GH2 + Minolta Rokkor 28mm 2.8 Test!

L

L1N3ARX

Well-known member
Great little lens I got off ebay for only $70. Seems like the 28mm hasn't been reviewed on the gh2 or there is very little footage with it, so I put this together for anyone interested in this lens!

 
Yeah, after trying out this 28mm, I'm definitely excited to build up a set. It's crazy how cheap they really are.
 
There are more expensive ones, the MD 24 mm f2.8, Rokkor 28 mm f2 and Rokkor 35 mm f1.8 HH come to mind as more precious. I have yet to get one of those. I have also had MC and MD 50 mm f1.4 and MC 58 mm f1.4, and they were very good too. Not sure if they were very sharp at full aperture, but I think useable at least. One forgotten cheap jewel is the MD 135 mm f3.5 for telephoto. The MD 24 mm f2.8 and MD 35-70 f3.5 Macro zoom were also sold branded as Leica, but they were the same lenses built by Minolta.

Your Minolta video looks stronger than the Sigma videos, and I actually already knew that this would be the case. But it is nice to see others are finding out about them too.:smile:
 
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Two others I have and can highly recommend (particularly for interviews) are the MD 85mm f2 and the constant aperture Rokkor f3.5 50-135mm. My copy of that latter lens is performing way better than I expected.
 
MD 85 mm f2 belongs to the more precious MD lenses category. They fetch a good price, as still photographers want them too. That 50-135 mm f3.5 pump zoom was interesting. Quality of the MD 35-70 f3.5 Macro zoom is nearly jaw dropping. I use the close focus feature for product photos and videos and the lens is sharp even at full aperture, although with a tiny diffusion effect. There is no half stop click between f3.5 and f5.6, but the slight diffusion goes away as soon as the slightest amount of iris comes to play. This sometimes means balancing the aperture ring between the two largest values.

I took these product photos of a M-Rokkor lens with the 35-70 zoom at full aperture f3.5: http://www.fourseasonshd.com/cgi-bin/csvsearch.pl?db=db3&tp=tp10&search=mrokkor90f4sn2005303
 
I have both the 35-70mm and the 50-135mm - they make a nice pair. I'll try and get equivalent shots from both in the 50-70mm range so we can compare.

The 50-135mm has the same f3.5 to f5.6 jump, so I'll try your trick!
 
great job on the test, awesome shots!

my vivitar 28mm f1.9 remains one of my favorite lenses, though my newly acquired canon tv 25mm f1.4 has already found a place in my heart.
 
As promised, here's a composite image taken with the Rokkor 50-135mm (left half) and the MD 35-70mm (right half), both at f3.5 and ~60mm. These were jpegs straight out of the GH2 at 200ISO, with half the frame from each composited (but not resized or otherwise PPed) and rendered to a fresh jpg in Photoshop. To my eyes, at least, the two halves are near-indistinguishable, which makes me happy about my 50-135mm (since there's not too much positive written about it online compared to enthusiastic reviews of the 35-70mm).

http://wildlifehealth.tennessee.edu/video/50-135vs35-70.jpg (2MB)
 
Thanks for the test! I don't know where to even begin, nearly astonishing clarity and resolution at full aperture for both. It has been said that the 35-70 gets a bit softer nearing the tele end, and you could see that from the roof tiles. The left image has a tiny bit more sharpness and contrast. Color rendition is nearly identical, which I have noted before when switching between MD lenses on the job. They mix 100%.

I can think of reasons why the 50-135 constant aperture is not getting the reckognition it deserves; I use the 35-70 most of the time at the wide end. I zoom in only for close ups. So the focal length is better suited now especially for the crop cameras. Then browsing through the net it appeared the constant aperture pump zoom is more rare. Minolta delivered the 35-70 as a normal lens with many thousands of SLR's, so they are still out there in abundance. Still very impressive pump zoom, thanks for the heads up.
 
Hi Guys, jumping in here as I have a few MD Rokkor lenses too. (The 135mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4 and 28mm 2.8.)
I am interested in the MD 35-70 f3.5 Macro zoom. Is this a Rokkor lens, or some other make? I can't find it.
I've been looking for a good 35mm MD lens but the 1.8 is rare and expensive.
Cheers, Rob
 
The 35-70 constant aperture is available in several iterations. The first ones are just Rokkor 35-70 (no close focus). Later ones are MD 35-70, and there are both Macro and non-macro versions of the MD. Optically they all have been found to be equal, but I use the macro features all the time. They are not real macro (1:1), but 1:7 and 1:4 close focus. I have several minty MD 35-70 f3.5 Macros available, if a suitable sample is not easy to come by otherwise. Just make sure the lens is the constant aperture version, as there have been other Minolta branded zooms, but with slightly lesser features and image quality. The constant aperture is the major league item, as again can be seen from the test image provided above.

Obviously there is a MD 35 mm f2.8 prime lens too, and it has the same image quality, slightly faster aperture and non-rotating front element. I have those available too in mint condition, but I'm sure eBay can offer them in abundance and practically free of charge. 50 dollars for Leica-like quality is a steal.
 
I think you guys will like any of the vintage 20 - 28mm lenses. I just sold a Kiron 28mm f2.0 for $100 and a vivitar 24mm f2.0 for $75. They are a little soft wide open on the Canon's, but would be awesome on the GH2.

Try to find the Canon FD, Olympus OM or Nikon 24mm F2's. The Olympus being my personal favorite. They go for $400 - $500 on ebay now though. If you can find an Olympus OM 21mm F2.0 that would be the holy grail :)

Cheers,
Pete
 
Here is one more video sample from MD 35-70 Macro at full aperture f3.5 (unhacked GH2): http://www.fourseasonshd.com/cgi-bin/csvsearch.pl?db=db2&tp=tp3&search=1125

There is the tiniest soft focus effect at full aperture, which completely goes away as soon as the aperture ring is very slightly turned. Leica did not want their lenses to have the soft focus effect, so what they did in later german built Vario-Elmars was to reduce the maximum aperture to f4. After that they considered the sharpness to be equal enough across the range.
 
c3hammer said:
I think you guys will like any of the vintage 20 - 28mm lenses. I just sold a Kiron 28mm f2.0 for $100 and a vivitar 24mm f2.0 for $75. They are a little soft wide open on the Canon's, but would be awesome on the GH2.

Try to find the Canon FD, Olympus OM or Nikon 24mm F2's. The Olympus being my personal favorite. They go for $400 - $500 on ebay now though. If you can find an Olympus OM 21mm F2.0 that would be the holy grail :)

Cheers,
Pete
Click to expand...

Actually there are differences in the vintage lenses. For example, Canon FD can not seem to be able to touch both Minolta MD and Yashica ML lenses in terms of sharpness and color rendition. Images from comparable Canon FD lenses look a bit washed out. Olympus lenses are excellent. The holy grail is to find a fast vintage lens with pin sharp image at full aperture, preferably f2, but f2.8 has been good too. I have found the aforementioned Minoltas, Yashicas and Tokina AT-X to be adequately sharp at f2.8.

Soviet Zeiss copy Helios 44-2 nearly makes the cut at f2, but falls just tiny bit short of the grand prize. Minolta MD 50 at f1.7, same thing. Close, but no cigar.
 
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