Winter Wonderland Walking with this lens, a drone and my phone. The experience shooting with this lens on the first photowalk of 2021 has earned it a special place in my SLR lens loving heart. *49mm filter thread, not 45, no clue why I said 45mm*
@@blake.crosby i had this conversation with Paul lol. The XL1 intro was never meant to be part of it, it was after recording bull shit, in the end i liked that version better than my regular intro so made the call. I mention 1.7 a few seconds after the intro, throughout the video and in the title so figured story/performance in this case would trump continuity. I also state 45mm filter thread instead of 49, but that's because i'm a totally FKN idiot and have no excuse for missing that shit. If paid professionals in feature films can get things wrong sometimes, me getting paid pennies on the hours can get them wrong sometimes too lol. Won't ever happen again, it's eating me up inside, thanks for throwing acid on it Crosby, what are old friends for right lol. (all good, just to be clear) :)
@@blake.crosby dude i expect you to find the flaws, it's ALL good. It means. you're paying attention, because I wasn't (at the 45mm filter thread part) lol. Like i said the 1.8 was a concession for performance and shortly after reconciled by the appropriate. What i should have done was cut in 1.7 from a previous take, but found the delivery was too different....a la simpsons Homer SWEET SWEET CAN
Not trying hard to be funny, I’m not a TH-camr. I just so happen to make videos on vintage lenses and have fun doing it. Good luck with your search, hope you find what you’re looking for
this is the third and last version of the minolta 50mm 1.7 md, that was released in the early to mid 80's. Minolta was making their A-mount lenses during the 90's
Yes, definitely why I want to try the older ones. Apparently based on serial this one physically was produced in 90/91 before the full transition occurred. Hard to really pin point it, it’s still a millennial lens 😂
@@MarkHoltze Minolta was the first company to successfully market an auto focusing slr (screw type adopted by many) in 1985 with the Maxxum 7000 and a series of AF lenses and AF mount that was eventually used by Sony in dslr's when they purchased Minolta. MD lenses date back to the seventies and pretty well died out with the introduction of of the Maxxum Af lenses (called Dynax in Europe). The MD version of the 50mm f1.7 was introduced in 1985 as an AF lens for the new Maxxum 7000.
Minolta lenses are my favorite vintage lenses. You really can't beat their value, as other mounts have exploded in price while MD lenses have largely stayed the same. Rokkor 4 Life!
Building a set is tough. 85mm, 24mm are now very expensive. If you find a decent quality 24mm - 35mm constant zoom or the 35mm - 70mm constant zoom, buy it. They are compact, sharp and par-focal.
I've got a set on loan coming by soon(ish). They're still a good price but i suspect as FD's, Contax, Leica prices continue to rise, these will become the new rage! DO IT! ;)
Awesome review, this is one of my. favorite lenses. Loved the History part of Minolta and great editing on that- like seeing a secret file on Godzilla or something.
Great review, I guess I should get mine on the camera and take some shots. Minolta lenses are incredible bargains. They have beautiful color and the subjects have incredible pop. Thanks
Its from the 80's my Dad had the one without the switch. I also have the one with the switch. But the one you have might be from the 80's or 90's. Yours can be into P mode. Its a good lens but wide open the image is soft. But sometimes soft lens are nice for portraits. Todays lens are getting way to sharp for some peoples faces now. I took a photo with this lens and it got half a million views. I took it with my Olympus PEN E-PL1.
I’ve been planning on building a set of these, they’re affordable, good quality, and they’re literally everywhere. I got a Contax Zeiss 50/1.7 shortly before people started buying them up for cinema modding leading the price to slowly but steadily rise, and now as a small time videographer essentially crippled into being a hobbyist by the pandemic, I can’t afford to drop upwards of $200 per lens. But if I look hard enough I could probably build an extended Minolta MD set from the local 2nd hand market in my country for the price of one CZ 50/1.4 😆
I’ve got a Minolta loaner set coming my way, they’re all modded, they look pretty great! Get on that mate! I got the 50 1.7 for $65 Canadian, I just sold it for 185 usd. Great lens but I use the 1.4 more. Contax are a great set for sure but as you said, very well known now so their market value is quite inflated. Minolta’s I suspect will get more attention as prices continue to rise on contax, Leica Rs and FD’s...although I don’t see why FD’s are so high, they’re alright but the mount is a bit of a pain.
I accidentally came across this video, I checked my X700 Pelican Case, and I chuckled at the fact that I have an MD Rokkor-X 50mm 1:1.7. Eventually, I’ll get my hands on a Full Frame and use these lens once more.
@@MarkHoltze I have a Sigma SD Quattro H, if only Sigma made Minolta MD Adapters, I’d be using them. Fortunately though, M42 Lenses are equally wonderful
I find film camera reviews a little tricky. The cameras themselves sort of all feel the same, it’s aboht the stock, the exposure the developing. I alway meter my stuff with a sekonic light meter ;) But not a bad idea
@@MarkHoltze I thought some kind of a bit more special slr; for example extreme weather digital vs analog(some kind of reliable but inexpensive film camera that has tons of features, or it can be even mechanical slr); of course i think analog is better for extreme cold(because batteries fail on digital much more often in cold weather, especially lower-end models) anyway in freezing conditions everything is white so there will be very small chance that you'll use digital advantage of better low light performance(for longer exposures you will carry tripod anyway). With good quality film, you can yield extraordinary results; and i tell you this first hand ;) Those photos from the extreme situations can be much more memorable than rather cliche-y photos in normal weather conditions :)
The 50mm f1.7 and 135mm f2.8 are my two of favorite lenses. There is something about them that always draw me back to them. Also really cheap depending on the version. You can get them for 70€-90€ combined in great conditions.
For its price, this lens is quite good. I think a Minolta Rokkor set could be useful if you want a backup set or simply to try something different, maybe for a personal/passion project or for a street filmmaking session
I’m going to be super interested on what you make of this. I had this lens on my first camera, a Minolta X300 back in ‘86 and I bought a copy mint for £40 and I’ve been very pleased with it on a modern FF mirrorless. The focus throw is just right and is super smooth... I think my version had time travelled well, still in its box!
everyone with a mirrorless camera should one day try out one of the orginal nifty fifties from the 80s-90s (canon fd, minolta md, etc). It's quite spectacular how those lenses perform especially stopped down and at infinity focus. Even on 42MP they perform well in terms of sharpness.
WARNING, don't buy a Minolta MDs with any hint of fungus. The glass groups are held together by plastic and CANNOT, be cleaned if the fungus gets in between the lens group.
This is good info! Thanks mate I hadn’t any idea. I tend to air on don’t buy glass with any fungus but it can be cleaned...with the exception of these. Now I know, now we all know! Respect ✊
I personally think the Minota held up very well against the Contax/Zeiss, but I may be biased. I was crazy excited for this review, because I kinda have a "thing" for old Minolta lenses. I have the 50 f/1.4 Rokkor-X version and I still haven't purchased a modern 50mm lens because of it, because I think it's that good. No AF is a drag, but I mostly shoot landscape anyway. If you ever want to do a review on a Minolta telephoto lens, I could lend you my relatively rare Rokkor-x 200mm f/2.8. That lens is a tank, and a sheer joy to use!
I’m such a sucker for the history part of your Videos - it’s so epic edited!!🤩 Amazing vintage lens review as always Mark! 👍 Since you now tested a bunch of 50mm Vintage lenses from different price categories, would be interesting to see a comparison video and what your favourite 50mm vintage lens would be today 🤗
I think so too, I need charts though, it's so hard to frame up the same shot for each lens to match everything for a proper comparison. I can talk for days about user experience, but to show optical differences I think that will need to be the way. Real world examples plus the scientific ones.
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing these thoughts and experience. And to tell that play in the editing, the shots, and all that makes even more pleasant ! Thanks !
