Data sheet: Minolta MC Tele Rokkor-HF 30cm f/4.5

Pekka Buttler, 01/2023 (Updated 01/2024)

Specifications

The table below summarizes the lens’ key specifications (Measurements based on pictured sample):

Brand:	Minolta	Lens name	MC Tele Rokkor-HF 1:4.5 f=30cm
Focal length(s) 1	300 mm	Angle-of-view 2	8,2 °
Maximum Aperture	f/4,5	In Production	1970–1973
Lens mounts	Minolta SR	Subfamily (if applicable)	MC (II)
Length 3	199,8 mm	Diameter 4	80,4 mm
Filter ring diameter	72 mm	Weight	1180 grams
Lens element count	6	Lens group count	6
Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5	6 S	Focus throw	315 °
Minimum focusing distance	4,5 m	Maximum magnification	1:12,9
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Automatic	Aperture click stops 6	4.5•8•11•16•22

Further notes:
• The combination of 300 mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/4.5 was typical for a legacy-age high-performance long tele lens. Many of Minolta’s competitors featured a similar offering.
• The predecessor of this lens (the MC I version) was Minolta’s first 300 mm lens to feature automatic aperture (the previous 300 mm lenses were preset lenses). The MC I and MC II versions are otherwise identical (only the focus ring was redesigned).
• This lens features:
• an aperture stop-down button (on the aperture ring)
• a tripod mount collar with 120° of movement (and a tightening screw)
• an extendable, built-in hood (that cannot be locked in extended state).
• As with many older lenses, also this reports its focal length in centimetres (see below).

Versions

The 300 mm f/4.5 has been a staple of Minolta’s Tele lineup, and has been offered from 1960 to the end of the Minolta SR mount. A genealogy of the design’s development is summarised in the table below.

Name (on lens)	Variant & Generation	years	aperture	hood	min. aperture	elements	groups	filter thread	weight
TELE ROKKOR-TD	SR	1960–1965	preset	D77NA	f/22	4	3	77	1250
TELE ROKKOR-QD	SR	1965-1969	preset	D77NA	f/22	4	4	77	1020
MC TELE ROKKOR-HF	MC I	1969–1970	auto	built-in	f/22	6	6	72	1150
MC TELE ROKKOR-HF	MC II	1970–1973	auto	built-in	f/22	6	6	72	1150
MC TELE ROKKOR(-X)-HF	MC X	1973–1978	auto	built-in	f/22	6	6	72	1155
MD TELE ROKKOR(-X)	MD II	1978–1981	auto	built-in	f/32	7	6	72	710
MD	MD III	1981-≈1985	auto	built-in	f/32	7	6	72	705

Adapting

This lens cannot be used natively on any current SLR or dSLRs. To use it in its native environment, you will need a Minolta SR (SR/MC/MD/X-600) film camera. Luckily these are quite easy to find. To use the lens’ full designed capabilities, a Minolta MD-compatible body (any Minolta SR body launched after 1977) is most recommended..

Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable adapter. Moreover, a simple ‘dumb adapter’ will do the job perfectly. Thanks to the popularity of the Minolta SR mount, the availability of adapters to all mirrorless mounts can be taken for granted, on the other hand, specialist adapters (speed boosters, helicoid adapters, tilt/shift adapters) are not available for all mirrorless mounts, but daisy-chaining adapters (e.g. Minolta SR -> Canon EF; Canon EF –> mirrorless) can offer a work-around.

Using Minolta SR mount lenses on dSLRs is also be an option, but it is not trouble-free due to that the Minolta SR mount’s flange focal distance is shorter than that of any dSLR mount (technically with the exception of Olympus’ four thirds mount). Hence, any attempt at adapting Minolta SR lenses must rely on an adapter that uses corrective optics to allow infinity focus. However, such adapters are readily available.

History of Minolta

Minolta exited the camera business in 2006 and sold its remaining photographic assets to Sony. The 50 years before that ignominious date tell a very different story: one of a Japanese optics and innovation powerhouse that has interesting links to Germany – not Nazi Germany, but both pre WWII Germany as well as postwar West Germany. Read more in the Minolta company profile.

Footnotes

1. Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
2. Picture angle is given in degrees (based on manufacturers’ specs) and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
   > 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
   70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
   50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
   40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
   20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
   10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
   5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
   < 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎
3. Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
4. Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
5. S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
6. Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