Product reviewsKonica Minolta 70-210mm f/4 AF Lens For Minolta

Great lens highly recommended to all SONY and Minolta owners

We buy these excellent classic Minolta lenses for resale on ebay. In our opinion the nickname "beercan" was not a good choice as it is actually more like the size and weight of a 16OZ beercan. The photos taken by this wonderful lens are legendary. Razor sharp images with true mind's eye color make this lens a must for anybody with a Sony DSLR or Minolta AF camera that want to extend their range beyond the standard kit lens that came with their camera. This is one of the top zoom lenses available for Sony DSLRs for under $500! The photo quality is comparable to primes in its range and slightly below the very expensive "G" lens.

ABOUT MINOLTA LENSES
FOR SONY DSLRs
Minolta lenses are built much better, take sharper pictures, and are legendary for their fabulous true color reproduction.
SONY partnered with Minolta to get their legendary lens technology, and then started making all of their newly designed cameras with lens backwards capability so that you can use these fabulous Minolta classics... so if you have a Sony DSLR… great news! This lens is fully compatible with your SONY camera including the incredible new A55 and A33 models.
If you bought a new Sony camera WITH ALL THAT FABULOUS NEW TECHNOLOGY and you have been using a “kit” lens that came with it or a secondary manufacturer lens like Tamron or Sigma, you are not even close to realizing the full potential of the beautiful pictures you could be taking. If you bought a lens from a secondary manufacturer like Tamron or Sigma for your A33 or A55 it’s only a matter of time before you start getting lens error messages and have to reboot your camera every few shots, believe me I know, it happened to me with 2 different lenses. I wish I wouldn't have wasted my time with the new plastic lenses and gone with Minolta lenses in the 1st place. You can’t match the quality per dollar of Minolta against any other brand including Sony’s own lenses!

In summary, If you are not shooting with 1 of these fabulous lenses, buy 1!
Resell your current lens right here on ebay to offset your cost. If the 28-135MM that usually goes for only $350-$450 is too much for your budget buy one these that covers a wide range and usually go for only $150-200. Definitely put the 28-135 on your wish list, and as soon as you can afford 1 it will be the best lens you will ever own!Read full review...

Carry a Beercan with your Sony A-mount camera

This hard to beat 70-210mm F4 zoom lens is solidly constructed, has the beautiful color quality that Minolta is known for and is very sharp. I'm enjoying it on my Sony a55 where it becomes equivalent to a 105-315mm zoom back in the day when I shot film in Minolta SLRs. When I move to a full frame a99 my lens kit will be ready with this and the 30-70mm F4 "Mini Beercan" which is also in my bag.
Positives:
* Sharp and responsive
* Solid metal construction
* A pleasure to use
* Constant F4 aperture (Plenty of light with today's higher digital ISOs - no more ASA 400 Tri-X or grainy color slide film)
* Less expensive than a new Sony lens
Negatives:
* Heavy and big (gotta get that midsize backpack bag from the closet and start using it again)
* A little slower on the focus than the latest Sony SSM lenses - I would use manual focus if shooting sports
* Front filter rotates with focus so using a polarizer is a challenge or impossible depending upon the situation
On balance I love this lens and several of the other "ancient" AF Minolta lenses. Coupled with a "new" used Sony a99 from eBay I'm looking forward to combining the best of the old and the new.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: binkyretuski

Minolta af 70-210/4 The best tool for creating magical photos

Minolta AF 70-210mm F/4 lens is fully compatible with cameras Sony Alpha (bayonet). Here is a list of cameras that are fully compatible with Minolta 70-210/4 (slt a37, a55, a57 a58, a65, a77, a99, a100, a200, a230, a330, a390, a550, a700, the a850 and a900)

For use on mirrorless cameras Sony Nex 3, 5, 7 etc need отверточный adapter Sony La-ea2, Sony La-ea4 with autofocus. Lens Minolta 70-210/4 "Beer" does not have its own motor autofocus, when using the adapter Sony La-ea1, Sony La-ea3 autofocus will not work, but you can control the aperture of the camera.

Minolta 70-210mm F/4 full-frame lens, many believe it is cumbersome, and recognize the quality of his pictures, the sharpness of the center of the frame wide open, let me remind you that constant aperture F4 in the entire zoom range ,pleasant bokeh, even more, is a brand figure Minolta, look at the photo of modern lenses do not have the same effect. There are drawbacks ,it chromatic aberration wide open, but they should not be afraid of portrait photography are not noticeable, also easily treated, if you hold down the aperture to f5.6-6.7. So it is not desirable to use it at extremely low temperatures of - 20C, jumping aperture not have time to close, but you can shoot the open. To this day, photographers use Minolta AF 70-210 F/4 on budget and expensive cameras from Alpha 100 to A900, or A99, even owners of cameras by Canon and Nikon use it, through the adaptor ring. Beer is big enough, and certainly heavier than the kit 18-55, but it has a very solid construction, has for almost 30 years, running like a Swiss watch and does not break, modern lenses, even with a label Carl Zeiss has such a quality. Each lens brand Minolta has its pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, but the fact that the lens Minolta af 70-210mm/f4 world recognized as a legend cannot be challenged.

