Another 4 24mm Lenses Compared to Minolta MD 24 f/2.8 Vintage Battle (SoundFix)
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- oday’s episode of Cheap Shots: 4 MORE 24mm lenses examined. Shot on a Sony A7II full frame camera.
If you haven’t watched it, check it out my other comparison video where we looked at a super takumar 24mm f/3.5, a tx-mount vivitar made by Tokina, the well-regarded Olympus OM 24 f/2.8 and the lens that many felt really won that battle - the Minolta MD 24mm f/2.8.
For continuity, I’m going to compare 4 new vintage lenses to that same Minolta that really bested the competition last year. These are all less expensive than the Minolta 24mm f/2.8.
The MD 24 f/2.8 that’s so well regarded, and purported to be a Leica design. But can a vintage zoom compare to a vintage prime? Especially an older zoom that goes down to 24mm? We will see. A little about this little gem. It’s the Minolta MD 24-35mm F/3.5. Vintage collectors are well aware of the 24-50mm Minolta wide-angle zoom, which is highly regarded and covers a very useful focal length on both full-frame and APS-C. But this one is a little less known. While it doesn’t cover quite as large a focal range, it’s slightly faster at a constant F3.5 and it’s small.
The next lens is a CPC Phase 2 lens. Some believe CPC was a Pentax white-labelled brand. If you know this len’s history, please let me know in the comments!
Next is a Komine lens made for Vivitar. There are two versions of this lens out there, one made by Kiron and the other by Komine.
And finally, the Sigma Super-wide II 24mm F/2.8. Well, I love this lens, and even more, I love it’s re-branded sibling - the Quantaray 24mm f/2.8. That’s right, the Quantaray 24 is the same as the Sigma, and can often be found even cheaper.
First off, I’m BLOWN AWAY by the performance of the Minolta Zoom lens at the wide end. It may not be quite as good as the prime, but you’d have an incredibly hard time telling the difference in a real world setting.
The CPC Phase 2 - well, I’m not sure if this is a Pentax lens or not, but it’s compact, sharp in the center from wide open, and I think just a dandy lens if you come across one at a good price. The extreme corners are mush wide open, but critically important - this lens really sharpens up as you stop it down
The Vivitar provides a trick that none of these others can . . . it opens up to F2. Whether it’s usable at that aperture or not is barely debatable. It’s soft, and unless you’re going for a really cool, dreamy context to your composition, you won’t shoot wide open.
Does the Minolta Prime hold up as the top performing lens of the 8 I’ve tested? Well, it’s sharp to the corners, even wide open. It deals with flare and glare well, and it has a pleasing rendering with good contrast and color.
But honestly, if I could keep just one, I have to say, I give the nod to . . .
The Quantaray or Sigma Super-wide II. This lens is just a beast, and even better in manual focus than I thought it would be. It’s sharp corner-to-corner, even wide open. Gives the Minolta a run for its money, and honestly is a toss-up in that respect. The Quantaray seems warmer than the Sigma to my eye, but it’s still got the one most amazing aspect to both lenses - the close focus capabilities. That’s something these other lenses just can’t touch, and it’s like having a whole other lens in your bag, as the others simply can’t do what this lens can. So in addition to being one of the best lenses in terms of sharpness and character, its macro capabilities take it over the top.
I’d love to try some Nikkors - that’s primarily what I collect, but I simply haven’t come across any in my travels. I hear the Canon FDs are great too. But hey, who says we can’t have an Episode 3? Here’s my ranking:
Quantaray / Sigma Super-Wide II
Minolta MD 24mm F/2.8
Olympus OM 24mm F/2.8
Minolta 24-35mm F/3.5
Vivitar TX Mount (Tokina made) 24mm F/2.8
CPC Phase 2 24mm F/2.8
Vivitar (Komine) 24mm F/2
Super-Takumar 24mm F/3.5
Just received the 24-35 Minolta. Not disappointed at all, works very well. Thank you for your time and video.
So glad you like it! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Real world experiences are what it’s all about!
Nice video! I was looking for a wide to my Olympuses, and bought the Sigma for 30€ in a thrift shop. I was pleasantly surprised, and when another, with FD mount turned up for 20€, I bought that one too. Cool to see that you like them that much! It would be interesting to compare it with FD and Nikkor though, as you say.
Glad it was helpful . . . I've got the Nikkor, and eyes are open for the Canon :) I detect a Canon, Minolta, Nikkor, Sigma showdown in the future!
I found a good deal on a Sigma Super Wide today and purchased it before watching this video. I am now really excited to review this lens when it arrives. I’m planning on using it on my Minoltas and Sony Digital cameras
I bought quantaray based on this video. It was well worth it. It always produces amazing looking photos. Thank you for making this video.
Yay! I read the first line and was so afraid. They are usually rebranded Sigmas and Tamrons. The "Tech-10" line is great. Some excellent choices, the 24mm being my fav. but the 50mm macro, 90mm macro and 70-300 are winners!
