CycleUserI translated some evaluation articles about some cheap manul lens such as the Minolta MD 35-70 mm F3.5 Marco. Then some guys were asking for more sample photos, which is a huge challenge to me.
I am still just a newbie and know few about photography, so I was afraid to mislead the viewers.
But then I figured out that my photos had been so poor that no one could possible get mislead at all.
Then I took up my Minolta MD 35-70 mm F3.5 Marco with a Sony A7R2 and took some photos here.
After that, I separately did the same to SMC Pentax-M 75-150mm F4 and SMC Pentax-M 135mm F3.5.
These posts were allin Chinese, that might be difficult for guys not using Chinese to view. So I decide to assemble the three posts to this one here as an English version.
Specs and Cost
The camera body I used is Sony A7RM2. The lenses are mounted to the camera body with the Techart LM-EA7 Autofocus Adapter, which contains a autofocus motor and can transmount almost all Leica M-Mount manul lenses to autofocus lenses on Sony A7 series camera, or any other Sony E-Mount camera with phase detection auto focus function (PDAF).
Techart is a company from China, as far as I know, they invent this adapter by themselves. In fact, there are more other manul or even auto lenses can be transfered with their adapter than just the native Leica M-Mount lenses. MD/PK/M42/FD/L39/EF/CY/OM and any mount that can be transfered to Leica M-Mount will work.
MD-LM and PK-LM adapters are also needed to transfer these three lenses to the Leica M-Mount. I choose the Laina adapters, also made in China.
| Brand | Lenth | Aperture | Native Mount | Feature | Price in China | Pro | Con | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minolta | 35-70 mm | 3.5 | MD | 1/7-1/4 Marco at 70mm | 100$ | Sharp,Useful Marco | Aperture is small, the lens' body feels plastic | Daily use |
| Pentax | 75-150 mm | 4 | PK | Metal hook built in | 70$ | Constant aperture | Aperture is small,purple fringe is huge with widely opened aperture | Cheap lens for shooting birds |
| Pentax | 135 mm | 3.5 | PK | Metal hook built in | 50$ | Small, and purple fringe can hardly be seen even with widely opened aperture | Aperture is small | A cheap choice for portrait |
Sample Photos
Minolta MD 35-70 mm F3.5 Marco
Photos below were all taken at Beijing Zoo, with F3.5 aperture at 70mm.
SMC Pentax-M 75-150mm F4
Photos below were all taken at Beijing Zoo, with F4 aperture at 150mm.
SMC Pentax-M 135mm F3.5
Photos below, besides the last one, were all taken at Beijing Zoo, with F3.5 aperture at 135mm. The last one was taken at the east gate of the Hospital of Peking University, also with F3.5 aperture at 135mm, and generated from two photos with different settings.
