Ah, wer lange sucht, der findet:
ZITATA new lens to the Minolta line-up of SLR lenses in the MC Rokkor-X series. Many consider this to be Minolta's oddest lens, not because of the range of the focal length, but because of the shape of the lens. To achieve the constant f2.8 maximum aperture, Minolta engineers designed the lens with the zoom and focus controls on a raised block on the left-hand side of the lens, instead of the common collars around the lens. As a result of its unusual appearance, many people assume that the 40-80mm is some sort of auto-focusing lens, or a lens for a movie or digital camera. The lens normally focuses to 3.3 feet, but there is a macro button that allows it to get as close as 1.2 feet. The lens is fairly light, given its size, but the zooming controls have the reputation of permanently freezing in place, and most repair shops are not willing to work on such an odd lens. The results from the lens are quite sharp, but it does suffer from some barrel and pincushion distortion. The barrel distortion is at it's worst at 40mm, while the pincushion distortion is most noticeable at 80mm. At 50mm, these aberrations cancel each other out, and even at the extremes, the amount of distortion is not apparent -- unless you are taking pictures of brick walls! Despite these aberrations, the lens is very sharp -- even at f2.8. Minolta sacrificed one type of aberration in order to minimize the other. It's a quite uncommon lens and is very pricey, even though it is often sold in a frozen position. The 40-80mm has a 55mm filter thread and an additional 62mm front thread that can only be used for a lens shade. Despite the size, it can be the perfect replacement for a normal lens, wide angle lens, telephoto lens and macro lens. A whole bag of lenses in one! Sure, Minolta made other mid-range zooms, some with wider ranges -- like the 28-85 and the 35-105 -- but these are slower lenses and have variable apertures. If the 40-80mm is not an option for you, it's best to decide between the the 35-70 and the 50-135.[/quote]
Quelle: http://members.aol.com/xkaes/408028.htm