The Minolta 28mm f/2.8 MD lens

The Minolta 28mm MD is an underrated f/2.8 prime lens that I’ve owned for about 3 years now. I’m a big fan of the 40mm field of view on full frame (28mm on APSC is about the same). At the time I didn’t want to spend the money on buying the 27mm Fuji for my old XT1 and I just happened to come across the Minolta 28mm in a bargain bin for about $35. The barrel was a little dirty when I got it but nothing a good clean couldn’t fix. There was also a little dust in the lens when you look closely but, again, nothing that has affected any images.

I ordered a K&F adapter, MD lens to Fuji body. I thought the K&F adapter I already had for my Nikon lenses was a good quality one so just stuck with this brand but I’m sure there are other good adapters. These are manual focus only adapters but the Minolta 28mm MD is only manual focus anyway. This does make it a longer lens so this setup with the X-T1 is not that compact although neither would any other mirrorless camera with the adapter on.

I like the contrast of this lens, it produces sharp but not overly contrasty images. I have also been impressed with the colors out of the Minolta lenses. It’s different to my Fuji or Nikon lenses, as is to be expected I guess. Before I saw this lens in the shop I had looked at example images from this lens and the different look of these Minolta’s was something I was after.

One of the other appeals of this lens to me, at the time, was the manual focus only. I’d had some issues with the autofocus on the XT1 with the lens I was using then. I don’t know if it was me doing something wrong or something else. I thought I had turned off half pressing the shutter to focus, but I would press it and the camera would refocus in situations I didn’t want it to. Switching to a manual focus setup meant only I could set the focus and not worry about controls. With my new Minolta lens I was able to work the same way as I did using any manual SLR, just with a display on the back of the camera.

I had used this focal length on on XT1 before using the 18-55mm zoom. I like working with a prime lens so much more, never having to think about setting the focal length, I can think about more important parts of the shoot like lighting, subject position, and directing. The less unnecessary stuff to think about the better. If I’m just taking pictures for enjoyment then I don’t want to be thinking about setting the zoom and if I’m in a paid shoot then there are better things be thinking of.

Like my 18-55m I bought a heavy ND filter for this lens in order to do ICM photography which I was big into at the time, this time going with a Hoya branded filter. This lens has a 49mm filter thread.

Basic facts

So what are the alternative to this lens? If you are like me and are buying a vintage 28mm lens to adapt to your mirrorless camera then you have many options. As far as Minolta lenses are concerned there is a reputation online that the rokkor lenses are superior and they go for a bit more money second hand as a result. They are made of more metal so the build quality will be better, however I am not unhappy with my MD lens in terms of build quality. It is made of more plastic for sure but it feels like it will last just fine, the focus ring moves smoothly, it doesn’t feel flimsy at all. As for image quality I'm really happy with the MD lens, as for the rokkor lenses, I don't have personal experience with them but looking at online examples I'm not sure there is a great difference.

To sum up, I got a prime lens, with a field of view I like, for $35, that takes great black and white photos with a tone and contrast that I like straight out of camera. On top of that the ‘Minolta’ colors that come out of camera are really nice in their own right.

Maybe the Rokkor lenses really are a little better optically but for the price the Minolta 28mm 2.8 MD is a really great lens and is maybe the best value for money I’ve spent of photographic equipment.