Back To The Past: Minolta Lens Test With A77 by Michael Merto

Minolta Glass – Beercan from Michael Merto on Vimeo.

Michael Merto realized the video to showcase the performance of this old (but still amazing) Minolta glass, aptly named “The Beercan”:

The “Beercan” is probably the most well known of Minolta’s first generation AF glass. It is heavy. 70-210mm and a constant f4 is a pretty nice feature set considering ebay prices go around $150 US dollars. The autofocus is driven by the camera’s in-body motor and the glass is propelled by a screw. The zooming is in body so the barrel doesn’t extend as you zip across the range. It’s pretty long though and looks obscene mounted on the a77 without a grip. It’s sharp from around 5.6. The focus ring is narrow and not the best for full-time manual adjusting.

He used a [shoplink 8461]Sony A77 (price & specs)[/shoplink] with the Minolta.

The Beercan – Image credit: Michael Merto

Be sure to check the pics Michael shot with the Minolta 70-210mm f/4, and use slidoo.com to look for the lens on eBay.

Review: Minolta MD 50mm f/2 And Sony NEX-6 (thru RainbowImaging Adapter)

Jay at Sonyalphalab posted a nice review about using the Minolta MD 50mm f/2 lens with a [shoplink 14167]Sony NEX-6 (price & specs)[/shoplink]. Try out slidoo.com to easily find the lens at a bargain price. To use the Minolta with the NEX-6 a RainbowImaging adapter was used (click here to see it on Amazon).

The Minolta is a good old school lens. Jay writes:

Minolta MD Old School lenses are in another league of build quality compared to what we see today. They are heavier, beefier, simpler, and engineering excellence in my opinion. The fact that this lens is so old and it still works flawlessly is a sure sign of a well made product. It also means it was well maintained and not left in a garage somewhere for years.

The really cool thing is the focus peaking feature of the NEX-6. As Jay puts it:

As I said above in the into, the fully manual Minolta MD 50mm f/2 Lens is an absolute blast to use on the Sony Nex-6 thanks to the Focus Peaking feature!! It makes manual focusing cake, and I could not stop taking pictures of stuff in total newbie amazement

Be sure to check the pic he shot with the NEX-6 & Minolta 50mm combo (there are a lot of them to see).

Sony NEX-6 price check: [shopcountry 14167]

Shot with the NEX-6 and the Minolta 50mm. Image credits: sonyalphalab

[via sonyalphalab]

Yet Another Sony RX1 Review

Good morning Ladies and Gentleman. Sony’s little full frame gem gets review after reviews. The [shoplink 15824]Sony RX1 (price & specs)[/shoplink], the world’s smallest digital full-frame camera, and its high quality 35mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss T* coated lens are getting all the rage by photographers looking out for superior image quality in a compact body.  This time I feature a (short) video by digitalcameraworld. If you prefer to read, they have a transcript of the video.

Have also a look at the cute Gariz leather half cases for the Sony RX1!

Sony RX1 price check: [shopcountry 15824]

[via DCW]

Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS First Impressions

Image courtesy: Matthew Durr Photography

After having used Nikkor AI lenses for a long time with his [shoplink 8454]Sony Nex7 (price & specs)[/shoplink], photographer Matthew Durr decided to get an E-mount lens and bought a [shoplink 6422]Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS[/shoplink]. He writes:

So far, I’m liking what I’m seeing. Wide-open, there’s a bit of softness, but it doesn’t detract from images at normal viewing sizes in any way. Focus seems to be mostly consistent: using flexible spot at the center, focus is usually spot-on. […] For focus speed, I’d say it’s about twice as fast as the time it takes for me to find focus manually with my Nikkors (on static objects). […]

What I am loving without a doubt on the 35mm f/1.8 is the OSS. Not only does it help give another few stops of shutter speed advantage in low light and make handheld video smooth as silk (which I already knew it would do), but it makes composing photographs surprisingly easier! Framing can be much tighter when using the 35mm f/1.8; small movements which would translate to a jerk in the liveview with a non-OSS lens move the picture around very slowly with this lens. It’s a subtle, but nice touch to keep from needing to crop and rotate a bit in post-processing.

There are sample images and more in Matthew Durr’s first impressions review.

Sony Nex7 price check: [shopcountry 8454]

Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS price check: [shopcountry 6422]

Sony RX1 Review By Ron Martinsen

[shoplink 15824][/shoplink]

Thanks Joe.

Sony’s little full frame wonder gets another entirely positive review. Ron Martinsen felt the beat of the [shoplink 15824]Sony RX1 (price & specs)[/shoplink] in a comprehensive review with lot of sample images. He writes:

Let’s just cut to the chance so I can answer the question that everyone wants to know about – is this camera really as good as a full frame DSLR? From an image quality perspective, the answer is without question – YES! The sensor on the RX1 is fantastic and the lens is on par with my best L lenses on my Canon gear. It’s got gorgeous color, dreamy bokeh at f/2.0, and creates sharp images even when examined in RAW. It’s high ISO performance is on par with most of today’s DSLR’s.

He found a small back focusing issue and discusses more RX1 issues, but for the rest the RX1 once more proves that Sony got it right and made a truly awesome camera. Check the high ISO samples! About the sensor Ron writes:

The colors are excellent, the detail is very good and the performance across the full spectrum of ISO’s from 100 to 25,600 is on par with the best DSLR’s on the market.

Ok, the fixed 35mm lens was felt as a limitation, on the other hand this is what characterizes the RX1. Check also the cool Gariz leather cases for the RX1 (click here).

Sony RX1 price check: [shopcountry 15824]

[via ronmartblog]