Hi Mark, since I dicovered your videos, I always watch your new comming ones with close attention. I purchased an A7 just for the purpose of being able shoot the way I used to do with a film camera. And the first lense a friend had borowed me to try out on my MarkIII, (the canon, I mean), to sit on the A7 has been the 55 1.8 M42 by our beloved Japanese manufacturing company, which immediately revealed it's magic - at least to my eye ( I have two but use only one) - and there it was !!! Hooked up , and so pleasingly !!! So, therefor, all your experiments, points of view (...), and work you're sharing are kind of a blessing. Thank you ! You help me building up ideas, maybe also because I was already experimenting similar ideas over 30 years ago with a film camera, maybe 40... I'm almost the age of the lenses.... E Mmmmm. I was about to say a word... Never mind (I am starting do do though) It is a rich adventure, this one that helps us getting all that light in our eyes and mind !!!! What is magic all about, if not using a couple of, maybe cheap, but very thoughtfull tricks. Cheers !
Nice video, I have a Minolta 58mm 1.4 from 1960s paired with my Sony a6300, colour tones are the most unique I’ve seen out of a lens, my go to for portraits, and fun for landscapes. Happy your trying Minoltas!
M50 i think, better auto focus. Some learning there from the GO Pro's which are just point and shoot, I edit with Premiere mostly, but Resolve is FREE and the free version is super powerful.
Finally some Minolta love! Minolta was my gateway drug into vintage lenses, their rendering was always very unique and pleasant. I'm not surprised the Zeiss outperformed the Minolta in sharpness and aberration correction, the Zeiss has one more corrective glass element at the rear compared to the Minolta.
Superb episode Mr H, especially interesting to hear the historical aspects about Minolta, and of course the footage and photo samples are typically sublime. As I eatch your videos I marvel at how much work and style you put into them, truly brilliant. Diamond geezer!
I just sold this exact lens for $30 on Kijiji. I prefer all my other 50's, takumar 55, mamiya/sekor, zeiss jena tessar. But it was one of my first lenses and enjoyed it for awhile. Great review like always!
@@MarkHoltze shower cap & chamois cloth in a zip lock takes up no space in the bag. 1st thing I did after watching this was google that tasty Minolta 35
your colours are not very saturated or brownish, have you removed the yellow colours of the elements with uv light, my minolta lenses show a lot of yellow ..brown colours and gives a lot of saturations
Just how the lens is, hooting in rec 709 profile on the S1H. I haven't done anything to it specifically. These lenses were never really quality controlled the same way (apart from Leica and Zeiss) they are now. So depending when and where they were made/ coatings etc, I think would impact the colour.
It looks pretty good! For the money you can't go wrong with it, but I prefer the Canon FD 50mm F1.8...it's damn close to the Summicron R 50mm for 10 times less money. Great video Mark, I enjoyed it as always!
Nifty fifty that costs about $50 spotted!! Also mark, becuase this is from the 90’s does that make us all vintage too?! I’m asking mainly for Pete as he is the elder statesman now🤣 loved the video, the vintage lens files are just ace. Glad they’ve stayed.
Some fantastic shots in the snow-covered forest, Mark! I got this lens a few years ago, it came together with a banged-up Minolta SRT-101, and I've started using it on digital cameras only recently. I like it a lot. It looks like a solid all-round performer. -Cheers, Rick
I have literally have almost every 50mm+ minolta lens made, the 50 1.7 is the worst in my experience...the 50mm f2 and 45mm f2 is where the real bargain is and the md 50 f1.4 is one of best 50's I've ever used...and I have some rollei planars lol
either way, still millennial lens lol. Did a serial serach and cross referenced it, 1990-1992 was what I got. biggest issue with this is finding properly annotated information. I've seen a few sources say 90's as well. I think they were still running this manuals off assembly lines and selling them, not everybody had auto focus capable cameras at the time nor wanted to pay the delta in price.
@@mumtazkhan9042 for sure? I spent a bunch of time looking into this and a few sources indicated early 90's based on serial. Auto focus was a think, but they were still selling manual focus lenses for older systems. Initially made in the 80's but sold through until the early 90's is what I found, based on markings on lens. Who knows how accurate that is though, so always a degree of "I don't have all the info" in these lens videos :)
@@MarkHoltze Yeah the design of the MDs were from the 80's, design esthetics borrowed from the Leica's of the time. Minolta made different brands for different markets, Rokkor, Rokkor X for mainly the US market, their "low cost Celtic line", and the MD line. They even worked with Leica for a short while, hence you see the resembleance between the Leica R's and the MD's (they have even been called the poor mans Leica's). Ever wondered how the Minolta red dot is so familiar to Leica's?
@@MarkHoltze As I said not saying your wrong. Old timer here, from 1985 to 1991 worked evenings for extra $ at a camera store to put the last of my 4 through college. Remember with Minolta first, auto focus came on the seen then EOS canons and the manual focus stuff became a very hard sell. In the 1990s I picked up at garage sales many manual focus cameras and lenses for $1.00 to $5.00 as you couldn't hardly give them away. Of course mirrorless changed all that. Enjoy your lens back stories.
Thanks mate, i guess imdb.com my name will give you some productions i've worked on. Hard to say where those live indefinitely, networks and their airdates etc.
you skipped over rather quickly concerning the TLR section, as there is a very famous model of Minolta called the Minolta Autocord, available in a couple of shutter options...lens 75mm f3.5 based on a Zeiss Tessar design that to most people produces images superior to the Rollei. This might be part of the decision by Leica to pair up with Minolta as their choice of company in the Minolta CLE based on the Leica CL....I know this vid is about the 50mm f1.7... Cheers from Victoria, BC PS see if you can find a copy of the Rokkor 24mm f2.8 from around 1982'ish..an exceptional optic.
Thanks Bruce, yes I didn’t want to linger too long on the history section for this lens, but what a brilliant bit of additional information you’ve added! Thank you kindly!
For me it’s about a balance of time and effort and the return on that investment of time. These lens reviews are fun, but the history bits are totally an accent, not the focus. The performance by demonstration is what I hope is the true informer for the majority of the audience. If I were to do a full doc bit I would dig deeper; but it’s just a little factoid in the grand scheme of things. Also finding verifiable information is also somewhat problematic not being able to properly or efficiently annotate information. I work in documentary film so I’m aware of the process, but time for me is obviously a big barrier :)
Enjoyed the Minolta history. I bought one of these attached to a Minolta X500 back in the day. Loved that camera and still have it. I more recently tried this 50mm on a Samsung NX1 and it was pretty awful, but after seeing your results I'm wondering if the adapter was at fault. I have an S5 arriving tomorrow so I think I may get an MD to L-mount adaptor and give the Rokkor another go.
YOOOO I OWN THE EXACT SAME WIDE ANGLE ADAPTER THAT IS ON THE XL1! I mounted it to various mirrorless/dslr lenses and found that if your lens have a close enough focusing distance it can create some very distinct and funky look, especially when you are at 50mm or above, I highly recommend you to get a step down ring to mount it on your sigma 24-70, super funky look that makes it look almost like a lens baby.
Not sure.... I got the exact same lens on my 1981 Minolta XG-M. And X-300 a few years later. It is 1980-ish and based, omg, on much older models built decades earlier...
It’s a lens that was made up until early 1990’s. Serial number checked for mine showed 1991 ish so I was speaking about my specific lens. But ya it’s one that was being made since the early 80’s
@@UnusSedLeo-w5l I don't personally, that would be wonderful! The gentlemen who sent me the lens gave me the info when I asked him, I'll see if he has a source.
Im getting started to get into film photography. Right now, I’m considering between choosing minolta lens 50mm 1.7 and 55mm 1.8. Which one would you recommend?
