Minolta Lenses User manual

FISHEYE


      The fisheye lens is normally used for special-
ized purposes and unusual special effects in adver-
tising  ; cot-nmercial, scientific, surveillance, mete-
orclogic and astronomic photography. In the hands
of a skillful photographer, the fisheye lens is a tool
of unique capability.  lt provides the luxury of com-
plete  f reedom, plus the valued flexibility of being
able to compose, meter and create as with any
other Minolta interchangeable lens. There are two
fisheye lenses: the dramatic 7.5mm t/4 with 23mm-
diameter 1B0o circular image; and the 16mm
t/2.8, one of the fastest fisheye ever made, which
gives a diagonal angle of view of 1B0o and delivers
an image that fills the entire frame-corner-to-
corner-with curvilinear.images  instead of the
fisheye circle in the center of the frame Both of
these special lenses give optimum sharpness   f rom
center to edges, thanks to the use of extremely
high- and low-index optical glasses.





16mm f/2.8



        7.5mm l/4 MD FIS




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WIDEANGLE

     The wideangle lenses are especially pre-                   for advertising or editorial photography. The most
ferred for photography that must be done at close              important advantage of wideangle lenses is their
quarters, say, in a room fulL of people, or for archi-                  ability to take in more of a scene at the same dis-
tectural pictures, when there is a limited choice                tance as a normal lens. Overall, the short focal
of vantage points. They are also the frequent choice             length of wideangle lenses gives them considerable
for close-in sports photography and in children                depth of field even at large apertures or short dis-
or animal photography, where movement may be              tances. In the Minolta complement of wideangle
hardto-follow, or for documentary photography                  lenses, the photographer has a wide and highly
where  it is important to establish the relationship                 creative choice. There are excellent choices
of many components to a total scene. Wideangle                 for wideangle photography requiring minimal dis-
lenses are also popular for creating special effects                tortion but exaggerated perspective or dramatic
                                                                              effects, with all lenses giving moderately wide to
                                                              "normal " perspective wh ile    i ncl ud ing considerably
                                                 more of the scene with more inherent depth of field.




                                 35mm l/2.8 MD



  35mm t/1.8 MD


                                                                                      17mm t/4MD

STANDARD

     The Minolta camera you buy will probably
come equipped with a "standard" or "normal" lens,
which traditionally has a focal length that is ideal
for most general photographic purposes. The
standard lens is especially suitable for available-
light photography indoors and for other low-illumi-
nation situations because of the large maximum
aperture, and thus the substantial light gathering
properties. The area of coverage of the standard
lens is not as great as a wideangle lens, nor will
distant subjects appear as large or close as they
do when photographed with a telephoto lens The
working photographer has a choice of four different
standard lenses. In the 50mm focal length, there
is af /1.2,t/1 4 and   f /1.7 maximum aperture
Minolta also makes a 45m m  f /2lens, one of the
lightest and easiest to handle of all lenses All of
these lenses are styled with waffle-pattern rubber
focusing grips, and have automatic iris diaphragms
and meter-coupling lug rings.


     45mm t/2 MD


                                 SOmm t/1 .7 MD
  Somm t/1.2 MD





       SOmm t/1 .4 MD

TELEPHOTO


                                                                        30Omm t/4.5 MD       Telephoto lenses are used to get you optical-
ly "closer" to inaccessible subjects, and to modify
perspectives for esthetic and practical purposes.
Short telephoto lenses are especially favored for
candid and portrait photography. Long telephotos,
say, from 200 to 500mm, are the choice for
sports, nature or human-interest photography,
and for photographing unapproachable sub-
jects such as wild animals. The telephoto lenses
most often used are the B5mm, 100mm, and
135mm focal lengths, all of which allow the
photographer  to fill the frame with the subject
at a greater{han-normal working distance                                            mm f/2.8 MD
without risking exaggerated perspective.
These lenses are also very fast-t/1.7 and
I/2Ior the B5mm,I/2.5 for the 100mm                                                                                   4OOmm  f /5.6 MD APOand both t/2.8 andf /3.5 for the 135mm.
Minolta also makes a 200mmf /2.8 and
 f /4 and 300mm t/4.5 and   f /5,6. The
400mm t/5.6 Apo lens and 600mm   f /6.3
Apo lens are extremely lightweight,
compact lenses, and naturals for sports,
news, wild.life and other specialized photo-
graphy that requires sharpest definition.
These lenses use a special crystalline                                                                   13                                                                                                                             t/2.8 Mfluorite element to control virtually the
entire spectrum of light to minimize the
chromatic aberration and deliver an extra-
ordinarily sharp image.





