Dur\u00ading the sum\u00admer of 2005, I had the chance to find a beau\u00adti\u00adful sam\u00adple of the Minolta 85mm f1.4 G non D \u2013and I was really lucky because by that time Konika-Minolta future was a big mys\u00adtery, the D ver\u00adsion of this lens was unavail\u00adable, as well as other gems from the late Minolta era. I paid about 600$ for it and put it on a shelf, using it exclu\u00adsively for por\u00adtraits at my home studio.<\/p>\n
The fol\u00adlow\u00ading year, Konika-Minolta sold all their assets in the photography(cameras) busi\u00adness to Sony, who didn\u2019t re-brand the 85mm but intro\u00adduced a Carl Zeiss ver\u00adsion instead. Price tagged in the 1400$. I felt good, because the deal I had and because I rented from the Ado\u00adrama Rentals Depart\u00adment (it came in the \u201ckit\u201d along the A900; 24-70f2.8; 70-200f2.8 (and the HVL58 flash) and did a quick test between both lenses. My con\u00adclu\u00adsion was that the Minolta was a lit\u00adtle bit warmer and the Zeiss slightly sharper wide open, and had neu\u00adtral color cast.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t use the 85mm that much, the lens is a lit\u00adtle too big, heavy and I always fear to dam\u00adage it (event pho\u00adtog\u00adra\u00adphy is not good for equip\u00adment cos\u00admet\u00adics\u2026) so I decide to sell it after Christ\u00admas 2009. I got 900$ for it (I can only tell good things about this lens!) Any\u00adway, since I got the A850 I use the Minolta 100 f2.8 Soft Focus as my main \u201cPortrait Lens\u201d<\/p>\n
Last sum\u00admer (2010) Sony intro\u00adduced a \u201cEasy Choice\u201d SAM 85mm f2.8 for only 250$ and, for that price, I choose to give it a try. I bought the first sam\u00adple arriv\u00ading to the Ado\u00adrama store and, after I over\u00adcame the first impres\u00adsion about the plas\u00adtic mount, I start car\u00adry\u00ading it with me to my event jobs. So far, this lit\u00adtle lens gave me an advan\u00adtage, it doesn\u2019t intim\u00adi\u00addate peo\u00adple, the way a big\u00adger lens does. And it is a great com\u00adpan\u00adion to the ZA 24\u201370 f2.8 \u2014 you can hardly find a dif\u00adfer\u00adence in image qual\u00adity between this 2 lenses.<\/p>\n
For a last test, I went to the Ado\u00adrama Rental Depart\u00adment and bor\u00adrow the ZA 85f1.4 for a 15 min\u00adutes non sci\u00aden\u00adtific com\u00adpar\u00adi\u00adson. It is unnec\u00ades\u00adsary to say the Zeiss is big\u00adger, heav\u00adier and over\u00adall con\u00adstruc\u00adtion qual\u00adity is nicer and sturdier.<\/p>\n
But, how about the optics? Falloff on the SAM is notice\u00adable at f2.8, while the Zeiss at f2.8 doesn\u2019t show any issue. The SAM focus closer, and that was a sur\u00adprise, but the Zeiss is cor\u00adrected for Macro and you can notice that also. Another notice\u00adable sur\u00adprise was the fact that the SAM focus faster and it is less noisy than the ZA<\/p>\n
You can see and down\u00adload the sam\u00adples (JPG and ARW) here:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dur\u00ading the sum\u00admer of 2005, I had the chance to find a beau\u00adti\u00adful sam\u00adple of the Minolta 85mm f1.4 G non D \u2013and I was really lucky because by that time Konika-Minolta future was a big mys\u00adtery, the D ver\u00adsion of this lens was unavail\u00adable, as well as other gems from the late Minolta era. … Continue reading ZA 85f1.4 vs SAM 85f2.8<\/span>