Tired of paying thousands of dollars for the new ‘GM’ and Zeiss lenses from Sony? I am!!! It’s getting freakin ridiculous! Let’s begin to re-visit some of the old Minolta AF lenses and see if we can get some bargains.

I’ve updated the Minolta AF 135mm F/2.8 review by adding some full resolution shots from the A900 and A580 cameras, go to the bottom of the review and click on the yellow tabs for each camera.

This little lens will fully function on the latest Sony mirrorless camera with these adapters, even auto focus! This Minolta 135/2.8 offers outstanding performance for the price, eBay runs around $100-$300 USD depending on condition.

When I looked at the full size images a few days ago, I was surprised at how good this lens performed overall. It works surprisingly well at F/4, [it can handle a high megapixel sensor], very sharp with only a little color fringing, almost no distortion, and did I mention it’s cheap?

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 vintage manual lens review [Minolta MC Tele Rokkor-QF 1:2.8 f=135mm]

• Official classification: MC
• Collector’s classification: MC II, Hills &Valleys, Knurled

This is the fast lens with classic focal distance – very suitable for portraits and landscapes. Tons of such lenses have been produced by a lot of competitors, many of them are beautiful, and it’s very hard for any lens to get a ‘recommended’ status in so huge and cool collective.

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 specifications:

minolta.eazypix.de index 177 Name engraved on lens MC TELE ROKKOR-PF f[mm] 135 A max [1/f] 2.8 A min[1/f] 22 Lens design [el.] 6 Lens design [gr.] 5 Filter thread Ø front[rear][mm] 55 Lens Shade built-in closefocus[m/ft] 1.5/5 Dimension Ø x length [mm] 67×93 Weight[g] 490 Year 1970 Style MC II Code No. [ROKKOR-X] or Order No. 667-008 Notes

More data

Floating elements NO Aperture blades number 6 Average international price [sold items] 2019: USD 50-100 Reviewed Lens SN: 1603324

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 lens exterior

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 mounted on camera Minolta SR-T101

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 sharpness

Сlose-distance resolution test, minimal distance

Testing methods description

• Target: 10-15 cm picture, printed on glossy photo paper
• Distance: 5m
• Camera: Sony A7II [24mpx, full-frame, tripod, remote control]. M-mode, ISO fixed, WB fixed, SteadyShot – OFF.
• The test was repeated for every F-stop on every focus position with manual focus adjustment for each shot. That is to avoid the effect of field curvature.
• RAW processing: Capture One, default settings. All quality settings – 100%. Crops – 300×200 px

Original target image [printed in horizontal orientation on 10cm X 15cm glossy photo paper]

Scene preview

Test results

Long-distance resolution test

Testing methods description

• Target: cityscape
• Distance: > 200 meters to center focus point
• Camera: Sony A7II [24mpx, full-frame, tripod, remote control]. M-mode, ISO fixed, WB fixed, SteadyShot – OFF. The focus point is on the center only.
• RAW processing: Capture One, default settings. All quality settings – 100%. Crops – 300×200 px

Scene preview

Test results

Minolta MC Rokkor QF 200mm 1:3.5 aberrations

Vignetting

Geometric distortion

Coma aberrations

Chromatic aberrations

Long-distance bokeh

Test

1

Test conditions: the lens was focused on 1.5m, buildings are on “infinity”-distance

Test

2

Test conditions: lens was focused on 2.5m

Light bubbles bokeh

Test

1

The lens is on the minimal focusing distance 1.5m, lights are on infinity [cityscape]

Test

2

Test conditions: lens was focused on 2.5m

Other resources with reviews

• verybiglobo.com

Minolta MC Rokkor PF 135mm 1:2.8 – final conclusion:

Throughout history, Minolta has released 16 [!] different 135/2.8 manual lenses for SLR cameras [SR-mount]. They were on 6/5, 7/5, 5/4, 4/4, 5/5 schemes. Can I say that this particular lens is better than those that were released later? Definitely not. It occupies a middle position among the other 135/2.8 Minolta lenses – looks not so sharp as more modern lenses, but – it is still sharp enough for any photographer tasks. Independently of full metal construction this lens is not heavier and has close the same weight as other models, even lighter than many another with rubberized elements. It was a little surprise, because when you see the full metal lens – you expect heaviness, but not this time. And as it was expected, the construction of this MC-II version is simple enough for an owner to fix the lens if it needed.

Rendering and aberrations of this Rokkor are not something special – a lot of other 135mm provide the same results. Bokeh is like a ‘Plain/Gauss’ type [not ‘Swirly’]. To be honest, I didn’t meet a fast 135mm lens with bad bokeh – each of them at least very good, and this Rokkor isn’t exclusion – bokeh is fairly common, but without flaws.

It looks like this lens is not for sharpness maniacs. On the other hand, it keeps the balance, and can’t be called ‘soft lens’. I wouldn’t recommend it for the role of the champion of the resolution, but it will work fine for photographers, who don’t care about pixels.

Thus, we have a very good lens, but it does not stand out among a large number of other lenses with the same parameters. There is no need to hunt for it, but if you get it – then save.