@@harukachan8434 try the Minolta md 50 f2 (third edition) optically the best. IMO almost as good as a 50 Summicron R if you don’t mind the plastic build.
Just don't buy one of these newer MDs if they have fungus in them: The front and rear elements are all glued together so there is no way (at least as far as I know) to dismantle them. There are equally cheap 50's (eg Pentax-M 50 1.7) out there where servicing is possible.
Just been given from a dear friend a Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 and. A Minolta MD 50-150mm zoom, if the 50mm is as good as the first camera I had minolta SRT 101. I have a Olympus M1 mk2 and a Pen E-P5.
Wikipedia has the Minolta 1.7/50 design as a Double-Gauss. My copy came attached to a bellows for macro. It revealed something interesting in the "0" found in the lower left corner 20 on the twenty dollar bill.
I figure you would likely know the most about this. I have a set of really nice Auto Mamiya Sekor SX for m 42 mount. I am looking for an adapter to use them with my EOS77D. I cant seems to find an adapter that works with the sekor sx lenses. The one i have wont let me move the aperture ring, because of the "lip" on the back of the lens. Do you know of any adapter for EF mount?
I found a Minolta X-370 with one of these on it for $10 at a thrift store. Haven't used it yet, but it feels quite nice, so I'm looking forward to it. If I want to use it on my DSLR, I'll have to get a converter to Nikon F mount.
This is one of 7 50mm lenses I own and the only one I never use. The rendering is a little ugly, imho. Keeping it in the Minolta family, I much prefer the MD iii 50mm f1.4 and MD iii 50mm f2
Recent US legalization of Kinder eggs has reduced the smuggling between our borders. Perhaps one day Canada will do the same for Minolta to L Mount adapters.
Great video! By accident I ran into a cheap Minolta cam+lens so I bought it. Now I'm wathcing youtube videos about this lens to figure out if it's worth it to get an adapter :) I think I will.
Yes!!! Minolta has totally been my gateway drug! (just got this lens, along with a 24mm and a 200mm a few days ago.... and then i stumble across this video haha Perfect!)
I use a Minolta 50mm 1.7 on my Canon M50, i actually picked it up after watching your videos and learning about vintage to mirrorless. I picked up the lens for $40 and I must say, it produces some of the best photo's i've ever taken. Due to the crop factor on the canon it makes it a 80mm, but man it's fantastic. Solid video and I forgot to hit the subscribe button in the past (doing so now).
People forget how good these lenses are. I see more people making excuses for its lack or “sharpness” but even when I’ve compared them to modern lenses thr differences don’t not come close to justifying the cost delta. They’re not as easy to use as you can’t rely on auto focus but that’s on the photographer, not the lens.
@@MarkHoltze oh 1000% ! The cost of lenses can easily deter anyone from wanting to get into photography/videography, but the cost of vintage lenses with adapters makes it a perfect opportunity with a unique style. Not to mention you can find them easily on any garage sale sites like fb marketplace. Keep up the fantastic work man!
I have been shooting with Minolta lenses and I must admit, I’m in love with the older all metal MC lenses. Btw in case most didn’t know this, Minolta is the vintage/retro roots of Sony.
So much info in this video. Well done. Going to look for more lenses from the 90s as they have good Chromatic Aberration control combined with s-log would create that elegant edge look IMO....after grading and correction adjustments of course. Keep it up man 👍🏻
It never ceases to amaze me how many 'old' lenses still look outstanding today. Another excellent video as always! I hope you and your family are well. Loving the regular videos you're pumping out. Boom!
Amongst my Minolta collection I have the MD 50mm F2, which I understand has the same optics as the 50mm F1.7. It’s quite good, as is the 45mm F2. Keep up the good work here!
Thank you. I've owned the mc Rokkor f1.7 back in the 70's and found the lens delivered what you just described. I still own the F1.4 Contax Zeiss planar and I'm still impresses with the character images that I am able to capture with the Zeiss. I should consider getting another 50mm Rokkor perhaps this time an f1.4
Brought 6 of this about a year back, why so many? Because Mark Holtze would eventually make a video of this lens and prices would inflate. 😀 Also got the 28mm 2.8 and 24mm 2.8 just in case. Fun fact the Leica 24mm Elmarits are rebadged Minolta's.
not sure off hand, would have to test them out. Anytime I've done lens to lens testing I don't find the differences all that compelling. Reason why I kind of stopped.
Gotta say only one thing: I loved it!!! Great video man. I couldn’t believe the price of that lens and the results (mostly with video)! Wow. Yes, I love my nifty 50!!! Thank you for leaving those Japanese names pristine 😂👍
Thanks mate! I got lucky with this one for sure. Glad I held off though, something told me I needed to do a video with it and if I hadn’t of listened I would have missed this.
I love your videos Mark! I have a set of vintage Russian Lenses that I use as my “Cinema Lens Kit” hopefully I’ll be doing plenty of videos with and about them!
I just ordered the Mir 28 and 20 off ebay ;) when those come in, expect reviews lol. Ultimately going to have those re-housed, but want to first test them in their photo form.
Fun as always! I’d love to see some more content on wider and longer vintage lenses. There’s so many 50mm options out there… how about some more eBay gem 35mm, 85mm, and so-on options? By the way I got the DJI 3D Focus system… it came Thursday. Shot a video about it and will hopefully release that on Monday. It’s pretty amazing. Not perfect… but it’s amazing.
50's are just so.....affordable....but ya 35 for sure, it's my fav focal length. I got my takumar 35 and now the contax carl Zeiss 35 1.4 so looking at doing a bit of a comparison there. The tak is $135 the Zeiss goes for $900 so fun way to see the two even though it's not quite an apples to apples comparison. F/2 vs F/1.4, but the concessions I think might be where it gets spiced up a bit. Can't wait to see that mate, notifications ON. I was busy buying a Mir 28mm F/3.5 and 20mm F/3.5 for eventual re-housings lol....but wanted to do a video on the photo style of those bodies first. 85's are amazing, but tough to organize a people shoot as we're in full lockdown here in Toronto area and the 85 is such a portrait lens, to not have people/models in it would be painful lol. I have quite a few of those I'd love to compare as well, Tak, Zeiss and Jupiter. Looking forward to your 3D focus system video mate.
@@MarkHoltze I’d love to see those 35s compared for sure! Totally get it on portraits / 85mm. This first video on the 3-D focus is a “1st look“, but I’m trying to organize a proper shoot with it. The musician a shot for my ATEM Mini Pro ISO video wants me to shoot a music video for her, so if the timing works that’s where I’ll do it.
Great video, as always. :) These side-facts were very interesting. You should implement them more often if you have the chance. Now I know why it's called Rokkor. Before that I was thinking about something much more stupid like "Rokko = Rocker, because it rocks" ^^
Really cool production / editing as usual 😎. You edit like a pro, but wait, you are a pro! 😁 The Minolta 50/1,7 is pretty good for its price but I prefer the Zeiss 50/1,7 in every situation. One lens that really blew me away recently was the Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135/3,5 M42. Not especially expensive at all but really, really amazing. Btw, love the ”historylessons”, makes it even more interesting 👍
I didn't realize the MD Rokkor-x was so different. Mine is metal and made in 1977-78, with a 55mm filter thread. I shot with the same lens in high school photography class. My dad bought it with his XG7 the year it came out, for our family vacation to Hawaii (1979). My sister has that lens and camera now. I did my college photography with it, and she did her program at Ryerson with it. Now my niece is learning with it. I bought a XG7 just as some nostalgia a year ago for the shelf ($60), and it came with a mint Rokkor-X 50mm 1.7. I'm using it once and awhile now on my Sony FX30.
I bought that lens for my intro to photography class back in February of last year. I took all of 30 photos with it, and since my nearest photo lab is 40 miles away (and the campus lab has stayed shut since March 13, 2020), those pictures remain undeveloped. At least it was cheap!
