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Minolta Rokkor tc 100mm f4
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:13 pm    Post subject: Minolta Rokkor tc 100mm f4 Reply with quote

Minolta ROKKOR-TC 1:4 f=100mm (serial 1117xxx, later 46mm filter version).
Some sample (test) photos all at f4 and ooc-jpeg.






PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like 1


PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great shots with a great lens (yeah, I know, it's the photographer... Smile
Nice Volvo too. We used to have one like this in the sixties. No snow bank can stop this thing. Smile


PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Second one has beautiful colors. Nice shot.


PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spleenone wrote:
Second one has beautiful colors.




Agreed.


You seem to have a Vermeer setting on your camera tgm Very Happy


PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm after one of these at the right price for my Minolta camera.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@konicamera, thanks. I used to drive Saab for many years, nice swedish cars.

@spleenone, thanks, yes a lot better colors than I get with many others of my old lenses.

@Sciolist, I also have the 135-tc-f4 and I find the colors from the 100mm to be much better when I compare the 100mm and the 135mm.

@martinsmith99, took me some time to get this one from ebay, one of the longer “hunts”.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of my favourite Rokkor lenses, if not my favourite one.

    Very lightweight (for a 100mm SLR lens)
    Very pleasing IQ
    13-bladed round preset aperture (counted thrice, it is not 12 blades as I always thought)
    Surprisingly well controlled CA, both lateral and longitudinal
    Long focus throw
    Very effective spread-out DOF scale with all apertures shown
    Superb handling on a mirrorless camera
    Solid construction, built like a tank (despite its modest weight)


A real gem in the Rokkor lineup but unfortunately not very common. There is something I really like about the way it images, especially for portraits. Very pleasing bokeh. I much prefer this one to the comparatively much more common sister lens Rokkor TC 135mm f/4.

The preset aperture makes it a pleasure to use on mirrorless: focus magnifier with aperture wide-open for accurate focus, then just slam the aperture shut to the preset value and take the photo, no need to count click-stops or look at the aperture ring.

From the lens configuration I would say this is a Cooke triplet, and as such not really a tele lens design but rather a long lens design. Combined with the modest f/4 aperture and the suspected use of a special high-refractive element (source: artaphot.ch) , this probably explains the surprisingly low CA.

Good samples are even harder to find; most will need a good CLA. There are no cemented lens groups and no risk of separation. If the lens surfaces have no haze or fungal damage, this lens can be brought to good working order, even bent aperture blades can be straightened out, it is a robust classic aperture design. The older style grease Minolta used in these lenses has well and truly dried out by now and needs replacing, only the soap thickener is left. From the looks of the grease I have seen in the earlier Rokkor lenses like these, Minolta had not yet adopted the use of a dry-lube additive like molybdenum disulfide, but the use of quality brass materials will have prevented any damage to the helicoid. Do expect some green staining of the old soap thickener residue due to copper oxides from the brass. Fortunately this is one of the easiest Rokkor lenses to take apart and service. From memory there are two nuts; one that holds the lens/aperture assembly in the helicoid assembly, accessible once the mount and both light baffles have been removed from the back, and one that holds the lens/aperture assembly itself together. The latter can be a bit hard to undo and may need a gently application of heat. Do take your time and take notes; whilst this lens is easy to service, the internal construction is completely different from most of the other Rokkor lenses, including the aperture itself.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here both 43 and 46mm versions with their original shades

#1


PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

michelb wrote:
Here both 43 and 46mm versions with their original shades

#1


Do they share the same optic? I have the 46mm one and never seen the other one before


PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The one with 43mm filters preceded the one with 46mm filters and was on the market for only about 1 year until it was replaced by the one with 46mm filters.
Both are 3/3 optical formula and both have a 1.2m min focus so it is likely, the one with 46mm filters was the same lens in a slightly larger outer ring to standardize filter sizes and since there was also the 135mm F4 TC with 46mm filters (that was introduced at about the same time) and absolutely no other lens with 43mm filters in the SR line-up, this allowed using the same shade on both lenses (D48KD) and use the same front cap.

Now this was the beginning of the SR mount and production and sales volumes were probably very low so the earliest one is kind of difficult to find. I estimated that the 43mm version had a production of just over 2,000 units versus a little over 10,000 for the 46mm version.

I never got the time to test both side by side but it is a project i should be looking into within the next year.

My guess is i won't find much difference in rendition/bokeh or others
#1


PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A really nice lens.
I compared 100mm f/4 side by side with Minolta PF 100mm f/2.5 and it was almost as sharp.
In my opinion the 100mm f/4 has better colours and a little better bokeh than the PF 100mm f/2.5.

PF 100mm f/2.5, on the other hand, is brighter, a tad sharper and works much better for objects at infinity focus.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Johan_G wrote:
A really nice lens.
I compared 100mm f/4 side by side with Minolta PF 100mm f/2.5 and it was almost as sharp.
In my opinion the 100mm f/4 has better colours and a little better bokeh than the PF 100mm f/2.5.


Similar things can be said about the Rokkor-TC 4/135 and the Rokkor-PF 2.8/135mm: The 4/135mm has quite a bit more field curvature, but stopped down to f11 it has less CAs and thus "better colors" than the 2.8/135mm

S


PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So I have heard, I'm still looking for a TC 135/4 but have not had any luck yet.

It's a pity that there are so few pictures online taken with 100 / f4 only, so I put a link in to an album with some pictures from my first walks with 100/f4 for those who are curious.
https://knytpunkt.com/Album/mino_tc_100mm.php


PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Johan_G wrote:
So I have heard, I'm still looking for a TC 135/4 but have not had any luck yet.

It's a pity that there are so few pictures online taken with 100 / f4 only, so I put a link in to an album with some pictures from my first walks with 100/f4 for those who are curious.
https://knytpunkt.com/Album/mino_tc_100mm.php


I have one in beautiful condition which I would be willing to sell. Send me a pm if you are interested.