CURRENTLY SOLD OUT
 | Shop by category |
{"delay":300}
|
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Lenses
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Lenses
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
If you are into the Minolta / Konica-Minolta / Sony Alpha mount (AF-series, A-mount, Maxxum/Dynax), and haven't heard of this lens, then you really ought to research it a little. I'm not going to go into the history or politics behind the lens, only the quality. Firstly, the lens is extremely heavy. It weighs almost 1 kilogram all by itself. Add your camera's body, batteries, flash, and you've got a very heavy setup. If you're into that kind of thing, hooray. If you aren't, look for a different lens. The build quality is very high. The construction of this lens is all metal (Aluminum Alloy of some kind I believe), with a rubber zoom ring. The front-element of the lens has a 72mm filter-thread. You'll need some manner of protective filter (I suggest a multicoated UV-filter, which'll run you about $30 for one this size). Unlike the other lenses from this generation, the 28-135 lacks a simple way to mount a lens-hood, and as such, one is not included. The primary limitations of this lens are the relatively slow aperture (F4.0-4.5) and the non-macro focus distance. One strange effect of the design is that as you change your zoom, there is a fairly dramatic difference in how close a subject you can focus. Once you learn the specifics of this, you'll be able to work around it just fine. It isn't at all difficult to master. On the upside, the lens has extremely minimal distortion. I haven't had any problems with Chromatic Aberration, either. The lens is extremely sharp, and focuses quickly. Not quick as quickly as a modern, light, all-plastic lens with a HSM/USM/SSM design, but very quickly compared to, say, the 28-85 F3.5-4.5. It also has fairly nice bokeh, though not quite as nice as the 50 1.7 or 50 1.4. Still, for a zoom-lens, it produces very nice defocused backgrounds. All things considered, I'd label this lens a "portrait lens" because of the range and the light-requirements. Bring along a flash with a diffuser and you'll be just fine in any environment. In conclusion: There are a few simple drawbacks inherent in the design of this lens, but any photographer with the patience to practice with the lens a bit will be extremely happy with the results this lens can help produce. It is my absolute favorite lens and rarely leaves my A100. Highly recommended, but not for a novice.Read full review
I recently purchased on Ebay the Minolta 28-135 lens. The reason I purchased the lens is because I had read so much about it, and I liked the addition range it gave me over my Minolta 28-85. I wanted the sharpness, color, lack of dirortion, crispness, 3D effect, that this lens was reputed to have. I am happy with the lens. The color is great, but I find that typical of Minolta lenses. It produces crisp photos. Sharpness is good throughout the range but I have better results if I use local focus, rather than spot for some reason. My copy is an absolute razor blade at 135. I have 17 Minolta lenses, and this is as sharp as any at 135, and as sharp at 135, as my fixed focal length Minolta 135. I would have my 28-135 for that reason alone. The lens shade is no problem because I just screw in a rubber lens shade. I like a rubber lens shade as they offer a little cushion when you set your camera down. I was a little worried about the size and weight of the lens. Not a problem for me at all. I am used to heavier lenses though. It was actually smaller and felt lighter than I had imagined, so I was pleasantly surprised. There is a little bit of drag in the zoom at mid range , but I even expected that from my research, but my copy is tight I am sure from light usage, as it looks cometically, almost perfect, and absolutley no wiggle in the barrel when extended to 135, which is a sign of light usage. I am the type of photographer that will take a lot of pics just to get that one majic photo. That is one reason I purchased this lens. Knowing how extra shaerp my 28-135 is at 135, I will always have that in mind when it is on my camera, which will be a lot. The bocah is OK, but nothing can touch the Minolta 70-210 beer can for bocah in my opinion. I think the 28-135, will make an excellent travel lens. It is not a cheap lens, but in my opinion, well worth the money if you get a good copy.Read full review