Fantastic review and great channel I been following you for a very long time. 1990s lens hahaha they came out with lens in the 70s. Minolta was heavily focused making Alpha lenses. 50 bucks for that lens is utterly ridiculous. It usually sells for 20 something on usedphotopro. I have two versions of that lens AF for the Minolta A mount and one of them I got from a thrift shop 😂. Worlds 50mm softest lens.
I go by the average I see it online for. Prices are always changing and EBay is the biggest vintage lens seller market at this point. Good to know you can get it cheaper. Better value for sure!
Excellent vid. I have a soft spot for Minolta, as the X700 was a big purchase or me in ‘85. The 50mm F2 kit lens it came with is now living on my Fuji mirrorless. I’ve got a few other lenses including the Fuji kit, but the Minolta looks so freakin’ good on it.
I'm considering a little fuji upgrade for my pocket shooter, the Sii is getting a little long in the tooth and I have the S1H....the Fuji I would use entirely with my SLR lenses. you're right though, these lenses look SO good on those cameras :)
Minolta lenses have so nice color rendetiton in compare with Pentax an KMZ lenses...and any other vintage lenses. But it depends what look do you want...the MCII lenses have so much character and the MDIII are really clean lenses.
@@MarkHoltze Thanks! I love these lenses...if you will need any help with the Minolta MCII series I have whole set from 24mm to 135mm and can provide you with some footage or sample photos if you need. :)
Your production quality is off the charts again, wow! Still especially compared to the Meyer lenses, this one has less three-dimensional rendering and does not impress me too much. Thankfully that means I dont need another adapter and can stick to my Oreston 1.8 (pentacon) ;)
People make too much about which lens is better, for the most part any decent lens will work for you, the real skill lice in the composition timing plays a huge roll. The key is practice, not watching endless TH-cam videos about which lens is better.
I’ve said exactly what you said a million times. Shoot what works, I do these to give people an idea who search for them what to expect. My main point in this video is not to compare, but feature. If a comparison is made it’s for context only.
The quality of your videos is amazing. I'm not an expert in the subject, but I'm enjoying every single video. They are pleasing to the eye, informative, funny and a font of inspiration. Keep it up your great work please! Greetings from Italy.
I've played with this lens back in the day, and I'm pretty sure it's the same optical formula like earlier MC variant which I still own, just with added features, better coating and slightly different design...
In addition to the aperture ring, some internal parts of the New MD lenses are also plastic. All the 50mm New MD (Or "plain MD" or "MDIII") lenses are quite great, possibly the best being the f/1.4.
@@MarkHoltze I guess it would have added up. However, it barely affects their build quality... As all Minolta lenses do, these feel really good too despite having like 3 platic parts instead of 2.
@Mark Holtze Took one apart, the front bezel, appature ring and focus ring is hard plastic. The rest is metal, however the the lens groups are held together by plastic that cannot be disassembled for cleaning, so if there's fungus in-between then the whole lens is toast.
I own the MD iii 50mm in 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 The 1.7 seems like a decidedly lower quality lens and I really don't like how it looks. The 1.4 I just the most and isn't bad (I use it mostly on film- I still prefer my Canon nFD 50mm 1.4 but I like my XG-M film body) The 2.0 is imho the best rendering of the lenses but the weight savings are so minimal that I usually just carry the 1.4 with me.
Winter Wonderland Walking with this lens, a drone and my phone. The experience shooting with this lens on the first photowalk of 2021 has earned it a special place in my SLR lens loving heart. *49mm filter thread, not 45, no clue why I said 45mm*
Or why you said 1.8 in the intro, but it's a f/1.7 ;)
@@blake.crosby i had this conversation with Paul lol. The XL1 intro was never meant to be part of it, it was after recording bull shit, in the end i liked that version better than my regular intro so made the call. I mention 1.7 a few seconds after the intro, throughout the video and in the title so figured story/performance in this case would trump continuity.
I also state 45mm filter thread instead of 49, but that's because i'm a totally FKN idiot and have no excuse for missing that shit.
If paid professionals in feature films can get things wrong sometimes, me getting paid pennies on the hours can get them wrong sometimes too lol. Won't ever happen again, it's eating me up inside, thanks for throwing acid on it Crosby, what are old friends for right lol. (all good, just to be clear) :)
@@MarkHoltze Yeah all good, I'm just being a dick 😝(more engagement on youtube never hurts, right? )
@@blake.crosby dude i expect you to find the flaws, it's ALL good. It means. you're paying attention, because I wasn't (at the 45mm filter thread part) lol. Like i said the 1.8 was a concession for performance and shortly after reconciled by the appropriate. What i should have done was cut in 1.7 from a previous take, but found the delivery was too different....a la simpsons Homer SWEET SWEET CAN
Not trying hard to be funny, I’m not a TH-camr. I just so happen to make videos on vintage lenses and have fun doing it. Good luck with your search, hope you find what you’re looking for
this is the third and last version of the minolta 50mm 1.7 md, that was released in the early to mid 80's. Minolta was making their A-mount lenses during the 90's
Yes, definitely why I want to try the older ones. Apparently based on serial this one physically was produced in 90/91 before the full transition occurred. Hard to really pin point it, it’s still a millennial lens 😂
@@MarkHoltze wow, must be a good sign this lens was actually being manufactured that long! Minolta lenses are super underrated
Agreed!
@@MarkHoltze Minolta was the first company to successfully market an auto focusing slr (screw type adopted by many) in 1985 with the Maxxum 7000 and a series of AF lenses and AF mount that was eventually used by Sony in dslr's when they purchased Minolta. MD lenses date back to the seventies and pretty well died out with the introduction of of the Maxxum Af lenses (called Dynax in Europe). The MD version of the 50mm f1.7 was introduced in 1985 as an AF lens for the new Maxxum 7000.
Minolta lenses are my favorite vintage lenses. You really can't beat their value, as other mounts have exploded in price while MD lenses have largely stayed the same. Rokkor 4 Life!
Building a set is tough. 85mm, 24mm are now very expensive. If you find a decent quality 24mm - 35mm constant zoom or the 35mm - 70mm constant zoom, buy it. They are compact, sharp and par-focal.
@@mumtazkhan9042 the 24mm has always been pricey. I paid about $250 CDN for it about 4-5 years ago.
@@segzeeman7356 Got mine from a charity shop, for £20. Also picked up a Kiron 24mm f2 for the same price.
Now they only sell camera gear on eBay.
@@mumtazkhan9042 just bought a MD 35-70mm macro f3.5. For 40euros, almost brand new condition. Absolutely fabulous piece of glass.
Hexanon though. :)
I still have my Minolta Rokkor 50mm 1.7 lens I used in college in the 80's . I'm debating getting it cine-modded.
I've got a set on loan coming by soon(ish). They're still a good price but i suspect as FD's, Contax, Leica prices continue to rise, these will become the new rage! DO IT! ;)
@@MarkHoltze I see you're going to be doing some work with Media Division. Those guys are brilliant, great work, and a great sense of humor.
Awesome review, this is one of my. favorite lenses. Loved the History part of Minolta and great editing on that- like seeing a secret file on Godzilla or something.
Great review, I guess I should get mine on the camera and take some shots. Minolta lenses are incredible bargains. They have beautiful color and the subjects have incredible pop. Thanks
Definitly! Take her for a spin, see how you like it :)
Its from the 80's my Dad had the one without the switch. I also have the one with the switch. But the one you have might be from the 80's or 90's. Yours can be into P mode. Its a good lens but wide open the image is soft. But sometimes soft lens are nice for portraits. Todays lens are getting way to sharp for some peoples faces now. I took a photo with this lens and it got half a million views. I took it with my Olympus PEN E-PL1.
