Solidly built, tack sharp, distortion is minimal for a zoom and color, contrast and sharpness are excellent.

I agree with others that the Macro feature on the lens at 28mm is not of much use, then again I didn't buy it for that purpose. A good Macro for shooting macros should be a 'macro lens'. I also don't like the weight of the lens but then again the virtues make it worth packing and I'm never without it.

I bought into the Minolta 7000i series body and the older 28 - 85mm lens was my first and is the most widly used lens in my collection. I now use several 9xi bodies and this lens always accompanies me wherever I go on my sunrise, sunset and waterfall shoots.

Customer Service

Have never had a problem with any Minolta body, flash or lens in 10 years of using their products!!! If I could give them a '10' I would!

Similar Products Used:

Tamron, Sigma, Vivitar, Pentax, Olympus

Great sturdy body, metal construction - like a Rolex or Mercedes Brand. Sharp and clear pictures!! Great Macro with sharp contrast and quality - Recommended!! Great price for an outstanding lens Great weight - not heavy at all for me because I prefer heavy lens for coolness!

Macro is at 28mm, not at 85mm. Whereas, 35-105mm has the macro at 105mm. Still, the 28-85mm lens is sharper and better at Macro!! Autofocus moves the front, which makes filters hard to use, but can't blame it for the year it was built. Still a great lens ^_^

I highly recommend the older version with the "MACRO" switch. I have the Minolta AF 28-85mm f3.5-4.5 Macro zoom. I did so many research on this lens and finally I bought it on Ebay for a great price. With this lens, you can take great family pictures and parties, etc. The pictures are sharp, no distortion, clear, and great colors. I highly recommend this lens to any photographer beginner to expert. This is a must lens to have in handy. When I first thought about buying this lens, I read so many good reviews that made me want to get one as soon as possible. I was lucky to buy this at a great price on Ebay used. It was perfect and almost scratch-free. This is a lens that will stay on my Maxxum 700si wherever I go!!!! I have a 35-105mm lens Macro and this lens look very identical in height. Compared to the Autofocus Minolta 35-105mm, this lens takes sharper and clearer pictures. The macro option is also a great advantage. When you set the 28-85mm lens into Macro mode, the quality is sharper and clearer than the 35-105mm. Great lens for a great price. Get them while they last (with MACRO) and while you can.

Customer Service

None needed as of yet.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 50mm AF f/1.7 Minolta 50mm AF f/1.4 Minolta AF 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5

Well made Very nice sharp clear images Great buy at $100

Heavy Hood is limited so Not bad but guard against flare

Bought this lens to see how good or bad a highly rated lens is conpared to a Tamron 28-80 f/4.5-5.6. For a base line I thought that the Tamron wasn't bad, a 3.2. The Minolta is better in terms of color, both neutral but richer, contrast, and sharpness. It also has very litle distortion at ends of range. Feels like a Rolex or Mercedes when used. Yes it is better. It also weighs a lot more. I will use it most of the time because it is so good. When carrying a camera all day to get snaps with friends, may carry the much lighter Tamron. I do have some mild neck problems. If I could I would rate it a 4.5.

Customer Service

Not neede on this lens but graet one time used.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-80 Pentax 28-80

Sharp and almost distortion-free. Solid like a tank. "Macro" function. Pleasing zoom range that handles about 80% of shots with ease. Looks good and works well as a mate for my 70-210 f4. No zoom creep.

Macro only at the 28mm end which is kind of a nuisance. Some people say the lens hood is almost useless. Let me explain why it is the way it is. At 28mm if you use a normal lens hood you will get terrible vignetting. If you like the lens buy a lens hood off a 70-210 f4 (or better still buy the 70-210 f4 lens as well). Some people say that the AF is noisy but considering the age of the lens you should get the focusing drive re-greased and then no more noise. AF isn´t as fast as modern lenses but then it isn´t a modern lens. The zoom extends, which increases the overall length. I can´t think why this is a disadvantage but some people moan. No mid-80s zoom lens that I know of had internal focusing and internal zoom.

This is a review for the older 28-85 f3.5-4.5. An awesome standard zoom. Very solid and sharp. Almost distortion-free. I bought this lens after hearing so many good things about it and not wanting to fork out for an f2.8 lens. This lens spends more time on my camera than all my others. The "macro" function is not really - but it takes good pictures of flowers and things which aren´t too small. Don´t try to use it when photographing army ants, for example. I gave it an overall rating of 4 for the disadvantage of the macro only being available at the 28mm end.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 35-70 f3.5-4.5 - a POS. I don´t like plastic lenses. It didn´t even have a focusing scale or decent manual focusing grip. Far too limited zoom range. No "macro". Nikon 28-85 f3.5-4.5 - nice.

~Excellent Quality ~Well built ~Great pictures ~Great value

~Heavy

This lens produces excellent quality pictures at a reasonable price. Much better than the newer plastic lenses included in most maxxum packages. I keep this lens on my XTsi 90% of the time and highly recommend it.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

28-80mm D F 1:3.5-3.6, 35-80mm F 1:4-5.6

High quality build. Great sharpness at all ends of the zoom spectrum.

Only macro at 28mm. Why not the whole range of the lense?

Could not believe the quality for the money. Great sharpness, contrast and color. Sturdy build, though a bit heavier than the newer models. Could not be happier with a lense in this category.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-200

Solid buid, very sharp and contrasty. In my honest opinion the best zoom Minolta ever build in this range.

Can't find any except maybe that the front lens rotates while focusing.

Unfortunately no longer build. Get one if can, especially the latest version.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 24-85 3.4-4.5, Tokina ATX Pro 28-70 2.6-2.8, Sigma 28-70 2.8

Great all-round lens
Macro feature a good intro to this type of photography
Pretty sharp

lens hood is not much help
wide open it is not super sharp, but still good if composition is good.

I loved using this lens, and agree it's a great deal to find one on the used market. There's still many around in Canada. Was a bit heavy, but seemed sturdy and survived a few minor falls until the big one onto bedrock. Nothing lasts forever! This was a great beginner lens for me, it helped me learn alot.

Customer Service

I smashed this lens when I knocked my tripod over, was bummed. Minolta could not repair it. Bought new 24-105 D, seems to be an improvement, but I wish I could've kept this old lens as well.

Similar Products Used:

My first general zoom

Great optics, excellent built quality, high-grade coating applied

Front element rotates during AF, the lens extends while zooming,
hood is almost useless,
pretty noisy AF

Great lens, exceptional value for money since available used for as little as 130-180 US$ which is a steal for this optics. The dowsides mentioned in Weaknesses disturb a bit in certain
situations but I'm really pleased with the results produced by this lens.
It was served as my main mid-tange zoom till recently upgarded to Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8 ATX PRO II while leaving 28-85 as great backup or second lens (for different body).
Do not hesitate to find one in good condition.
For the price it's a killer.

Customer Service

Pretty responsive (locally) for other Minolta-related issues

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8 ATX PRO II as for mid-range zooms

Optically very good. Very little distortion for such a zoom. Solid build quality. Extremelt fast autofocus.

After 7 years of extensive use, the zoom ring broke.

An excellent general purpose lens, exhibiting very high optical quality with almost no distortion. I've done much professiopnal work with this lens, with excellent results.

Customer Service

Zoom ring was repaired at a Minolta-authorized repair facility. Minolta no longer repairs this lens, as it is out of production.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 35-70 zoom. Minolta Maxxum 28-80mm zoom.