                                                                                                                                                     t/2.5 MD





                                                     f/6.3 MD APO
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MIRROR-TYPE


     A different kind of teleohoto lens is the                   Minolta lens weighs only 1lb. S/aoz. (6009) and is
catadioptric design, that folds the light path via high-              hardly larger than a conventional medium telephoto
quality-optical mirrors in combination with conven-                lens, The B00mm t/B RF also features a compact
tional refractive lens elements. Minolta makes four                size for such a long focal length, which contributes
of these-the 250m m t/5.6 RF, 500mm f/B RF,                   to convenient handling portability. The 1600mm
B00mm f/B RF and '1600mm f/1 1 RF-and each                t/11 RF is the longest Minolta lens of all, providing
is outstanding  in terms of fantastic reach and                 phenomenal telephoto capabilities. All of the mirror-
a surprisingly lightweight design. These super tele-              type lenses have built-in filters that are rear-mounted
photo lenses are indispensable for sports, nature                      for additional versatility. With the use of the
and landscape photography. The 250mm f/5.6 RF                        built-in ND (Neutral Density)  filter, for instance,
isthe world's first reflex-type medium telephoto lens,                       the amount of light passing through each
a beauty to handle. The 500m mI/B RF is one of the                          lens may be reduced.
smallest, lightest of its focal length available to the
photographer today, and makes long-telephoto
photography a hand-held situation. This superb




                                                                           l6OOmm l/11 RF



  SOOmm t/8 RF




  SOOmm  f /8 RF





                                  m f/5.6 RF

zooM

      The zoom lens continues to grow in popu-
larity among all kinds of photographers. The advan-
tages of using a zoom are incomparable: excep-
tional speed in covering fast action; continuously
variable focal lengths; an instantly variable field of
view; fast and proper framing of a subject; tremen-
dous optical mobility; compactness and light weight.
Most pfofessionals agree that no other kind of lens
is quite as versatile or convenient as a zoom. And
now there are more Minolta Zoom lenses than
ever before, with a range of coverage from
24mm to 500mm. The 24-5Omm t/4 is the only
wideangle lens which provides a zoom ratio of over
two times magnification now available from a major
optical manufacturer. The 35-70mmf /3.5 Zoom has
similar handling advantages, a light weight, as well
as razor sharp optics. Like the 24-5Omm zoom,
 it employs the rnverted-telephoto-type optical
design. A very wide and interesting focal length
range is the 50-135mm  f /3.5 Zoom, which pro-
vides one-hand operation and is valuable for
general photography,  portraits, journalism and
sports photog raphy. The 7 5-200m m  I /4 .5
Zoom is one of the most popular zooms,
usefulfor all kinds of general photography A good
buy is the 100-200mm I/5.6 Zoom, which offers
speed in covering fast action and has multiple
uses for photojournalism Lgrgest of the Zoom
lenses is the 100-500mmI/8, which is surprisingly
lightweight and compact despite its impressive
focal range.
   50-135mm
f/3.5 MD ZOOM
                                                                                                                       l OO- 2OOmm
                                                       r/5.6 MD ZOOM





    75-2OOmm f/4.5 MDZOOM                    f/8 MD ZOOM
                                                     17

MACRO

     The world of close-up photography and
photomacrography is exciting even for the begin-
ning photographer, simply because the common-
place becomes extraordinary through magniftca-
tion. Simple objects such as stamps or coins
mechanical obtects such as the movement and
gears of a wristwatch, insects, plants much more'
take on dimensions not always visible to the human
eye Best of all, the world of close-up and photo-
macrography provides a strmulating challenge for
any photographer wishing to test hts techniques
and imagination. Close-up photography requtres
special equipment but excellent results are not
difficult to achieve since all adlustments for correct
exposure on Minolta single-lens-reflex cameras are                                              ,ott
completely automatic Minolta makes three speclal
 lenses for close-up photography The 5Omm
 t/3.5 Macroand 100mm   f /4Macro combine
 ease-of-operation with superior optics and versa-
 tility The 50mm Macro produces critically sharp
 pictures at any distance between 23Omm and
 infinity without attachments and provides magnifi-
 cations up to one-half life-size unaided The
 lOOmm Macro produces sharp photos at any dts-
 tance between 450mm and infinity. Both lenses are
 also ideally suited for standard photography The
 lOOmm I/4 Auto Bellows is designed to provide
 completely automatic lens diaphragm functions
 permitting stop-down readings with through-the-
 lens metering systems

                                          LIFE SIZE ADAPTEB  100mm t/4 MD MACFO


 LIFE SIZE ADAPTER

                                                                                                                                                              .*' ,'n'




