Sony DSLR-A300 and the legendary beercan 70-210 f4. Shots specs are 1/500 f4 ISO 100 handheld. File format: JPEG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony DSLR-A300 and the legendary beercan 70-210 f4. Shots specs are 1/1500 f4 ISO 100 handheld. File format: RAW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony DSLR-A300 and the legendary beercan 70-210 f4. Shots specs are 1/1500 f4 ISO 100 handheld. File format: RAW

 

The Minolta AF 70-210mm f/4 lens is an autofocusing telephoto photographic lens compatible with cameras using the Minolta AF lens mount. The lens is colloquially known as the “beercan” by Minolta camera users because the lens shape and size closely match the proportions of a typical aluminum beer can. Further, the lens provides a 1:4 magnification (at minimum focus, an object records at 1/4 its size on film or sensor) which is near macro range.

It was introduced in 1985 at the launch of the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/Alpha 7000 camera (the first widely successful autofocus SLR) and remained in production for many years. Two years earlier, the lens was introduced as a one-touch zoom in the manual-focus Minolta SR mount (as a “plain” MD lens). However, production slowed and then eventually stopped for both the AF and MD versions; its successors, the 70-210/3.5-4.5 and 70-210/4.5-5.6 had none of the qualities of the original and build and image quality decreased.

It remains popular, however, for use on digital single lens reflex cameras using the AF system, such as the Minolta Maxxum 7D or the Sony α  Although relatively bulky and weighty, the lens is valued for its solid build, sharpness and smooth bokeh effect.

Tags: a300 Beercan, MINOLTA 70-210 f4, The Beercan