Minolta 100-300 APO vs 1988 version

[dxqcanada]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! ... unless I break it, then I have to take it apart

 

[unpopular]

So I did some more digging, and I guess APO in Minolta-speak primarily means that they use "Anomalous Dispersion" glass, which I'm interpreting as low dispersion. So in the case of this lens which appears identical in every other way this must be the sole difference.

I sort of have my doubts that it'd make that much of a difference, and one casual forum reference to an article concluded this as well: that the non-APO did better at the low end and the APO version did better at the high end, but neither significantly enough to justify one over the other.

I won't have the APO version, so I can't really compare.

 

[Derrel]

That makes a lot of sense, since Mis- focusing of the different wavelengths of light becomes a problem at 200 mm and longer, which is why some telephoto lenses from manufacturers have been designed as apochromatic

in terms of practical photography I do not think that apochromatic lens design is all that necessary for any general purpose lens less than around 180 to 200mm in length. For extremely critical uses, such as high-resolution photography of very small things apochromatic lens design is sometimes employed. For example coastal optics designed a 60 mm macro lens a number of years ago and priced It is around $4000. It is an apo,it is considered by many to be one of the sharpest and best performing lenses ever designed in the 60 mm macro category. Nikon and Canon on the other hand make fine non-apo 60 mm macro lenses, and they are priced very reasonably.

 

[Derrel]

That makes a lot of sense, since Mis- focusing of the different wavelengths of light becomes a problem at 200 mm and longer, which is why some telephoto lenses from manufacturers have been designed as apochromatic

in terms of practical photography I do not think that apochromatic lens design is all that necessary for any general purpose lens less than around 180 to 200mm in length. For extremely critical uses, such as high-resolution photography of very small things apochromatic lens design is sometimes employed. For example coastal optics designed a 60 mm macro lens a number of years ago and priced It is around $4000. It is an apo,it is considered by many to be one of the sharpest and best performing lenses ever designed in the 60 mm macro category. Nikon and Canon on the other hand make fine non-apo 60 mm macro lenses, and they are priced very reasonably.

As your research has shown,the use of anomalous dispersion glass might be the special sauce that Minolta used to bring those different light rays into the same focus point. As you know sometimes a very small change can make a very Big difference in the performance of something.

 

[unpopular]

I'm not sure if APO actually means anything specific design-wise. I could be wrong, but from what I'm gathering it's more of a characteristic. APOs tend to use triplets to get to an apochromatic quality, but there isn't really an APO "design" per-sey, and any number of designs could be considered apochromatic so long as it roughly follows an apochromatic dispersion curve, or, perhaps not as there's no saying what lens manufacturers might consider "apochromatic".

I was kind of surprised by this, and I always assumed APO actually meant something generally specific, like "Double Gauss", "Tessar" and "Petzval".

 

[Derrel]

I'm not sure if APO actually means anything specific design-wise. I could be wrong, but from what I'm gathering it's more of a characteristic. APOs tend to use triplets to get to an apochromatic quality, but there isn't really an APO "design" per-sey, and any number of designs could be considered apochromatic so long as it roughly follows an apochromatic dispersion curve, or, perhaps not as there's no saying what lens manufacturers might consider "apochromatic".

I was kind of surprised by this, and I always assumed APO actually meant something generally specific, like "Double Gauss", "Tessar" and "Petzval".

anything specific design-wise

not that I have ever heard of...the proof of apochromatic design comes in the images...if there is softness, or bad chromatic aberration, the design is not really "apo".

Leitz made a number of"APO"-labelled lenses back in the day. Their APO-Telyt (Sp? ) series, for example.

 

[unpopular]

We're talking about a brand that people will literally pay extra for the "double x" logo, which has no indication whatsoever on lens design ... so forgive me if i'm a little skeptical that there might be some magical thinking when it comes to the APO vs non-APO version of this lens (not saying that conclusively that there isn't... though I wouldn't be surprised if they're literally the same lens, either, and was APO all along)

and ofcourse some of these qualities is what gives a lens personality. The Older G-Zuikos 50s come to mind, and, ofcourse the inexplicable lust for tilt-a-whirl field curvature that's been trendy recently - which I hate, and is why I am not a huge fan of fast minolta 50s ... Sometimes strong CA and coma can have an "electric" quality about it, especially at close focus and can be interesting, and it seems the most interesting lenses are also pretty unreliable, so maybe not a great choice for pros, but still fun for us artsy fartsy hipster types!

the idea of a Leitz, Leica being touted "APO", or zeiss as "superachromat" is kind of funny. It's like saying "here's the best lens designs in the world, and here's one that doesn't have any CA". You'd think the blue shield or red dot or the T* (whatever that means) would be self evident.

You'll notice that Zeiss doesn't bother stamping "APO" in space-aged gold lettering on their CZ-series lenses. At $20,000 it damn well better be!