Lens Lab
    Minolta AF 35-200 mm Xi f/ 4.5-5.6
    Minolta AF 35-200 mm Xi f/ 4.5-5.6

    Minolta AF 35-200 mm Xi f/ 4.5-5.6

    35–200mm · f/4.5–5.6

    Overview

    The Minolta AF 35-200 mm Xi f/4.5-5.6 is a superzoom with surprisingly good image quality for its class, offering sharp center performance when accurately focused, especially stopped down. Optical weaknesses include a curved focus plane, slight warm color cast, and some chromatic aberration easily correctable in post. Build features a unique power zoom that can be disengaged for manual zoom, but the manual focus is very slow and focus-by-wire requires AF enabled. It suits photographers wanting a single walk-around lens with decent quality and long reach on a budget, though the quirky handling may not appeal to all.