lowcost4dslr

When I purchased my first DSLR (Konica Minolta D5D) the telezoom Konica Minolta 75-300D f4.5-5.6 was provided in the kit. I used this zoom for my favorite sports shooting (windsurf, kitesurf, sailing race) and was pleased with the fast enough auto-focus. But I never loved the washed out colors and the poor sharpness of this zoom even at f/8. With the Sony Alpha 700 and it's 12Mpix sensor it was worse for the sharpness.

As a M42 addict and loving my Jupiter 9 and Jupiter 37A, I purchased a Jupiter 21M  (200mm f/4.0) expecting it would be as good as it's little brother, the 135mm Jupiter 37A.

At the same time I win an auction for a Minolta Beercan. The legendary Beercan! There is a real hype on this zoom. This 70-210mm zoom has a constant f/4.0 aperture and was born in the middle of the eighties when Minolta introduced the first autofocus lenses. This zoom is a legend for it's image quality and build quality. It is very versatile because of it's constant aperture and with a minimum focus distance of 1100mm (even @210mm).

I also purchased at the same time on the aftermarket it's big brother also called the Big Beercan i.e. the first Minolta AF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 (this is a big familly!). It does not feature the same constant aperture as the Beercan the has a wider range. The mnimum focus distance is 1500mm (nice @300mm). This zoom is difficult to find but is less hyped than the Beercan.

I have opinion on all of these lenses  when everyday shooting, but I would like to share with you this static comparison.

The lenses are compared with my Sony Alpha 700 DSLR @100iso, Super Steady Shot off, on a tripod. The files are in cRAW format.

The scene is: