The Minolta MD 50mm f/2.0 - Who needs it?

Minolta has brought many bright standard lenses out in his golden years. By far the best known and most popular was the 50mm f / 1.7. It was to have cheap, you got it in the same rule with the camera with it. Who then needed more quality for a lot more money had the choice: the MD Rokkor 50mm f/1.4 or the 50mm f/1.2. As a particularly sharp and high contrast even at full aperture applies the legendary Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm f / 1.2.  So who in hell are needs a light weak 50mm f / 2.0?

In Internet rumor is alive and kicking, the Minolta Rokkor 50mm f/2 with the optical calculation of Leica Summicron of 50mm/2 is identical. No one knows if that's true. Probably not.

In fact, the new version of MD-III is optically excellent. Whether on a APS-C sensor or full frame: Even at full aperture sharpness and contrast are blameless. The newer version was produced from 1981. It contains six lenses in five groups. Exactly this copy I have examined.

The minimum focusing distance is 0.45 meters. The filter diameter is 49mm.It weighs only 150 grams. The lens has a length of 36 millimeters and a diameter of 64 millimeters. The aperture can be adjusted from 2.0 to 22. It has six aperture blades for a interesting bokeh.

So now enough with the wretched statistics. Let's look at pictures. This photo above was photographed at open aperture. The sharpness and contrast are very good. Also in the peripheral areas of the image. The bokeh is a bit odd, but overall more balanced.

If you have one or two stop down the lens, the image quality is excellent. There is no color bleeding and no coma. The photos are squeaky clean. Of course you can reach with a Minolta Rokkor 50mm f /1.7 similar results. But the 50mm f / 2 Rokkor has its own charm. And he really is to buy for a song. You get this lens virtually nothing on EBay. It is screwed in many cases already on an old analog camera. If you got it so cheap, then use it! It is really good glass. Here's to look at photos from the last few days.