Mini review Minolta 85mm 1.4

Today a mini review of the Minolta 85mm 1.4 AF lens.

Lens : Minolta 85mm 1.4 AF
Year : around 2000 (?)
Price paid : app 650.00 US

Now one could argue on why to buy a fast 85mm lens, I already own the Sony 70-200 f2.8 which is a very nice lens and is used in 80% of the sessions I do and the DOF on f2.8 with a 70-200 on 200mm gives you a very very nice portrait look, so why would one buy a 1.4 85mm lens?

Well there are different reasons, first of all for example street portraits. The 1.4 speed will give you a lot of “speed” for when the light situations are not perfect or when shooting inside, however the length of the lens makes it a bit of a limited lens, it’s a great portrait lens but if I would have only one lens on my body I would prefer the 24-70 f2.8 for street style shooting or the Minolta 35-200 if I don’t need the speed. So for me to be honest buying this lens new was not an option, with prices for the incredibly nice Sony 85mm 1.4 (which I shot the first few weeks when I got my A99 for review) in the 1300.00 Euro range, for me that is just a bit too much for a lens that I would just use on some occasions when I want to “play” with it…… But luckily we have internet where I found a “Like new” version for app. 650.00 US which I actually was willing to pay. So how does the lens perform.

Closed down as expected the lens is pinsharp with very nice colors and also here a nice 3D feel to the image.
Now that 3D look you see coming up in more reviews I do so let me explain a bit.
Sometimes you see a photo where the whole image just looks “flat”, often this is the fault of the lighting used, put very simple without shadows there is no depth so when you shoot a model with a softbox aimed straight at her/him you can count on getting an image that will look less 3D than it could.

Now when changing your direction of light (or your own direction) you will very quickly notice that the sense of depth will increase, but that’s not all. Some cameras (sensors) have a better rendering of 3D than others, take for example the FujiFilm cameras, in my opinion one of the magic things about these cameras is the way they render the scenes and give it not only a razor sharp look but also a very nice sense of depth. Same goes for medium format, now both systems have in common that there is no AA filter in front of the sensor so one could very quickly say that that’s the difference… well not that quick.

When you experiment with lenses you will find out that some lenses will give you more “depth/3D look” then others. So for me it’s a combination of many factors. What I did find out during the recent lens testing I’ve done is that the Minolta glass has a very pleasing look for me with as an absolute stunner the 35-200 which really surprised me to be honest with an incredible color and ability to render depth, but back to the 85mm we’re looking at today.
Closed down it’s no surprise the lens performs, but wide open it’s often a different story, well I can (luckily) say that the Minolta 85mm f1.4 performs really really well wide open. The shot here was done with the modeling lights only and wide open, as you can see this is a look that many people will like for it’s very shallow DOF and I’m one of those people 😀 but when the image is all “muddy” you can’t use it right?

I still need to do some micro-adjustments in the camera for the lens but I can already say that it’s pretty sharp wide open, and I would without any doubt use it wide open when needed.

Conclusion
Another nice lens in the minireviews, at the moment I still have not hit a lens that I did not like which is a good thing. The 85mm 1.4 is a great portrait lens for situations where you want that shallow DOF look or just need the speed. It has nice colors and I personally like the Bokeh although this is very personal, I did like the newest version a bit more but that lens is more than twice as expensive and seeing the fact I use this lens maybe once or twice a month and not for my “work” I highly doubt that I would have ever bought the lens new, but for the price paid I’m more than satisfied with the lens.

Model : Manon
Styling : Nadine