Lentes de Cámara Minolta f/1.4

Finding The Right F/1.4 Camera Lens

Having a digital camera lens with a very large aperture opens up a lot of options for a photographer. Whether you want to take professional-looking portraits or shoot in dimly-lit venues, there is space for Minolta lenses in your kit bag.

What Are the Benefits of a Fast Lens?

• A large maximum aperture like f/1.4 lets in a lot of light. This makes it much easier to take pictures in lower light without reducing shutter speed, increasing ISO, or adding flash.
• The faster the lens, the shallower the depth of field. Using a short depth of field allows you to keep the subject in focus while blurring out any distracting background objects. This is a very popular effect in portrait photography, but bear in mind that a full-frame sensor will produce a shorter depth of field than APS-C.
• The contrast and sharpness of a lens tend to get better when the lens is stopped down. With a lens that is very fast to begin with, you can enjoy this increased sharpness with an aperture that is still quite big.

How Should I Choose an f/1.4 Lens?

• Make sure that the lens you want is compatible with your camera. Minolta MD and MC lenses were designed to fit their own SLRs, and they later switched to the A-mount for Minolta AF or Maxxum cameras. Both of those mounts are now discontinued, but you can use many classic prime and zoom lenses with modern DSLRs or mirrorless cameras by using an adapter.
• Decide whether or not you want auto-focus. Many vintage f/1.4 lenses are manual focus only, although AF lenses are equipped for auto-focus. Using a manual focus ring is usually less convenient than auto-focus, but it is often more precise and better in low light.
• Pick the right focal length for you. Lenses this fast are almost always prime lenses with a focal length of around 50 millimeters, so you wont find a 70-210mm zoom that opens up to f/1.4.

What Are the Alternatives to an f/1.4 Lens?

• While an f/1.4 lens has very real advantages, you can still get most of them from an f/1.8 or f/2 lens. Choosing a slightly smaller aperture gives you a much wider choice of focal lengths, as well as zoom and macro lenses. An f/1.8 lens is also likely to be smaller and lighter than an f/1.4.
• On the other hand, if f/1.4 doesnt sound fast enough, there are even faster lenses available. An f/1.2 or faster lens will give you the same advantages as f/1.4, but to a greater degree.
• If you are mainly interested in an f/1.4 lens for low-light photography, you have other options. A tripod makes much longer shutter speeds possible so long as you are shooting subjects that stay still. A flash can also make a huge difference to your low-light photography even if you are using it with a slower lens, so you can still use your favorite zoom lens in the dark.
• If you want something other than a standard prime or short telephoto lens, you will probably have to settle for a slower lens. Zoom lenses, wide angle lenses, macro lenses, and fish-eye lenses will all be at least somewhat slower.

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