Minolta f/1.2 Camera Lenses

Use Minolta f/1.2 Camera Lenses for Cinematic Effects

While the camera industry has moved swiftly as the wind with innovations, such as mirrorless cameras and exceedingly more powerful sensors, the pace of improvements in optics technology is glacial in comparison. While this may seem like a bad thing, it actually means that old and vintage lenses are actually quite viable for both professional and hobby use.

What Is Aperture?

• Light Intake: The aperture is a hole or an opening that light travels through. In cameras, the amount of light allowed into the sensor determines the exposure and depth of field captured in an image.
• f-stops: Aperture, described in f-stops, indicates the size of the aperture at a given f-stop. These are measured in an inverse manner to the aperture, so a smaller number will mean a larger aperture size. The true size of the aperture can be calculated by dividing the focal length of the lens such as 50mm for example, by the number of the f-stop. So the aperture size of a 50mm lens at f/1.2 will be 42mm.
• Shutter Speed: The size of the opening of the aperture is called the iris, and the quality of the image captured depends on the shutter speed. The larger the iris, the more exposed the image will be, but to capture a moving object with good exposure, the shutter speed must be very fast.

What Type of Minolta f/1.2 Camera Lenses Can I Buy?

The company came out with acclaimed lenses ever since the late 1920s. Since its dissolution in 2003, many of its lenses have surfaced and proven to be capable optics when combined with a modern digital camera. Do take note that you will need an adapter for your camera to use these lenses.

• Pre-MC Lenses: There are three kinds of lenses released in this line. They had very early designs with no meter coupling. These are antiquated lenses and valuable for collectors.
• 2nd Generation MD Rokkor: This series featured many redesigned lenses, with lighter weight and compact size. It resulted in the creation of a new 49mm filter thread size. Examples are the MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/2.0 lens and the 45mm f/1.2 variant. The MD Rokkor 58mm f/1.2 lens is also a treasured piece of legacy glass that any serious photographer should consider buying.
• 3rd Generation MD Rokkor: These models have further reduced weights and sizes due to the increased use of plastic material. They were changed to fit the X-700 body of the new Minolta camera models. The placement of the MD aperture lock on the aperture ring was changed in all lenses in the series.

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