A picture from my Minolta AF 500 f/8. What do you think?

<p>My local camera store had this lens and I thought I'd give it a try with my A77. First off, the autofocus really works in good light. It does hunt briefly but it always locks on. Sharp images if I'm doing my part. When handholding you can see a lot of movement in the viewfinder but this is where (SSS) Super Steady Shot comes in handy. Without it, all of my pictures would be blurry. The lens is handholdable but I prefer using a monopod. I'm posting an image of my dog taken hand held which is one of my first pictures and I'm quite pleased with it, I plan to go to the lake later in the week and try photographing seagulls. I enjoyed this lens so much that I added it to my collection of Minolta AF lenses.</p><div></div>

<p>The effective focal length would be 750mm, unless I'm mistaken. Good sharpness in the photo.</p>

<p>Surprisingly good considering it's a mirror lens.</p>

<p>Looks good. Does the A77 have low noise at high iso? F8 will probably need that even with SSS.</p>

<p>I don't see any noise unless I have a lot of shadows and I've underexposed the shot. The a77 looks good up to ISO 2000 if I do my part.</p>

Very nice contrast and background blur, and no "doughnuts" apparent. I'm considering one of these in the rokkor manual focus version, which may be a problem handheld.

Good luck with the Rokkor. What body will you be using it on? If it's a Sony you have IBIS and that's what helps me get good images with my AF 500 and Tamron 200-500 f/6.3.

I am enjoying manual focus shooting with a Minolta X-570 film body. I would use the rokkor lens mainly for distant nature shots and hope that at long range and f8, focus would not be difficult after some practice. I am prepared to use a tripod or monopod if necessary. I have not bought the lens yet, but am considering this light weight, portable option. Alternatively, I could get the Minolta or Sony AF A-mount versions of the lens for use on my Sony a99 body which also has IBIS. This may be the easier way to go for a higher number of in-focus shots and the immediate feedback to see how I'm doing with the lens. Something important to consider!

I have used that lens on my A7 with an LA-EA4 adaptor. No IBIS sadly but a high shutter speed and ISO setting can help overcome things a little

 

1/1000 s | ISO 6400

 

I think it's an excellent portable lens for handheld as well as tripod photography.