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Minolta MD 35mm/F1.8 vs. CV 35mm/F1.7 on A7R II
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:43 pm    Post subject: Minolta MD 35mm/F1.8 vs. CV 35mm/F1.7 on A7R II Reply with quote

Out of curiosity I've compared my "new" Minolta MD 35mm/F1.8 (latest MD II version optically identical to MD III) introduced 1978 with my Voigtlaender Ultron 35mm/F1.7 in LTM intoduced 1999 on my Sony A7R II.
I've chosen the most critical scenery for wide angle lenses which is IMHO infinity landscape.

Both lenses perform very good but the Minolta lens is definitely the better and sharper one across the frame, particularly when used wide open. Stopped down both lenses perform excellently but still the Minolta lens is slightly better, at least in pixel peeping mode. The colors are slightly different and a little bit warmer with the Minolta lens.

All in all the Minolta MD 35mm/F1.8 was a very positive surprise for me. I didn't expect this result.

Pictures shot RAW and converted/downsized without any manipulation in LR6. As usual pictures are clickable for best quality viewing.

Minolta at F1.8:



Minolta at F5.6:



Voigtlaender at F1.7:



Voigtlaender at F5.6:



PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Thomas! Very interesting result... especially as the Minolta MD was said to be an inferior lens.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An unexpected plot twist.
I too thought for sure "RIP Minolta" when I saw topic title.
I'm not sure why, but I thought CV 35/1.7 to be superior to both MD(II/III) 35/1.8 and FD(ssc/new) 35/2.

UPD: It's hard to tell from resized pics, but it seems like CV has a clear advantage in the dead center.
In fact, I suspect MD is hugely complimented by downsampling here. I think I'm not convinced in the Minolta win.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just look at the tree branches on the sky at full aperture on the left... no brainer... The VG clearly underperforms


PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wouldn't recommend to use either of these lenses fully open for landscapes but this stress test is able to show the differences.

100% crops of the very left side of above pictures both fully open:

Minolta:



Voigtlaender:



The CV lens clearly shows some additional ghosting whereas the Minolta one is simply not the sharpest in the corner when used fully open for landscape; but this is quite normal with every lens.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was talking about the center and surroundings.

Fast Leica lenses are widely publicized for underperforming corners, which isn't squarely the lens fault.
Corners on those lenses seem to be more of a camera benchmark.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Comparison at close distance both wide open again. This time these lenses are not distuingishable. Bearing in mind the excellent reputation of the CV Ultron it can be said that the Minolta lens is heavily underrated.
Again clickable for best quality viewing.

Minolta:



Voigtlaender:



BTW, at 200% magnification in hyper pixel peeping mode the micro contrast of the Minolta lens seems to be a little bit better. However, that's already nitpicker's delight.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thomas,
It seems that legacy lenses for non reflex cameras (e.g. Voigtlander 35mm 1.7) suffer from the thick glass in the Sony A7 series which causes the ghosting in the corners. This apparently can be corrected (see Philip Reeve website).


PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Antoine wrote:
Thomas,
It seems that legacy lenses for non reflex cameras (e.g. Voigtlander 35mm 1.7) suffer from the thick glass in the Sony A7 series which causes the ghosting in the corners. This apparently can be corrected (see Philip Reeve website).


Antoine, the pictures on this website have been made with the regular old stile 24MP sensor. The A7R II is equipped with the BSI-CMOS 42MP sensor where the optical elements are much closer to the sensor's surface. Therefore I don't think that this is the same typical wide angle RF-lenses issue here. Furthermore I've seen the unsharp outer lower corners also with normal SLR lenses already when doing some infinity landscape pictures with open apertures. Maybe I'll do some comparisons with some of these problem lenses also on analog film. Curios to see whether these blurry corners are still there; i.e. if they are caused by the lenses or the sensor.