price, sharpness, color, AF speed

none

This was my 3rd prime lens for my Maxxum. It was cheap on ebay and I wanted a wide angle lens to go with my 50mm f/1.7. The 28mm f/2 is reported to be better, but at 3-4 times the price. I am extremely happy with this lens. It is quite sharp at f/4 and slower and the color is great. Flare and vignetting are reported to be noticable with the built in hood, but I use a step up ring and a larger screw in type metal hood and I have no problems. I highly recommend this lens!

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Maxxum primes and zooms, Sigma and Tamron zooms, Pentax MF system

Build quality. Little distortion. Sharp wide open.

Not as sharp as Minolta AF 50/1.7 when stoped down. Poor lens hood.

Reasonably fast. Nice build but not as sharp as I have expected. Sharp wide open. Sharper than Minolta AF 50/1.7 from f/2.8 to f/4.5. Equal at f/5.6 and not as sharp as Minolta AF 50/1.7 from f/6.3 to f/22.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list.

Small, (fairly) fast, sharp, really light-weight and fast focusing. Reasonably priced. A great travelling lens! Good value for the money.

Glossy, plastic-notched focusing ring quite narrow, and sometimes a little slippery. Not really crazy about the built-in lens hood (for filter reasons), but you can always use an external one. Takes 49mm filters.

Nice little lens. My favorite prime lens, next to the 50. Here's why....

Customer Service

Not for this lens.

Similar Products Used:

50mm f/1.4 and 1.7

Good results overall
Lighweight

Poor at extreme apertures

Like most Japanese lenses, the Minolta 28 is poor fully open, and exhibits noticeable vignetting at the edges of the frame. Stopping down produces a better result, and between f/4.5 and f/16 the lens gives really nice sharp images. At f/22 diffraction comes in to produce a soft result.
The lens is very small and lightweight, and balances well on the camera (a 9000AF).
I have recently changed systems to Leica-R and was able to compare the Minolta to the Leica-R 28mm f/2.8. As expected, the Minolta is outperformed; at f/8 it is softer than the Leica at f/2.8 at the edges of the frame!
However, for the money, the Minolta gives good results and is recommended if you are after a good quality wide angle lens.

Customer Service

not tried

Similar Products Used:

Leica-R 28mm f/2.8

Small, lightweight.
AF is fast.

None.

Can't complain on image quality. Focuses fast and accurate.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar 28mm f2.8 Minolta MD