I had this lens and was a good one. I can recommend it to anyone. 👍
The FUSS is warranted I would say ;)
I’ve been planning on building a set of these, they’re affordable, good quality, and they’re literally everywhere. I got a Contax Zeiss 50/1.7 shortly before people started buying them up for cinema modding leading the price to slowly but steadily rise, and now as a small time videographer essentially crippled into being a hobbyist by the pandemic, I can’t afford to drop upwards of $200 per lens.
But if I look hard enough I could probably build an extended Minolta MD set from the local 2nd hand market in my country for the price of one CZ 50/1.4 😆
I’ve got a Minolta loaner set coming my way, they’re all modded, they look pretty great! Get on that mate! I got the 50 1.7 for $65 Canadian, I just sold it for 185 usd. Great lens but I use the 1.4 more. Contax are a great set for sure but as you said, very well known now so their market value is quite inflated.
Minolta’s I suspect will get more attention as prices continue to rise on contax, Leica Rs and FD’s...although I don’t see why FD’s are so high, they’re alright but the mount is a bit of a pain.
Hi Mark, great review as always, would love to see some video samples of what this lens can do, perhaps another video? Thanks.
Thanks Tony, the winter snowing stuff was all shot with that lens. The trees etc, I could definitely do more with it thats for sure. Thanks!
I accidentally came across this video, I checked my X700 Pelican Case, and I chuckled at the fact that I have an MD Rokkor-X 50mm 1:1.7. Eventually, I’ll get my hands on a Full Frame and use these lens once more.
That’s awesome! They work okay on asp-c as well, but yes shine in full light on FF
@@MarkHoltze I have a Sigma SD Quattro H, if only Sigma made Minolta MD Adapters, I’d be using them. Fortunately though, M42 Lenses are equally wonderful
Awesome was usual.
Thanks Jonathan!
When already you are going retro, can you do some film camera review if you do film of course :)?
I find film camera reviews a little tricky. The cameras themselves sort of all feel the same, it’s aboht the stock, the exposure the developing. I alway meter my stuff with a sekonic light meter ;)
But not a bad idea
@@MarkHoltze I thought some kind of a bit more special slr; for example extreme weather digital vs analog(some kind of reliable but inexpensive film camera that has tons of features, or it can be even mechanical slr); of course i think analog is better for extreme cold(because batteries fail on digital much more often in cold weather, especially lower-end models) anyway in freezing conditions everything is white so there will be very small chance that you'll use digital advantage of better low light performance(for longer exposures you will carry tripod anyway). With good quality film, you can yield extraordinary results; and i tell you this first hand ;)
Those photos from the extreme situations can be much more memorable than rather cliche-y photos in normal weather conditions :)
you should try the rokkor 50mm f1.4
a great daily driver for me, i never take it off my minolta x-300
Yes I would guess based on the average between the 1.7 and 1.2 the 1.4 might be just right! Thanks Michael!
Hey! I need some help, trying to decide between a Sony alpha 3000 and a Canon t5. What´s your opinion?
Long live Minolta!
Ya new video
YES the underdog, the secret star , at worthy competitor to taku, but not in the design,,, no knuckles focus ring, but plastic not fantastic
plastic not fantastic lol...i like it.
The 50mm f1.7 and 135mm f2.8 are my two of favorite lenses. There is something about them that always draw me back to them. Also really cheap depending on the version. You can get them for 70€-90€ combined in great conditions.
The XL1 footage is TAAAAAASTY and a hell of an addition. Respect.
capturing it....a pain lol. I don't miss those days that's for sure.
For its price, this lens is quite good. I think a Minolta Rokkor set could be useful if you want a backup set or simply to try something different, maybe for a personal/passion project or for a street filmmaking session
Thanks for the tips! I have to be careful because that slope is slippery lol. I think you're right though! Thanks Mate!
I’m going to be super interested on what you make of this. I had this lens on my first camera, a Minolta X300 back in ‘86 and I bought a copy mint for £40 and I’ve been very pleased with it on a modern FF mirrorless. The focus throw is just right and is super smooth... I think my version had time travelled well, still in its box!
Focus throw on this one is perfect too.
@@MarkHoltze yes the Throw is spot on making focusing easy
everyone with a mirrorless camera should one day try out one of the orginal nifty fifties from the 80s-90s (canon fd, minolta md, etc). It's quite spectacular how those lenses perform especially stopped down and at infinity focus. Even on 42MP they perform well in terms of sharpness.
I concur!!!
Who ever thought canon would look so good on a Sony ;)
WARNING, don't buy a Minolta MDs with any hint of fungus. The glass groups are held together by plastic and CANNOT, be cleaned if the fungus gets in between the lens group.
This is good info! Thanks mate I hadn’t any idea. I tend to air on don’t buy glass with any fungus but it can be cleaned...with the exception of these. Now I know, now we all know! Respect ✊
I personally think the Minota held up very well against the Contax/Zeiss, but I may be biased. I was crazy excited for this review, because I kinda have a "thing" for old Minolta lenses. I have the 50 f/1.4 Rokkor-X version and I still haven't purchased a modern 50mm lens because of it, because I think it's that good. No AF is a drag, but I mostly shoot landscape anyway. If you ever want to do a review on a Minolta telephoto lens, I could lend you my relatively rare Rokkor-x 200mm f/2.8. That lens is a tank, and a sheer joy to use!
I’m such a sucker for the history part of your Videos - it’s so epic edited!!🤩
Amazing vintage lens review as always Mark! 👍
Since you now tested a bunch of 50mm Vintage lenses from different price categories, would be interesting to see a comparison video and what your favourite 50mm vintage lens would be today 🤗
I think so too, I need charts though, it's so hard to frame up the same shot for each lens to match everything for a proper comparison. I can talk for days about user experience, but to show optical differences I think that will need to be the way. Real world examples plus the scientific ones.
Iv had several minolta 50mm lenses
Iv only kept MD rokkor f1.7 for some reason
Dont remember why...
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing these thoughts and experience.
And to tell that play in the editing, the shots,
and all that makes even more pleasant !
Thanks !
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Hi Mark, since I dicovered your videos, I always watch your new comming ones with close attention.
I purchased an A7 just for the purpose of being able shoot the way I used to do with a film camera.
And the first lense a friend had borowed me to try out on my MarkIII, (the canon, I mean),
to sit on the A7 has been the 55 1.8 M42 by our beloved Japanese manufacturing company, which immediately revealed it's magic - at least to my eye ( I have two but use only one) - and there it was !!!
Hooked up , and so pleasingly !!!
So, therefor, all your experiments, points of view (...), and work you're sharing are kind of a blessing.
Thank you !
You help me building up ideas, maybe also because I was already experimenting similar ideas over 30 years ago with a film camera, maybe 40... I'm almost the age of the lenses....
E Mmmmm.
I was about to say a word...
Never mind (I am starting do do though)
It is a rich adventure, this one that helps us getting all that light in our eyes and mind !!!!
What is magic all about, if not using a couple of, maybe cheap, but very thoughtfull tricks.
Cheers !
Nice video, I have a Minolta 58mm 1.4 from 1960s paired with my Sony a6300, colour tones are the most unique I’ve seen out of a lens, my go to for portraits, and fun for landscapes.
Happy your trying Minoltas!
I love your videos! Question for you, g85 or m50 for beginner youtuber? I've only had gopros thus far. Also what do you use for editing software?
M50 i think, better auto focus. Some learning there from the GO Pro's which are just point and shoot, I edit with Premiere mostly, but Resolve is FREE and the free version is super powerful.
Finally some Minolta love! Minolta was my gateway drug into vintage lenses, their rendering was always very unique and pleasant. I'm not surprised the Zeiss outperformed the Minolta in sharpness and aberration correction, the Zeiss has one more corrective glass element at the rear compared to the Minolta.
