Data sheet: Minolta MD W.Rokkor 35 mm f/1.8

Note: This lens participated in a JAPB comparison review of fast 35 mm lenses.

Pekka Buttler, 01/2023

Specifications

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

Brand:	Minolta	Lens name	MD W.Rokkor 35mm 1:1.8
Focal length(s) 1	35 mm	Angle-of-view 2	63,4 °
Maximum Aperture	f/1.8	In Production	1978–1981
Lens mounts	Minolta SR	Subfamily (if applicable)	MD (II)
Length 3	48,4 mm	Diameter 4	64,2 mm
Filter ring diameter	49 mm	Weight	234 grams
Lens element count	8	Lens group count	6
Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5	6 S	Focus throw	210 °
Minimum focusing distance	30 cms	Maximum magnification	1:6,4
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Automatic	Aperture click stops 6	1.8-2.8•4•5.6•8•11•16-22

Further notes:
• This lens is relatively 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.
• The original Minolta 49 mm lens hood might be hard to come by, but most standard 49 mm thread wide angle lens hoods should work.

Versions

Minolta has a distinguished history of manufacturing fast 35 mm lenses. Most of the versions reflect Minolta’s overall design and naming changes, there is also one major redesign (in 1978) which resulted in an overall less bulky lens. The genealogy is summarised below:

Subtype	Years	Min.Aperture	Elements	Groups	Filter Diam.	≈Weight
MC (I)	1968–1970	16	8	6	55 mm	420 g
MC (II)	1970–1973	16	8	6	55 mm	420 g
MC (X)	1973–1978	16	8	6	55 mm	415 g
MD (II)	1978–1981	22	8	6	49 mm	235 g
MD (III)	1981–1985	22	8	6	49 mm	240 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

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. ↩︎