Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner (or Size Doesn't Matter!)

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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I'm sure that if there's a trophy for the smallest vintage lens ever mounted on a mirrorless camera, this Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner definitely wins it. Dedicated for 35mm films and slides, this scanner was made and widely used in early 2000s (yea, not as old as our average go-to lenses). The first photo didn't really demonstrate how small this artefact of a "reduction lens" is, so I took the third shot on a ruler to show you that its diameter is barely more than half an inch. Scroll down to see what images this teeny-tiny pocket rocket gives you, and prepare your jaw to be dropped!

Color Shots

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  Sample Shot with a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner - Sample Image

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  Sample Image with a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sample Shot

It's difficult to imagine that such a tiny lens that resembles the spent casing of a .45 ACP bullet can create an image that, on account of minor vignetting, covers almost the whole area of a full-frame sensor! This happens even when the lens is move farther away from the sensor to focus on farther subjects. Look at the soft bokeh that it creates. Isn't it marvelous? If the bokeh has not dropped your jaw yet, I hereby invite you to notice how sharp the photos are. Look at the images below, where the original photos we took are posted in the upper row, and the 100% cropped frames below them. "Are you kidding me?", you might say, and I'd answer, I kid you not! The bokeh can be also dreamy, and in some shots like the last one above, a bit swirly.

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sharpness

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sample Photo

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sharpness and Bokeh

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sample Shot and Bokeh

Many believe that it's a good lens for macro shots, but it's not just about how close you can get to the subject, but also the sharpness of the image that it yields.

Black-and-White Shots

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Black-and-White Photography

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner B&W Sample Shot

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  Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sample Image

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Sample Shot

Look at the black-and-white shots above. The photo on the top-right is the 100% cropped frame of the top left shot. The sharpness and contrast we got in the black-and-white photography is noticeably very high. In fact, the contrast was so high that it wasn't possible to increase contrast in post-production without blackening out the shadow parts. The high contrast can be, among all, due to the coatings that the elements of this lens come with. You can see the coatings of the elements in the lens shots in the beginning of this post.

Flare

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  Flare Effect of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Flare in a Sample Image with a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner

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  Test and Review of a Lens From a Minolta Dimage AF-2820U Scan Dual II Film Scanner Flare Effect

And last but not the least, we have the flare section as always. As you see, flare can be interesting, especially with the purple spot on the left of the frame, which is a reflection of the color of the coating it has.

Thanks for reading through this blog post, too. We hope that in future we can post tests and reviews of even more exotic and rarer lenses. So, don't forget to check our blog posts every now and then to make sure you're not missing any.