I know right? Same. I got the Maxxum 50mm 1.7 and the Maxxum 70-210mm and I absolutely love them.
Lol gateway drug to vintage glass
Superb episode Mr H, especially interesting to hear the historical aspects about Minolta, and of course the footage and photo samples are typically sublime. As I eatch your videos I marvel at how much work and style you put into them, truly brilliant. Diamond geezer!
I just sold this exact lens for $30 on Kijiji. I prefer all my other 50's, takumar 55, mamiya/sekor, zeiss jena tessar. But it was one of my first lenses and enjoyed it for awhile. Great review like always!
You mean you can actually go out and shoot in less than ideal conditions w/o weather seals;-)Nice video, appreciated the brief history lesson!
Yup, you just need to come prepared. Protect the lens when not shooting and bring a towel to constantly wipe. This is the way.
@@MarkHoltze *mandolorian theme intensifies*
@@MarkHoltze shower cap & chamois cloth in a zip lock takes up no space in the bag. 1st thing I did after watching this was google that tasty Minolta 35
I have the Minolta 50 mm f2 version and its great lens < som of my last video was shot with this lens
th-cam.com/video/6kuR2SKT-68/w-d-xo.html
Awesome, thanks mate
your colours are not very saturated or brownish, have you removed the yellow colours of the elements with uv light, my minolta lenses show a lot of yellow ..brown colours and gives a lot of saturations
Just how the lens is, hooting in rec 709 profile on the S1H. I haven't done anything to it specifically. These lenses were never really quality controlled the same way (apart from Leica and Zeiss) they are now. So depending when and where they were made/ coatings etc, I think would impact the colour.
It looks pretty good! For the money you can't go wrong with it, but I prefer the Canon FD 50mm F1.8...it's damn close to the Summicron R 50mm for 10 times less money.
Great video Mark, I enjoyed it as always!
Ya the FD’s are a great price! You can’t go wrong with that lens either really.
Nifty fifty that costs about $50 spotted!! Also mark, becuase this is from the 90’s does that make us all vintage too?! I’m asking mainly for Pete as he is the elder statesman now🤣 loved the video, the vintage lens files are just ace. Glad they’ve stayed.
Oh we're vintage as F dude, at least Pete and I are....you might be a spring chicken yet ;)
@@MarkHoltze hahaha I’m four years his junior... so I’m like the the coiled spring of chickens... I’m like the Minolta to his Carl Zeiss!!
Some fantastic shots in the snow-covered forest, Mark! I got this lens a few years ago, it came together with a banged-up Minolta SRT-101, and I've started using it on digital cameras only recently. I like it a lot. It looks like a solid all-round performer. -Cheers, Rick
Great vid as always. When this corona-madness is over you really need to come to Poland where you can test all my Soviet and East German lenses :-)
🤤 that would be amazing mate!
I have literally have almost every 50mm+ minolta lens made, the 50 1.7 is the worst in my experience...the 50mm f2 and 45mm f2 is where the real bargain is and the md 50 f1.4 is one of best 50's I've ever used...and I have some rollei planars lol
Thanks for the info Jay!
Agree I have the very same lenses.
I totally agree. I have all 3 lenses you mentioned but my 1.4 never leave my camera.
Not saying you are wrong but by 1987 Minolta was selling auto focus lenses, so I'm skeptical this is a 1990s lens.
It's from the early 80s.
either way, still millennial lens lol. Did a serial serach and cross referenced it, 1990-1992 was what I got. biggest issue with this is finding properly annotated information. I've seen a few sources say 90's as well. I think they were still running this manuals off assembly lines and selling them, not everybody had auto focus capable cameras at the time nor wanted to pay the delta in price.
@@mumtazkhan9042 for sure? I spent a bunch of time looking into this and a few sources indicated early 90's based on serial. Auto focus was a think, but they were still selling manual focus lenses for older systems. Initially made in the 80's but sold through until the early 90's is what I found, based on markings on lens.
Who knows how accurate that is though, so always a degree of "I don't have all the info" in these lens videos :)
@@MarkHoltze Yeah the design of the MDs were from the 80's, design esthetics borrowed from the Leica's of the time. Minolta made different brands for different markets, Rokkor, Rokkor X for mainly the US market, their "low cost Celtic line", and the MD line. They even worked with Leica for a short while, hence you see the resembleance between the Leica R's and the MD's (they have even been called the poor mans Leica's). Ever wondered how the Minolta red dot is so familiar to Leica's?
@@MarkHoltze As I said not saying your wrong. Old timer here, from 1985 to 1991 worked evenings for extra $ at a camera store to put the last of my 4 through college. Remember with Minolta first, auto focus came on the seen then EOS canons and the manual focus stuff became a very hard sell.
In the 1990s I picked up at garage sales many manual focus cameras and lenses for $1.00 to $5.00 as you couldn't hardly give them away. Of course mirrorless changed all that. Enjoy your lens back stories.
Hi Mark, I love your videos, editing, b-roll and reviews of vintage lenses. Where can we see more of your professional video work?
Thanks mate, i guess imdb.com my name will give you some productions i've worked on. Hard to say where those live indefinitely, networks and their airdates etc.
you skipped over rather quickly concerning the TLR section, as there is a very famous model of Minolta called the Minolta Autocord, available in a couple of shutter options...lens 75mm f3.5 based on a Zeiss Tessar design that to most people produces images superior to the Rollei. This might be part of the decision by Leica to pair up with Minolta as their choice of company in the Minolta CLE based on the Leica CL....I know this vid is about the 50mm f1.7... Cheers from Victoria, BC PS see if you can find a copy of the Rokkor 24mm f2.8 from around 1982'ish..an exceptional optic.
Thanks Bruce, yes I didn’t want to linger too long on the history section for this lens, but what a brilliant bit of additional information you’ve added! Thank you kindly!
@@MarkHoltze for me it is about what I see...not what the verbal noise is about.
For me it’s about a balance of time and effort and the return on that investment of time. These lens reviews are fun, but the history bits are totally an accent, not the focus. The performance by demonstration is what I hope is the true informer for the majority of the audience.
If I were to do a full doc bit I would dig deeper; but it’s just a little factoid in the grand scheme of things.
Also finding verifiable information is also somewhat problematic not being able to properly or efficiently annotate information.
I work in documentary film so I’m aware of the process, but time for me is obviously a big barrier :)
Enjoyed the Minolta history. I bought one of these attached to a Minolta X500 back in the day. Loved that camera and still have it. I more recently tried this 50mm on a Samsung NX1 and it was pretty awful, but after seeing your results I'm wondering if the adapter was at fault. I have an S5 arriving tomorrow so I think I may get an MD to L-mount adaptor and give the Rokkor another go.
YOOOO I OWN THE EXACT SAME WIDE ANGLE ADAPTER THAT IS ON THE XL1! I mounted it to various mirrorless/dslr lenses and found that if your lens have a close enough focusing distance it can create some very distinct and funky look, especially when you are at 50mm or above, I highly recommend you to get a step down ring to mount it on your sigma 24-70, super funky look that makes it look almost like a lens baby.
Not sure.... I got the exact same lens on my 1981 Minolta XG-M. And X-300 a few years later. It is 1980-ish and based, omg, on much older models built decades earlier...
It’s a lens that was made up until early 1990’s. Serial number checked for mine showed 1991 ish so I was speaking about my specific lens. But ya it’s one that was being made since the early 80’s
@@MarkHoltze If you have a source to check serial numbers on these lenses... That would be a treat for sure!
@@UnusSedLeo-w5l I don't personally, that would be wonderful! The gentlemen who sent me the lens gave me the info when I asked him, I'll see if he has a source.
Im getting started to get into film photography. Right now, I’m considering between choosing minolta lens 50mm 1.7 and 55mm 1.8. Which one would you recommend?
