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- Steven Aunan
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I am pleasantly surprised by the Minolta MD 45mm f/2 that I got at KEH for $65, so I decided to compare it to the RF 45mm f/1.2 that cost me $470. First, the Minolta is tiny.
Second, although the Minolta is old school tech from 1978, it actually competes pretty well in sharpness at apertures above f/4. The corners are never as sharp as the Canon, but the center is pretty damn close at almost every aperture. I'm not going to spam the forum, so here's a sample at f/5.6. Canon on top, Minolta on bottom.
And third, when I took them both out along the river road today, using the Minolta was a nicer experience and I think I like the results better, too. Here are two shots at f/8. Canon on top, Minolta on bottom. It was quite windy, so I changed lenses in the car and the exposures aren't exactly the same.
And here are two shots at f/2, again Canon on top. Again, except for the f-stop I did not duplicate the settings (although they were pretty close).
Conclusion: I'm certainly not going to get rid of the RF 1.2, but the more experience I get with the older lenses the better I like them. I'll leave you with this image from the Minolta at f/2. The wind was kicking pretty good at this location, so I couldn't duplicate this shot with the Canon.
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Second, although the Minolta is old school tech from 1978, it actually competes pretty well in sharpness at apertures above f/4. The corners are never as sharp as the Canon, but the center is pretty damn close at almost every aperture. I'm not going to spam the forum, so here's a sample at f/5.6. Canon on top, Minolta on bottom.
- Join to view EXIF data.
- Join to view EXIF data.
And third, when I took them both out along the river road today, using the Minolta was a nicer experience and I think I like the results better, too. Here are two shots at f/8. Canon on top, Minolta on bottom. It was quite windy, so I changed lenses in the car and the exposures aren't exactly the same.
- Join to view EXIF data.
- Join to view EXIF data.
And here are two shots at f/2, again Canon on top. Again, except for the f-stop I did not duplicate the settings (although they were pretty close).
- Join to view EXIF data.
- Join to view EXIF data.
Conclusion: I'm certainly not going to get rid of the RF 1.2, but the more experience I get with the older lenses the better I like them. I'll leave you with this image from the Minolta at f/2. The wind was kicking pretty good at this location, so I couldn't duplicate this shot with the Canon.
- Join to view EXIF data.