In the presence of small scratches on the front of the lens, in principle, the lens can be used, without loss of quality of the photo, but if the lenses are turbidity, fungus, mold, as well as scratches on the back of the lens, you need to carefully consider buying. Slight traces of mold, or mildew not greatly affect the quality, the question is, will it progress? Oil on aperture, can be easily removed with his hands, only with a lens Minolta af 50/1 .7, buried same disassemble much harder aperture is at the back of the lens, in the Internet there are instructions for disassembling, but you need to be careful.

I note one, sometimes all killed lens Minolta 70-210/4, has a scratch on the lens, with шумящим mechanism focus, relieves excellent, very sharp pictures! With respect! Mikhail http://sonyminolta.ru/a127068-minolta-210mm-otzyvobzor.htmlRead full review...

Incredible lens

I got this lens in a bundle, where I assigned 0 value for this lens so understandably I didn't expect much.
Just out of curiosity I mounted it on my A99 ii and I was astonished by what I have seen in the viewfinder . . . . . beautiful sharp deep color and contrasty image. The quality of the images shot at f4 was confirmed by examining them on my computer. It sort of reminded me the Minolta 200/f4 macro - arguably the best macro lens there is.
I took the lens out on an outing and it kept impressing me more and more.
It does have a number of shortcomings: since there is no APO element(s) as one would find in a modern lens, chromatic aberration is visible whenever there are bright edges - color fringing - which can be fairly easily fixed by software. The front element rotates and moves with focusing, though zooming is entirely internal.
Now, it will not replace my Sony 70-200/2.8 G2, or the afore mentioned 200/4.0 macro, but I'll keep it for fun shooting . . . . .
I am amazed about how undervalued this lens is - one would have to spend several times its going price to get similar quality images.
Extremely highly recommended.Read full review...

Verified purchase: No

The best value telephoto medium zoom for Sony-Minolta.

This is a great lens for Minolta or Sony SLR's / DSLR's - I have a300, a580 and a Maxxum 9. This lens works great on all of them.

The Beercan has slightly better sharpness and contrast than the Sony 75-300 "kit" long zoom, which itself is a pretty good lens. It is also about 10 oz heavier. Now I have both so I can choose light and long (300mm) or the sharper, heavier, and shorter 70-210.

The only better lens in this range is the $800 Sony 70-300 G which is outside my budget right now. My two lenses cost less than half that amount. Plus the G lens SSM will not work on the Maxxum 9, while the old screw-drive autofocus does work.Read full review...

STOP MESSING AROUND AND BUY ONE!

The Beercan. It's heavy, big, and a little awkward to shoot in an active (i.e. moving around a lot) setting. So that's the negative.

The positive? It's everything else it should be. Try finding another f4 zoom with Macro that's built with legendary quality and attention to detail under $400.

It's sad that they don't still make them- they're a testament to an age of photography where you could expect to get the finest, precision-made lenses every time you bought one. (No matter who manufactured them.) No plastic bayonet mounts or chassis here- this thing is metal and glass with the exception of the lens hood (which may or may not come with it when purchased used.)

I've owned and destroyed through use two of them, I've bought one for my best friend, and I've purchased yet another one to make sure I have the best possible kit in my camera bag.

Don't hesitate for a MOMENT to buy one if you're using any DSLR (Sony Alpha or Minolta) that can use it. I own, and will always own, this lens and most of it's brethren. When purchased in good or better condition, it will be one of the best, if not THE best, lenses you own.Read full review...

Awesome beercan

Zoom Tele performs better than expected. Received it in very good used condition. I have used it quite a bite on several recent trips. The recent fall colors shooting using this lense was awesome. Very good color, very true to what you are seeing. Using it on my Sony a35, I am getting 10+MB pictures, about the same when using the 50 mm F1.7 KM lense.
My line of lenses that I am now able to use are the KM 24mm F2.8, KM 50 mm F1.7 and KM 70-210 Beercan, all purchased used from Ebay in the past 8 months. I have less than $800 invested in my Sony camera and 3 KM lenses.Read full review...

Very could lens

This is my first telephoto lens for my Sony A58. I have enjoyed this lens. It take very sharp, clear, colorful pictures. It does weigh a bit. 24 oz, but it is tough. It would be very hard to break, like dropping it off a cliff. It is a very good lens, now one of my favorites. It don't come with a hood so I will have to buy one separately. But this is very good for the cost.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: cameraexchange

Great Lens, The description was inadequate. It was mint!!

I've been comparing this "old" lens to a relatively new Sony 70-300 4-5.6. I would have to say that I feel much more secure using this lens. It's pretty heavy by today's standards as it has all metal construction. I'm a big guy using a Sony A77 with a vertical grip so the combination is very easy to balance and steady in a shoot.
The image quality appears to be at least as good as the 70-300 at equivalent apertures and focal lengths.Read full review...

superb lens

this minolta alpa lens is fully compatible with sony af alpha cameras. it's solid construction is amazing. this lens has a range of 70-210mm @f 4.0. fast enough for most photos. the af is both quick and accurate. the lens itself is tack sharp. it's size and weight may take a toll on one's neck after awhile- yet for the quality of photo it delivers-i can live with it. this is a superb lens. if you are looking for a quality telephoto zoom, and happen to find this lens-grab it! lawoakRead full review...