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VFC

                                                                        Minolta is the only company to make a vari-
                                                                   able field curvature (VFC) lens. The 24mm t/2.8
                                             VFC lens creates sharp photos with excellent
                                                       image quality even if distances from center and
                                                       edges of objects to the film plane are too different
                                                                 to be covered by depth of field (see photo). lts field
                                                                        of sharp focus can be varied continuously  at will
                                                         from concave through flat to convex by moving
                                                             a control ring on the lens barrel. The VFC lens is
                                                                      aberrationally corrected to render a flat subject in
                                                                 the lens field sharp at the median setting. Further-
                                                        more, it is designed to allow varying the curvature
                                                                            of field so that rounded, recessed, or other three-
                                                              dimensional subjects can be sharply focused with-
                                                                 out relying solely upon depth of field





lf distances from center and edges of objects to thdfilm
plane are too different to be covered by depth of field
(particularly at close range and/or large apertures), sharp                                                                   I/2.8 MD VFC
photos having excellent image quality can be obtained
of many subjects by appropriately curving the focusing
field with the VFC lens. Photo at top was taken with the
VFC lens field curved in the "wrong" direction. Photo
above, with the same focus and aperture setting, shows
the result of curving  it to conform to the subject.

SHIFT

     The 35mm   f /2.8 Shift CA lens is the only
lens that combines full-circle shift without rotation,
variable-field-curvature  control, and automatic
diaphragm operation. The advantages of this
combination of features for architectural and
general types of photography are unprecedented.
Vertical shift lets the photographer include more of
a subject without pointing the camera up or down.
This avoids converging verticals (see photo), the
visual ohenomenon with conventional lenses that
makes buildings appear as  if they were falling over
backwards.  lt also eliminates undesirable reflection,
as on paintings or in mirrors, and helps obtain the
necessary uniformity of perspective in panoramic
exposures that are to be joined later. The exclusive
versatility of this lens is unparalleled for unique
effects.





                                                                                         Tilting the ordinary lens up or down to include more of
                                                             an object results in converging subject lines in the picture
                                                                                             (top); the 35mm f/2.8 Shift CA lens's exclusive shift
                                                            mechanism corrects this (above). This soecial lens also
                                                   f/2.8 SHrFT CA                 features VFC control and auto diaphragm for unique
                                                                                                 versatility, as well as lateral or diagonal shift for further
                                                                               visual advantages.





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VARISOFT


                                                         The 85mm t/2.8 Varisoft lens is the perfect
                                                                             portrait and general use lens, the first 35mm SLR
                                                                     lens ever to offer continuous soft-focus adjustment
                                                                         control. The photographer controls the degree of
                                                                        optical softness by turning a softness control ring
                                                        from sharp focus to soft focus, thus altering the
                                                                   spherical aberration of the lens to create soft-focus
                                                                              effects. These effects for portraits or other photo-
                                                            graphic situations are both distinctive and unfail-
                                                                        ingly appealing. Another important feature of this
                                                                           lens, especially for photographers working indoors
                                                                   with strobe, is that the consecutive softness level
                                                     and aperture can be separately altered at will.





                                                                                                                                                                                                                 .. 1,;rl.bti
Photographs above show the subject at the nortui "0"
setting and the maximum "3" setting. The softness of the
image can be continuously and steplessly altered from
"0" to "3" depending on the subiect and the objective of                                                                      l/2.8 VARTSOFT
your photography.

LENS ACCESSORIES                 ANGLE OF VIEW

MINOLTA LENS/MONOCU LAR CONVERTER
This special accessory, when attached to standard
or telephoto Minolta SLR interchangeable  lenses,
converts them into quality spotting scopes and
telescopes, which are hand-held in the normal
manner of a telescope. Used with macro lenses,
bellows or other close-up accessories, the converter                         7.5mm                 16mm
provides highly-magnified views of small subjects.
Attachment and operation are done with ease.
MINOLTA 2X TELE CONVERTER 2OO.L
This sophisticated optical accessory  is designed to
double the effective focal length of Minolta lenses
of 200mm focal length or longer without deterio-
rating lens sharpness.  lt can also be used with focal
lengths down to B5mm when their apertures are
closed down one or two stops.





2X TELE CONVEBTER 2OO-L





                                                              200mm                4OOmm




                         LENS/MONOCULAR
                         CONVERTER


                                                                                         16OOmm
                                                  These photographs of the same subject illustrate the
                                                                  capability of each particular lens in capturing the mood
                                                     and the detail of an identical scene. Most 35mm
                                             SLR photographers carry several lenses: a wideangle,
                                                        a standard and a telephoto, for example. to give
                            www.butkus.usthem the capability of achieving markedly different                                                                      results when shooting from the same location.