It's the Rokkor MC lenses that were made during the Leica partnership. The MD lenses were made after the partnership ended and have different coatings
I have had the phase 2 in my backpack since the early 90s still works great takes fine photos.
So nice, I hadn’t heard of them much, but a cool sleeper b
I have a Quantaray 75-300 for EF Canon. I found a Quantaray 24mm EF that will be in my hands by August 15, 2022. Your video confirms that I made a good choice. I can't wait to use my speed booster with it. It should open to f/2. I have a little EOS-M camera.
Nice, congrats! Let us know how it works with the booster… how’s the 75-300? Feel like that was a Tamron clone, but not sure. May have one around awaiting a video comparing cheap zooms!
@@cheapshotslensreviewsandph3559 The 75-300 with the booster is f/2.8-f/4. I get some real good separation with it .
The Sigma Super Wide II is insane man. I literally got it today (F mount version) and I couldn't be happier. It's actually insane how few people know about it as well, especi was ially the F mount version. It's really hard to find cheap vintage wide angle lenses for Nikon so when I saw it listed for sale I was livid.
So glad and hope the review helped your decision, or at least confirmed your own experience!!
Thank you! I can’t seem to find the Quantaray (MD) anywhere, except for one that has 58 thread instead of 52. Do you think it would perform similarly since they’re the same brand?
Came across this review today. I've owned the Sigma Super Wide II for Nikon AF since I bought it new in 1990. Took many photos with it over all those years both on film and digital. Still works great.
I tested my three vintage 24mm lenses to see which was the sharpest and clearest, using my Sony A7Rii.
This is how they came out. The Olympus was way clearer than the rest.
1) Olympus OM-System H.Zuiko Auto-W 24mm f2.8
2) Canon FD-N 24mm, f2.8
3) Asahi Super Multi Coated Takumar 24mm f3.5
The same Sigma won a very comprehensive comparison of 2.8/24mm primes from a German Photo Journal at that time, including all the one from the main camera brands.
The two features of CPC lenses I can find now are the same as my understanding from 30 years ago. They were made by Pentax, branded for sale by CPC, and they are single, not multi-coated, unlike all Pentax lenses. They may be less costly optical designs and more lightly built, but they are usually pretty decent optically.
That’s great info Randall! This lens was no slouch for sure, and even in the backlit scene didn’t flare too badly! For $10 it was an absolute bargain and I’m keeping my eye out for more of them!
I have the Canon FDn 24mm 2.8 which are a very good Lens. The Minolta 24mm 2.8 are the same Lens design as the (Leica) Leitz Elmarit-R 24mm 2.8, the only difference are the coating and the housing ! The Lens design was made by Minolta, so maybe it will be easier for some to understand why Sony can make so excellent Lenses today, remember Sony bought Minolta !
This Quantaray lens is veeeery good. Never heard of such a name. I usually don't like it when lenses create vignetting, because I prefer to add the vignette myself later (if required), but this lens has an almost artistic vignette. So one could even leave it as default. It is interesting to watch such comparisons, but unfortunately there is always one problem in all such tests :) The fact is that lenses often differ from each other. Even your lenses are differ - some of them has good left corners, some the opposite. And the reason is not only in the "time" that battered these lenses, but also because even in those days quality control was not as severe as it's today. Probably due to the fact that there were no powerful computers and large screens on which people could do pixel hunting. Usually people printed photos on relatively small paper sizes. And even when they printed in magazines, they also did not closely follow the special sharpness in the corners of the image. I can't say 100% because at that time I was just born (I'm 30), but it just seems to me that everything was easier with this before. And also when we look at images in some old magazines or books, all these National Geographic and others - the photos there are very high quality, no doubt, but being printed on paper - it is already difficult to see what the original image was like. As if we could receive the negatives and develop them. Therefore, the lenses are different. And in order for the test to be fair, a person needs to try at least 3-4 copies of each model and choose the sharpest of them - and compare only the best ones.
But nevertheless - Quantaray is a very interesting lens. I watched the video and now I have a desire to check the prices on the local Internet market. We have all sorts of lenses from the past at attractive prices. (+/- when dealers don't get bold, ha ha). But 24-35 zoom is hard to find here too :( Rare lens, indeed. Although, I must say that this lens has some strange yellowish tint. On the other hand, other lenses have shown a cold image, which is similar to the automatic white balance. Unless, of course, you used a gray card. That means every time you have to deal with it in post-processing. However, if the quality and sharpness of the image are high, these sacrifices can be tolerated. All the same, each image needs to be processed, after all. Damn, I said a lot again and made a super long message. Sorry... P.S. That blue building in the first examples - i don't get it. Why its left corner side is so bended? Due to lense distortions? Do these lenses really have THAT huge distortion??? I hope that's just how this building was built. Oh, and one more note: 720p video resolution?? That's pretty small to see the fairness of the test :)
Thanks Max! The Quantaray brand was a private-label sold at Ritz Camera Shops here in the US through the mid 2000's. They re-branded other lenses, some good, some bad. This particular lens is their version of the Cult, renowned Sigma Superwide II lens - which some say was a Leica design.
