Specifications
- Diameter: 71mm
- Length: 62mm
- Weight: 455g
- Filter Diameter: 55mm
- Number of aperture blades: 6
- Close Focusing Distance: 1m
- Mount: Minolta SR
The Minolta MC/MD 85mm 1:1.7 usually sells for around $210-280 at ebay.com (affiliate link).
In Germany you can buy it for 130-180€ at ebay.de (affiliate link).
Sample images
Sony a7 | Minolta MC 85mm 1:1.7 | f/1.7 | full resolution
Sony a7 | Minolta MC 85mm 1:1.7 | f/2.8 | full resolution
Sony a7 | Minolta MC 85mm 1:1.7 | f/8 | full resolution
Versions
Minolta introduced the 85mm 1:1.7 in 1970 with an all metal focusing ring of the hill and valley design (MC-II, linkt to image) which was followed in 1973 by a version with a rubberized focusing ring (MC-X, pictured in this post). The next makeover happened in 1978 when the 1.7/85 was updated to MD.
All three versions are very similar mechanically and the optical design has remained the same as well so you can buy either one. It might be that the coatings were improved during the production of the lens but I don’t have any reliable information about that.
Sharpness
The Minolta MC 1.7/85 was tested on the Sony a7. Klick here to see the 100% crops.
You can find the full resolution test images in the Minolta MC 1.7/85 flickr set.
f/1.7: Decent resolution and low contrast. Performance is pretty even across the frame though.
f/2.8: The softness is mostly gone, contrast and resolution are good in the center and midframe, the corners only improve a little.
f/4: Very good sharpness across most of the frame, the corners are a little softer but still good. Contrast is noticeably higher than at f/2.8.
f/5.6 and f/8: Very good sharpness across the frame.
f/11: A little softer due to diffraction.
Comment
The Minolta MC 1.7/85 is a very nice lens for portraits and a good all purpose lens.
At f/1.7 it already has quite good resolution and nice but not perfectly smooth bokeh but due to spherical aberration contrast is rather low. I think this characteristic works very well for portraits but it is a distinctly different look from that of modern very well corrected lenses like the Batis 1.8/85. The sharpness is also even across the frame so you can put your subject anywhere in the frame and not just in the center.
Stopped down to f/2.8 contrast is a lot higher but for best contrast you should stop down to f/4. For best across the frame sharpness stop down to f/5.6 where it performs very well for landscape photography.
Typically for a Minolta MC lens built quality is great, it doesn’t get much better than this. The lens is made of nothing but metal and glass and the focusing ring is very pleasant to use. This is not a small lens especially with the original hood and there are significantly smaller fast 85mm lenses. Handling on the Sony a7 is still okay but it is at the limit of being comfortable.
So all in all I can recommend this lens. It will perform very well for a wide range of applications and while I wouldn’t call it cheap it still offers a decent price/performance ratio.
The Minolta MC/MD 85mm 1:1.7 usually sells for around $210-280 at ebay.com (affiliate link).
In Germany you can buy it for 130-180€ at ebay.de (affiliate link).
Also check out my Minolta SR-mount adapter guide.
If this review was helpful to you, please consider using one of my affiliate links. I will earn a small commission on your purchase and it won’t cost you anything. Thanks!
Further Reading
- 85mm 85mm comparison- Minolta, Tokina, Canon and Samyang
- Minolta Lenses on the Sony a7 – ratings, impressions and sample images
- My other Minolta MC/MD Reviews
- Affordable manual lenses for the Sony Alpha 7 series
This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using any of the links marked as affiliate links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the creation of future content.
Latest posts by Phillip Reeve (see all)
- Review: Samyang AF 75/1.8 FE - April 12, 2021
- The FE-List now has 113 lenses on it - March 25, 2021
- 2020 – Year’s end review - December 28, 2020
the canon fdn 85mm 2.8 would be a good comparison!
You mean the 1.8/85, right?
WOW!
Hi Phillip! I have a question about this lens. I using novoflex adapter and my close Focusing Distance: more then 1m its about 1.7 Its like this because of adapter? Or its something wrong with the lens?
Thanks
Ilya
i am shooting a few years with the Konica Hexanon AR 85 mm / 1,8 I was wondering if it performs similar… it is a lot lighter though, 390 grams!
A few specs are in common with the Minolta:
also 6 elements in 5
aperture blades: 6
Close Focusing Distance 1m
its excellent for portraits, I just don’t like the aperture ring, its really stiff…
I am using SMC pentax super takumar 85mm f/1.8 and planing to buy this Minolta lens.
Have you ever used super takumar 85.8 lens?
I haven’t.
Philip I would really appreciate a review on some old leica glass. In particular, I would love to see how a leica r 90mm f/2.8 would perform on a sony body. Again, superb feature! Keep well
I am afraid those are not too likely to happen because my personal interest is very limited: Leica lenses usually have a miserable price/performance ratio, nice handling and they perform about as well as well as the better competing lenses from other manufacturers from the same era.
I may add: the Leica R lenses are either huge, ridiculously expensive and rare (but may indeed be good) or nothing special.
I had a closer look at the Leica Elmar-R 180mm 4.0 and it was all but great.
what about the Takumar 85mm f1.8 ?