The 1.7 is good, I would go 1.4 if you can to give you a bit more of that extra speed.
@@MarkHoltzeI’m going to buy 50mm 1.7 lens. Thank you so much!
@@harukachan8434 try the Minolta md 50 f2 (third edition) optically the best. IMO almost as good as a 50 Summicron R if you don’t mind the plastic build.
Just don't buy one of these newer MDs if they have fungus in them: The front and rear elements are all glued together so there is no way (at least as far as I know) to dismantle them. There are equally cheap 50's (eg Pentax-M 50 1.7) out there where servicing is possible.
damn mark , im just f....... buying everything u advice , my bank account is not happy :D
lol...sorry mate! Sell what you're not using if it's piling up lol. I've been doing that with my unused
@@MarkHoltze yeah i do it im selling right now a sigma 70 200 2.8 , keep up the good work nice videos
Just been given from a dear friend a Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 and. A Minolta MD 50-150mm zoom, if the 50mm is as good as the first camera I had minolta SRT 101.
I have a Olympus M1 mk2 and a Pen E-P5.
Wikipedia has the Minolta 1.7/50 design as a Double-Gauss. My copy came attached to a bellows for macro. It revealed something interesting in the "0" found in the lower left corner 20 on the twenty dollar bill.
I figure you would likely know the most about this. I have a set of really nice Auto Mamiya Sekor SX for m 42 mount. I am looking for an adapter to use them with my EOS77D. I cant seems to find an adapter that works with the sekor sx lenses. The one i have wont let me move the aperture ring, because of the "lip" on the back of the lens. Do you know of any adapter for EF mount?
I found a Minolta X-370 with one of these on it for $10 at a thrift store. Haven't used it yet, but it feels quite nice, so I'm looking forward to it. If I want to use it on my DSLR, I'll have to get a converter to Nikon F mount.
Nice...
Try Minolta MD 45mm f2 too.
A fine lens.... and 35-105mm...
I'll check it out!
@@MarkHoltze ... You will be impressed..
This is one of 7 50mm lenses I own and the only one I never use. The rendering is a little ugly, imho. Keeping it in the Minolta family, I much prefer the MD iii 50mm f1.4 and MD iii 50mm f2
Recent US legalization of Kinder eggs has reduced the smuggling between our borders. Perhaps one day Canada will do the same for Minolta to L Mount adapters.
I just love this lens. Can‘t believe it is that cheap
Great lens
I dug my Minolta SR-t 101 out of the closet and checked and I've got the Rokkor PF 55mm f1.7
The cheaper 50mm 2,0 by Minolta is the better Lens.
A little bit more plastic feeling, optically better....
Wonderful video like always .this is worth a comparison with the Pentax M 50mm f1.7...
Great video! By accident I ran into a cheap Minolta cam+lens so I bought it. Now I'm wathcing youtube videos about this lens to figure out if it's worth it to get an adapter :) I think I will.
Minolta lenses are fantastic, hope you enjoy yours!
Yes!!! Minolta has totally been my gateway drug! (just got this lens, along with a 24mm and a 200mm a few days ago.... and then i stumble across this video haha Perfect!)
I've got a loaner set coming soon, all cinema modded so can't wait to test out the full Rokkor set!
I use a Minolta 50mm 1.7 on my Canon M50, i actually picked it up after watching your videos and learning about vintage to mirrorless. I picked up the lens for $40 and I must say, it produces some of the best photo's i've ever taken. Due to the crop factor on the canon it makes it a 80mm, but man it's fantastic. Solid video and I forgot to hit the subscribe button in the past (doing so now).
People forget how good these lenses are. I see more people making excuses for its lack or “sharpness” but even when I’ve compared them to modern lenses thr differences don’t not come close to justifying the cost delta. They’re not as easy to use as you can’t rely on auto focus but that’s on the photographer, not the lens.
@@MarkHoltze oh 1000% ! The cost of lenses can easily deter anyone from wanting to get into photography/videography, but the cost of vintage lenses with adapters makes it a perfect opportunity with a unique style. Not to mention you can find them easily on any garage sale sites like fb marketplace. Keep up the fantastic work man!
Hi what adapter did you buy ? I can’t didn’t the right one. Please help
Still have it on my Minolta X700, lovely lens :) Should buy an adapter to Nikon Z :D
*Millensial... You're welcome 😉
😂 love it
Would love to see Minolta MD vs Pentax Takumar comparison video. Love your work!
I have been shooting with Minolta lenses and I must admit, I’m in love with the older all metal MC lenses. Btw in case most didn’t know this, Minolta is the vintage/retro roots of Sony.
@Mike Zielinski must be why I have been in love with Minolta for so long
MC’s are the best!
Just finished testing the 21 and 200 MC’s
@@MarkHoltze I do like the multi coating from the MD lenses but something about that metal housing and the older optics that just “visually resonates”
Totally agreed. They’re wonderful lenses though. Still great value.
So much info in this video. Well done. Going to look for more lenses from the 90s as they have good Chromatic Aberration control combined with s-log would create that elegant edge look IMO....after grading and correction adjustments of course. Keep it up man 👍🏻
agreed, only issue i don't love about 90's lenses....plastic over metal lol. But coatings are more evolved for sure.
It never ceases to amaze me how many 'old' lenses still look outstanding today. Another excellent video as always!
I hope you and your family are well. Loving the regular videos you're pumping out. Boom!
How did I miss this. So sorry mate. We are all doing well! How are you guys doing? Summer sweet and the living easy?
Amongst my Minolta collection I have the MD 50mm F2, which I understand has the same optics as the 50mm F1.7. It’s quite good, as is the 45mm F2. Keep up the good work here!
Thanks Jared, you have the 45 and 50?
@@MarkHoltze yes, both. I love the 45 especially. On the A7R2 it seems to have quite a lot of resolving power for such a small lens.
I have one... Amazing Lens !
Using Fujifilm Xt10.
you actually could have done the whole thing with the xl1 its so pretty.
Nice review. I have the Pentax 50mm f1.7 and it's also a wonderful lens
Great lens!
Here goes the prices for this lens...
😂
Thank you. I've owned the mc Rokkor f1.7 back in the 70's and found the lens delivered what you just described. I still own the F1.4 Contax Zeiss planar and I'm still impresses with the character images that I am able to capture with the Zeiss. I should consider getting another 50mm Rokkor perhaps this time an f1.4
Maybe the 58 1.2? That is a magic lens
If you can get your hands on the Minolta 58mm 1.4... That is a sweet lens too.
I'm a sucker for a 58, a 1.4 58 would be nice too. Thanks for the suggestion Tom
@@MarkHoltze I have one and its terrific on apsc for portraits
Brought 6 of this about a year back, why so many? Because Mark Holtze would eventually make a video of this lens and prices would inflate. 😀
Also got the 28mm 2.8 and 24mm 2.8 just in case. Fun fact the Leica 24mm Elmarits are rebadged Minolta's.
investment hopefully will pay off lol. Didn't know that about the Leica 24's thanks mate!
I got the 70s version of this lens. Contrasty and sharp, it has a nice character.
I have two Minolta 1.7s: MD Rokkor-X 50mm and an MC Rokkor-PF 50mm. Is there a performance difference when adapting? Thanks for your channel, BTW.
not sure off hand, would have to test them out. Anytime I've done lens to lens testing I don't find the differences all that compelling. Reason why I kind of stopped.
Gotta say only one thing: I loved it!!! Great video man. I couldn’t believe the price of that lens and the results (mostly with video)! Wow. Yes, I love my nifty 50!!! Thank you for leaving those Japanese names pristine 😂👍
Thanks mate! I got lucky with this one for sure. Glad I held off though, something told me I needed to do a video with it and if I hadn’t of listened I would have missed this.