Re - the tint, all these are RAW, so I"m trying to capture any tint from the lens itself . . .
The blue building is actually an historic mill in my part of NJ - Granted, historic buildings in the US are only a couple of hundred years old, but yep - that bend is just the old mill! Thanks for viewing, I've got another video uploading at the moment!
Found it. I took a screenshot of the local market page and was thinking of inserting a direct link to the image hosting in this post, but RUclips automatically deletes the comment if there are links to other web pages. As usual - this notorious security. Anyway - If we translate the exchange rate, it will be about $40. But it is a rare lens, indeed. I had to scroll through several pages of results to find it. But it looks great. All inscriptions on the front lens are made in green. Quite unusual and interesting. Used to seeing white inscriptions. Of course, sometimes there are colored inserts - like the same Minolta Rokkor in orange. By the way, in the rest of the world this lens was not called "Rokkor". So it was called only for export to the USA. But you probably know this :) And the X version is also rare enough, for some reason...
thank you for the info!
I have a soviet Zenit camera with a M42 lens mount and I just got a Sigma 24mm f2.8 m42 lens. But sadly when I tried to put the Sigma m42 lens on the Zenit mount it doesnt focus in any range. I also tried the Sigma m42 lens in my Sony A5100 with the adapter and It also wont focus in any range. I cant physically see anything wrong with the Sigma m42 lens. The focus barrel is moving and aperture blades are working. Its kinda dirty but not to the point that I cant see through the glass. What could be the problem here?
edit: theres a label on the lens that say FOR PRAKTICA. but as far as I know all PRAKTICA mounts are just M42. Are there different kinds of M42 screw mounts?
Hmm a couple of things to unpack here. First to address, the sigma on your m42 is likely the older model that came before the Superwide II in the video… but still should work fine via adapter on both the cameras you tried. If it doesn’t focus despite the barrel moving, my guess is that one of the elements is missing or was put back in wrong. If memory serves, those older sigmas were easy to unscrew without a tool. Anyone else have any suggestions for Erwin?
Thanks so much! Did you ever do that phase 3??
Not yet! But I’ve got my hands on the Canon FD so far and will get one out that includes that, the Minolta and hopefully Nikon!
I'm watching a Sigma and a Minolta from the video but I'm hesitant. The Nikon and Canon are intriguing also!
Found a sigma super wide 2 MF in minolta md mount form for only 30 bucks and I really hope mine performs like yours. Ty so much for the data. I love my 50mm f1.4 Rokkor-X and when I found something else to use my MD to NEX adapter i leapt at it. 24's are increasing in price and even the Rokkors are out of mg budget now
Very nice! Let us know… I’ve had a few through the years and they’ve all been great!
Would the minolta AF 24mm 2.8 from the 80s be a vintage lense by now ?
It’s funny but for some reason those don’t have the value of the manual focus ones… I haven’t tried them personally. But I would think 40 years is pretty vintage, lol. Can’t believe the 80’s were that long ago…
Very nice job, thank you.
What is the difference between a Minolta 24mm f2.8 and Miranda 24mm f2.8 lens? Is Miranda 2.8 good?
I think the Miranda is probably about as good as some of the other third party lenses. I don’t think it was “made” by Miranda, probably as good as the CPC. Doubt it would be a bad lens. But I’d assume the Minolta is a stronger performer.
I'd to see a comparison between the Minolta 24-35/3.5 and the Pentax SMC-M 24-35/3.5
If I ever get my hands on the Pentax, for sure!
I got the Quantaray 24mm f/2.8 in the mail today (8/8/2022). On the Viltrox booster it is 17mm f/2 according to rawtherapee.
Awesome Tony! You'll have to let us know how it performs on that speed booster!!
@@cheapshotslensreviewsandph3559 it works good
Thanx for the quantaray insight, but cannot find your version anywere... i can find other similar ones... my guess is that they arent as well built..
have you tryed other versions of the quantaray 28mm f2.8?
Yes! They are all sigma Superwides, I’m quite sure. I’ve tried at least 3 different manual focus, and even a couple of auto focus and they’re all great! Enjoy!! Don’t let the “Cheap” price hold you back!
@@cheapshotslensreviewsandph3559 thanx for the fast response!
i will
i was going to buy a vivitar close focus.. now im not that sure
@@txusicB none of them are “bad” but if I had to pay full price, not sure that’s the direction I would go either! Glad the video was some help…
Still issues with the sound.
Nikkor 24mm f2.8 SIC version...
I’m on the lookout. Just snagged the Canon FD at a good price… if I can get the Nikkor I’m all over it. The 20 f3.5 and 28 f2.8 (both AIS) are my go-to lenses at their focal lengths.