Product Review

The Minolta AF 35-70mm F/4 was extremely popular with Maxxum film camera users, and sold like hotcakes in the mid-to-late 1980s. This particular lens was purchased in 1985, along with the Maxxum 7000 film camera. It was a "kit" lens. Made in Japan. Many people claim this was one of the very first lenses that used a "hybrid" aspherical element, meaning plastic and glass permanently bonded together, instead of an all glass aspherical element, which was very expensive back in the day. This wide telephoto zoom is very short and light, even when extended out. It also extends fully at the wide end, 35mm which is a bit unusual, most lenses are just the opposite. It has a constant fast aperture of F/4. Currently, Sony has no equivalent lens. It has a focus distance window along with three red infra-red focus index marks at 70mm, 50mm, and 35mm, you don't see this much anymore. The EXIF data matches up with the focal length marks, which come at 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm. Increments are 5mm apart in the data, but 65mm is missing, that's the way it is. I can't find any info about "ED" elements or special coatings used. The lens is multi-coated and has the typical older-style magenta cast. Auto-focusing is quick and accurate. When you turn the camera on after mounting the lens you hear a "slap" which is the camera focus motor tugging through screws at the lens to ensure a proper coupling. Manual focusing takes just over 1/4 turn from Close-in to infinity, with almost no slop. The Minolta AF 35-70mm F/4 has a macro switch. It's located on the left side of the barrel, (see images above).