@@MarkHoltze glad you did it. The results speak for themselves 👍
I love your videos Mark! I have a set of vintage Russian Lenses that I use as my “Cinema Lens Kit” hopefully I’ll be doing plenty of videos with and about them!
I just ordered the Mir 28 and 20 off ebay ;) when those come in, expect reviews lol. Ultimately going to have those re-housed, but want to first test them in their photo form.
@@MarkHoltze I’ll be very curious to see those!
Fun as always! I’d love to see some more content on wider and longer vintage lenses. There’s so many 50mm options out there… how about some more eBay gem 35mm, 85mm, and so-on options? By the way I got the DJI 3D Focus system… it came Thursday. Shot a video about it and will hopefully release that on Monday. It’s pretty amazing. Not perfect… but it’s amazing.
50's are just so.....affordable....but ya 35 for sure, it's my fav focal length. I got my takumar 35 and now the contax carl Zeiss 35 1.4 so looking at doing a bit of a comparison there. The tak is $135 the Zeiss goes for $900 so fun way to see the two even though it's not quite an apples to apples comparison. F/2 vs F/1.4, but the concessions I think might be where it gets spiced up a bit.
Can't wait to see that mate, notifications ON. I was busy buying a Mir 28mm F/3.5 and 20mm F/3.5 for eventual re-housings lol....but wanted to do a video on the photo style of those bodies first.
85's are amazing, but tough to organize a people shoot as we're in full lockdown here in Toronto area and the 85 is such a portrait lens, to not have people/models in it would be painful lol.
I have quite a few of those I'd love to compare as well, Tak, Zeiss and Jupiter.
Looking forward to your 3D focus system video mate.
@@MarkHoltze I’d love to see those 35s compared for sure! Totally get it on portraits / 85mm. This first video on the 3-D focus is a “1st look“, but I’m trying to organize a proper shoot with it. The musician a shot for my ATEM Mini Pro ISO video wants me to shoot a music video for her, so if the timing works that’s where I’ll do it.
Sweet, figured it would be a first look, hard to test in such a short time. But looking forward to it regardless.
@@MarkHoltze the 3D Focus video is up 😊
I’m on it NOW!!!
Great video, as always. :)
These side-facts were very interesting. You should implement them more often if you have the chance.
Now I know why it's called Rokkor. Before that I was thinking about something much more stupid like "Rokko = Rocker, because it rocks" ^^
Where I can find a little tidbit of info i'll try to for sure! :)
Really cool production / editing as usual 😎. You edit like a pro, but wait, you are a pro! 😁 The Minolta 50/1,7 is pretty good for its price but I prefer the Zeiss 50/1,7 in every situation. One lens that really blew me away recently was the Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135/3,5 M42. Not especially expensive at all but really, really amazing. Btw, love the ”historylessons”, makes it even more interesting 👍
Thanks mate, yes those Jena's you can't go wrong with those.
I didn't realize the MD Rokkor-x was so different. Mine is metal and made in 1977-78, with a 55mm filter thread. I shot with the same lens in high school photography class. My dad bought it with his XG7 the year it came out, for our family vacation to Hawaii (1979). My sister has that lens and camera now. I did my college photography with it, and she did her program at Ryerson with it. Now my niece is learning with it. I bought a XG7 just as some nostalgia a year ago for the shelf ($60), and it came with a mint Rokkor-X 50mm 1.7. I'm using it once and awhile now on my Sony FX30.
I bought that lens for my intro to photography class back in February of last year. I took all of 30 photos with it, and since my nearest photo lab is 40 miles away (and the campus lab has stayed shut since March 13, 2020), those pictures remain undeveloped. At least it was cheap!
:( that's painful, if you have a digital camera it might be an interesting performance test to see how the lens performs on a digital sensor vs film.
Fantastic review and great channel I been following you for a very long time. 1990s lens hahaha they came out with lens in the 70s. Minolta was heavily focused making Alpha lenses. 50 bucks for that lens is utterly ridiculous. It usually sells for 20 something on usedphotopro. I have two versions of that lens AF for the Minolta A mount and one of them I got from a thrift shop 😂. Worlds 50mm softest lens.
I go by the average I see it online for. Prices are always changing and EBay is the biggest vintage lens seller market at this point. Good to know you can get it cheaper. Better value for sure!
Can you do a Video on how you did the Historypart of you Video 2:07
I hope some day you do a little about your effects.
I love the Minolta Rokkor 58mm f1.2 at f2. Lovely bokeh and rendering. Unfortunately a iittle pricey nowadays.
Ya…it’s still good value if you can spare it. Really great lens
What did you use to shoot the slow motion falling snow?
Excellent vid. I have a soft spot for Minolta, as the X700 was a big purchase or me in ‘85. The 50mm F2 kit lens it came with is now living on my Fuji mirrorless. I’ve got a few other lenses including the Fuji kit, but the Minolta looks so freakin’ good on it.
I'm considering a little fuji upgrade for my pocket shooter, the Sii is getting a little long in the tooth and I have the S1H....the Fuji I would use entirely with my SLR lenses. you're right though, these lenses look SO good on those cameras :)
Minolta lenses have so nice color rendetiton in compare with Pentax an KMZ lenses...and any other vintage lenses. But it depends what look do you want...the MCII lenses have so much character and the MDIII are really clean lenses.
Nicely said mate! Thanks!
@@MarkHoltze Thanks! I love these lenses...if you will need any help with the Minolta MCII series I have whole set from 24mm to 135mm and can provide you with some footage or sample photos if you need. :)
Your production quality is off the charts again, wow! Still especially compared to the Meyer lenses, this one has less three-dimensional rendering and does not impress me too much. Thankfully that means I dont need another adapter and can stick to my Oreston 1.8 (pentacon) ;)
the Meyer is amazing lens, so interesting. It's nice to be able to compare the shots between the two to see how different they are.
People make too much about which lens is better, for the most part any decent lens will work for you, the real skill lice in the composition timing plays a huge roll. The key is practice, not watching endless TH-cam videos about which lens is better.
I’ve said exactly what you said a million times. Shoot what works, I do these to give people an idea who search for them what to expect. My main point in this video is not to compare, but feature. If a comparison is made it’s for context only.
The quality of your videos is amazing. I'm not an expert in the subject, but I'm enjoying every single video. They are pleasing to the eye, informative, funny and a font of inspiration. Keep it up your great work please! Greetings from Italy.
thanks mate!
Men I'm using vintage lent and I can say I t is to addicted.
I've played with this lens back in the day, and I'm pretty sure it's the same optical formula like earlier MC variant which I still own, just with added features, better coating and slightly different design...
Same design, just multi coating added and different build material in some areas I THINK. I was reading up a lot on the variants.
In addition to the aperture ring, some internal parts of the New MD lenses are also plastic. All the 50mm New MD (Or "plain MD" or "MDIII") lenses are quite great, possibly the best being the f/1.4.
wonder how much weight/cost it saved them.
@@MarkHoltze I guess it would have added up. However, it barely affects their build quality... As all Minolta lenses do, these feel really good too despite having like 3 platic parts instead of 2.
@Mark Holtze Took one apart, the front bezel, appature ring and focus ring is hard plastic. The rest is metal, however the the lens groups are held together by plastic that cannot be disassembled for cleaning, so if there's fungus in-between then the whole lens is toast.
@@mumtazkhan9042 The fungus could still be killed with UV light though, right?
I own the MD iii 50mm in 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0
The 1.7 seems like a decidedly lower quality lens and I really don't like how it looks.
The 1.4 I just the most and isn't bad (I use it mostly on film- I still prefer my Canon nFD 50mm 1.4 but I like my XG-M film body)
The 2.0 is imho the best rendering of the lenses but the weight savings are so minimal that I usually just carry the 1.4 with me.