I have used this lens on several Minolta film cameras as well as my Sony A100, A700 and A900. It took the 24mp of the A900 to show the clarity and sharpness of the lens more closely comparing to the film cameras. The lens is heavy. I have carried it now for more than 25 years and it hasn't gotten any lighter. The strengths of this lens are the range and sharpness. The construction of the lens is superb. The weakness's are the weight, the low light capabilities the long focal length and the proneness to flare. The long focal length makes it difficult to use in a Studio for portrait work. I have fitted my lenses with an aftermarket lens hood that will reduce flare but will cause vignetting at the low ranges. I have two of these lenses, one I purchased in 1985 when they were first introduced and the second a year are so later after it was discontinued for almost half price. This was not a popular lens at the time. If you are planning on using this lens as a carry lens, make sure you have an extra wide camera strap or you will wind up carrying the camera some other way than around your neck. If you are shopping for this lens, don't fall pray to the "secret handshake" B.S. that some put in their ads. The implication is that Lieca had something to do with the design or manufacture of this lens and it is NOT true. Lieca did have a partnership with Minolta to build lenses for Leica knock offs and Minolta actually built some of their cameras but it ended way before Minolta started producing the Auto Focus camera line in the early 1980's. You will be happy with this lens as long as you are willing to work with its weakness's, especially the flare, you will be noting sun angles in setting up your shots.Read full review
The Minolta AF 28-135 is a lens that when first sold was not a popular lens. It is kind of big...kind of heavy. It does have the now famous tag of being the "Secret Handshake" lens...which by the way that story is not true but lives on even today. As time went on, it became a big hit with Minolta camera owners as they discovered what this lens is capable of. This lens does not have the coatings that modern day lenses have and so it starts off with a small negative. The now famous T* lens coatings by Zeiss set the standard. You can get a Zeiss lens protective filter with the T* coating and pretty much take care of that. This lens does extend. If you are going to use this lens with a Sony A600-A6500 or any E- mount cameras, you are going to need an adapter...preferably a Sony LAEA4 adapter. This lens is an "A" mount lens and so it needs to be adapted to modern E mount cameras. If you use a Sony LAEA3 adapter, you can only have manual focus. With the LAEA4, you get both manual and auto focus with a slight penalty of loss of light. This lens provides excellent image quality. Very little CA. What is really nice about this lens is that it is also MACRO. It has a little switch on the side that locks the lens into MACRO mode and allows for some very close shots with excellent image quality. The range of this camera is quite nice. 28-135 with a crop factor figured in gives you 42MM - 202MM and with Sony Clear Zoom, that goes to 84MM - 404 MM.....quite a nice range....42mm to 404MM. The main advantage of this lens is the price. Right now, nearly new looking lenses are going from $100 to $200. New E-mount zoom lenses are often many times more costly than this lens with very little advantage. Add the cost of the LAEA4 adapter and you are talking about $400 or a little bit more if you shop around. But you do get the ability to use other Sony A mount lenses on your E-mount camera with the LAEA4 so it is not a one lens adapter. I highly recommend this lens. Its image quality, low price, excellent build quality and generous zoom makes this lens one of my most popular lenses that I have.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
USER review: This is our favorite lens in the whole world. We shoot weddings with 2 Sony A55s and an A33 with 28-135s on both of the A55s. Since we popped these fabulous lenses on we no longer NEED to edit, we just enhance the photos. The photos are always razor sharp with fabulous color. The lens has quick auto focus, excellent build quality, performs well in low light. The weight makes our super light cameras feel like full size SLRs. We are blessed with the opportunity to use any lenses we choose and after extensive testing we chose the 28-135 to be our primary lens! This lens also responds very well with a quality 2x teleconverter. I would put our photos with this lens on our A55 up against any other photographer shooting with Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Pentax, and whatever lenses they want to use. SELLER review: As a reseller of Minolta lenses this lens gives our customers the most bang for the buck! We have tested this lens head to head with many other Minolta lenses including primes at 28MM, 50MM, 100MM, and 135MM, Beercans, Sigma 17-50 2.8s, and Sony's kit lenses. The result is this lens deserves to be the number one priority in your photography budget... sell whatever lenses you have and get one.Read full review
