Pekka Buttler, 01/2025
Specifications
The table below summarizes the lens’ key specifications (Measurements based on pictured sample):
| Brand: | Minolta | Lens name | MD W.ROKKOR 28mm 1:3.5 |
| Focal length(s) 1 | 28 mm | Angle-of-view 2 | 75 ° |
| Maximum Aperture | f/3.5 | In Production | 1978–1980 |
| Lens mounts | Minolta SR | Subfamily (if applicable) | MD (II) |
| Length 3 | 40,8 mm | Diameter 4 | 64,2 mm |
| Filter ring diameter | 49 mm | Weight | 167 grams |
| Lens element count | 5 | Lens group count | 5 |
| Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5 | 6 S | Focus throw | 150 ° |
| Minimum focusing distance | 30 cms | Maximum magnification | 1:8,6 |
| Has manual aperture ring | YES | Has Manual focus ring | YES |
| Aperture mechanism type | Automatic | Aperture click stops 6 | 3.5-5.6•8•11•16-22 |
Further notes:
• This lens is late-era Minolta MD lens. Hence it shares the Minolta standard 49 mm filter thread and a highly compact build. The lens makes use of plastic, but that plastic seems to stand the test of time relatively well.
• This lens is the last iteration of the Minolta 28 mm f/3.5, and uses a 5 elements in 5 groups design. It replaced an outwardly very similar (MD I) design that used the same 5 elements in 5 groups, but used a 55 mm filter thread.
• The original (see below) Minolta 49 mm lens hood for the MDII/III 28/2.8 and 28/3.5 might be hard to come by, but most standard 49 mm thread wide angle lens hoods should work.
Versions
Minolta manufactured several versions of 28 mm f/3.5 lenses from the early 60s until winding down the SR-mount. Most of the versions reflect Minolta’s overall design and naming changes, but there were also some significant redesigns. The genealogy is summarised below:
| Subtype | Years | Min.Aperture | Elements | Groups | Filter Diam. | ≈Weight | Notes |
| AR (II) | 1963–66 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 67 mm | 345 g | |
| MC (I) | 1966-68 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 67 mm | 307 g | [data sheet] |
| MC (I) | 1968–69 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 55 mm | 245 g | |
| MC (II) | 1969–72 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 55 mm | 245 g | |
| MC-X | 1973–74 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 55 mm | 260 g | |
| MC Celtic | 1974-76 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 55 mm | 260 g | |
| MC-X | 1975-76 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 55 mm | 220 g | |
| MD (I) | 1977 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 55 mm | 195 g | |
| MD (II) | 1978–80 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 49 mm | 167 g | [this lens] |
| MD (III) | 1981-≈1995 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 49 mm | 170 g |
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
- 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’. ↩︎
- 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 ↩︎ - Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
- Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
- S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
- Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