MD APO Tele Rokkor 400mm f5.6
Technical data
Angle of view: 6º 10'
Min. focus distance: 5m
Filter thread: 72mm
Diaphgram: f5.6 - f32
Weight: 1440 g.
My personal experiences
This is the only Minolta model available in 400mm focal length. It is an old construction, originating back to the MC era, though it is usually available as an MD lens. It was one of the first lenses using an artificially made fluorite element to correct the apochromatic diffraction, and at its time it was a record-sharp 400mm lens. Even when compared to modern tele lenses it performs well enough. It has, though, many drawbacks that limits its usefulness. First, it is a rare lens at the used markets, and priced well over the third-party options. If I wanted to invest in any Minolta lenses in hope of increase in value as a collectible in the future, this were one. Second, it is slow - f5.6 is at the limit of useful speeds. In bright light and open environment it is ok, but in the forest - even on a sunny day - it is all too slow, not to mention cloudy days or morning and evening dusks, or the use of a tele converter. Third, it has the conventional focusing system, not internal focusing. This makes it slow to use, and causes lots of light loss. Fourth, it has too long closest focusing for small subjects like smallbirds - 5 meters. Fifth, there is no 1,4x tele converter from Minolta, and the 1,4x third-party options in MD mount are rare.Now, when I have told all the drawbacks, why should you bother with this lens? Its strong points are the optical quality that exceeds the third-party counterparts, and a matched 2x teleconverter that maintains the quality excellently. It is extremely well made, as you could expect from a Minolta lens of the late MC era, and not overwhelmingly weighty like the fast lenses of this focal length. If the 400/5.6 is the focal length/speed combination you decide you need, this is most likely optically the best option.
Here is one of the last shots I took with this lens, before switching it to the Tamron SP 300mm f2.8 LD IF. The hawk (Buteo buteo) flew straight towards until it realized me. I shot a short burst with MD-1, this was the best one, when the hawk starts to turn away. The right one is a crop of the original scan.
"Buteo buteo"
Minolta X-700, MD-1
MD APO Tele Rokkor 400mm f5.6
1/500 sec at f5.6
Shoulder support
Kodak Ektachrome E200
15.8.2001 Raisio, Finland
The matching tele converter for this lens is a somewhat difficult question.
As I said earlier, there is no 1,4x tc from Minolta. The 2x tc is called
"2x MD APO tele converter". But the lens and the converter were available
as MC versions, and from that time I don't have sure information about
the naming of the tc - only the information that the matching converter
did exist. The one that came with my lens (I bought it used, and it is
an MD lens) is labeled "Minolta 2x tele converter 200-L", where the 200-L
indicates it can be used with lenses with focal length of 200mm or longer.
From outside it looks exactly like the MD APO converter, and in the original
MML there were some discussion about this subject, where it was supposed
that the optical construction of both tc's are identical. Both converters
-also the MD version- lack the MD tab, so onnly the aperture priority and
manual exposure are possible with these converters. In any case, the converter
is different from the later, MD-era tele converters, called 300-S and 300-L.
There are also two special tc's from Minolta, called 2x M/A converters
(S and L, S=shorter than 300mm and L, longer than 300mm - I quess). The
L version allows the use of this lens in the Dynax body as a 800mm manual
focusing f11 lens. You loose the automatic diaphgram and AF, but who would
stop down an 800mm f11 lens? The AF won't work with such a slow lens anyway.
The infinity focusing is maintained with the converter.
 |
"Fisherman"
Minolta X-700 with Motor Drive 1 MD APO Tele Rokkor 400mm f5.6 with Minolta 200-L tele converter. Tripod. Kodachrome 64, 1/22 sec. at f5.6 (f11 with tc.) 31.7.1999, Sulkava, Finland I like this photo very much. It is taken with 400/5.6 APO with the 200-L tele converter, in very contrasty, harsh backlightning. It has also been priced in our photo club's annual competition. |
I personally used this lens mostly for photographing waterbirds during the spring, when they arrive from the south and look (and fight) for suitable nesting sites. There is lots of light available, the environment is open and distances sometimes huge: the water, many times covered by weakened ice, isolates you very effectively from your subjects. Many times it is impossible to move closer, even if you wanted to carry a hide to some piece of land close to the birds. The rest of the year the lens stayed home - it is too slow and unpractical, and I preferred the slightly shorter, a bit faster and much lighter and easier to handle MD Tele Rokkor 300mm f4.5 IF.
The lens has a fixed hood (too short, as usual) and a sturdy tripod collar, both necessary. The filter diameter is 72 mm. The original leather case is well done and has a separate room for the 2x converter.
The "plain" MD version has a yellow (gold?) ring around the lens hood,
as you can see in this photo,
scanned by Ryujin from an old brochure.
