minolta 85mm 2.0 MD III

The lens is excellent. f/5.6 and f/8 means very good sharpness, resolution and contrast across the frame. If the edges aren't important, you may be happy with f/4. Portrait shots? No issue with f/2.8. I wouldn't use it wide open, though.

You may notice minor lateral chromatic aberration till f/4. One click in Lightroom and they are gone.

The Minolta 85mm is my benchmark lens. Other focal length are very good when they come close. Regarding resolution, I assume, best lenses you can get are between 80mm and 110mm. This seems to be the range where most optical aberrations are minimized and balanced out well.