How to tell MD lens years (MD III, late version) Minolta SR

Forest_rain · Joined: 16 Jul 2020 Posts: 8

I know MD lenses come in MC, MD-Rokkor X, and "plain" MD, with plain MD being the latest. Is there any way to identify the year, or later/newer lenses for "plain" md lenses? (I'm interested in mostly the newer MD lenses)

I'd like to try older 1981 vs late 1990s to see if there's any difference in the "plain" md lenses. Seems like they were manufactured up to 1995 or so, probably with the ending of the Minolta SR mount at that time.

Is there any way to identify the approximate year it was manufactured, maybe by features or serial number? Newer would be better.

Slalom · Joined: 10 Dec 2017 Posts: 158 Location: Stourbridge

This is a list of minolta mf lenses, after the list you find, by time period tipical lense pictures:

http://minolta.eazypix.de/lenses/index.html

Hope it is what you want.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

The Rokkor Files is your friend, it's a mine of information.

https://www.rokkorfiles.com/

michelb · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:40 am Post subject:

From 1985 on, AF lenses had been introduced so all MD lenses were actually being phased out. So there is no real modern MD lenses to look for.

Minolta did bring in new models of lenses after 1985 but they were all zooms but all were entry level, outsourced as far as people know to Tamron, Cosina and maybe others and are not on par with previous generations of Minolta lenses.

As for identifying their production year:
- MD (Plain MD): 1981-
- MD-II ( marked as MD ROKKOR with filter diameter on the front ring: 1978-81
- MD-I (marked as MD ROKKOR without filter diameter on the front ring): 1977-78
- MC-X ( marked as MC ROKKOR on the front ring with rubber waffle focusing ring: 1973-76 (but some lenses were not carried over to MD-I so some remained until MD-II replacements were introduced like 35mm F 1.8, MC 58mm F 1.2, 300mm F 4.5, 300mm F 5.6).

Serial numbers do not give any indication as to the year of manufacturing and on some MD lenses there were 4 different sequences of serial numbers that do not really seem to make any sense and for which we have yet to figure which sequence came first if any..

Forest_rain · Joined: 16 Jul 2020 Posts: 8

Thanks for all replies guys, it looks like the Minolta serial numbers are non-decipherable so it's impossible to tell the year. I will just try to buy them in great condition, but there is probably not much difference in make or quality, but maybe coatings for later years.

AFAIK Minolta made SR mount lenses as late as 1995, when they made their last SR mount camera, so they had to be producing new lenses at that point still.

Thanks for responses.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Minolta continued to offer a small variety of manual focus cameras and lenses throughout the 1990s. The X-700 and X-370, for example, and, according to my sources, these two cameras and a few lenses were available as new as recently as the year 2000. The lenses include a 24mm f/2.8, 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.7, 50mm f/3.5 macro, 100mm f/4 macro, 135mm f/2.8, a couple of zooms and even bellows lenses. I don't know if the new numbers I have were based on inventories of new but discontinued items, or if they were still being produced. I suspect that, at a minimum, the 50mm f/1.7 and the two zooms were continuing to be produced as long as the cameras were.

Ernst Dinkla · Joined: 30 Nov 2016 Posts: 410