Sony Diaries #1037: The amazing Beercan!

The Minolta 70-210F4, aka The Beercan, is an amazing lens, arguably the best value telephoto zoom. It can still be found on Kijiji or Craigslist for $80-125. It seems  the production majority were good copies. I've had 3 copies but I have only kept the best one. This review by Kurt Munger reaches the same conclusion as other reviewers: great optics, great value. The Beercan was launched in 1985 and is compatible with the Sony Alpha line (I use this lens on an A77II) and with the A7 series using an LA EA4 Adaptor. Actually, it seems to me that the Beercan looks sharper on the A7III than it does on the A77II, but this observation is not based on any scientific testing.

Below are two versions of the same shot, uncropped and cropped. There is chromatic aberration (the purplish fringing around high contrast areas) such as around the wings but for the subject matter, I can live with it.

1/500 F4.5 ISO1000, shot at FL  200 (300mm)