What is "minolta color" & can you reproduce it in PP?

[Sonolta Shooter]

Hi there!

Reading these forums I've always heard of people referring to Minolta Color, but I've never been able to figure out specifically what it is (or if it is just forum echo-chamber stuff). Can anyone point me to photos that show "minolta color"? Or, is there anyway to quantitatively measure minolta color? How is it different from playing with saturation in PP?

I had a tamron 17-50f2.8 (before I went FF) and a minolta 50mm f1.7, and never found any significant difference in "color" between them. My beercan had great bokeh, but compared to the sony 70-300g, I don't see any significant difference in color.

Had you not compared those 2 lenses it would be a bit like night and day as the Tamron produces as near as makes no difference the same colour rendition to the Minolta, but not all Minolta lenses produce the same level of colour. The basic kit MIN50F17 will also look the same to the SAL50F18 DT as will other make/models optics. The F4 Beercan also has the classic Minolta colour rendition, though if compared to say a budget Sigma lens, I think you would see the difference immediately.

Whether other factors come into play such as your file format, camera settings (not auto), WB, ISO, metering etc which would likely be the case for JPEG format as opposed to RAW, though what model are you using? I ask because the A700/A850/A900 DSLR's have a sub-menu setting for colour called DEEP which I don't know if other models also have, but for those who use any of the 3 models above, the DEEP setting is undoubtedly the best for JPEG.

The 70-300 G SSM (series 1) may deliver the colour, but that's about all. The Tamron SP AF 70-300 Di USD as equally as good and is 50% (or more) less expensive, but colour rendition aside, are you using the MIN50F17 and F4 Beercan because you need them or because you were 'advised' to get them? If the latter, that's the wrong reason as you buy to meet your shooting style and requirement and not (as has often been the case) advised to as some sort of starter pack, but a Min 50F35 1:2 Macro in the UK is about the same price to the basic MIN50F17 kit lens (or even the RS version) but is vastly superior in IQ, but a lot of people don't think of models such as that and buy blindfolded, so in short, there are much better alternatives more often for a similar price that go under the radar, but I digress.

I would suggest you go over to the Dyxum website and find the lens sample images thread and look at those posted for each lens make/model and you ought to be able to see the differences assuming they've not been PP'd to death, but Minolta colours are rich and deep, plus with a half decent lens, will also produce buttery smooth bokeh and excellent sharpness. Yes, there are several non-Minolta models that also produce the same level of sharpness, bokeh and colours, but that aside, only buy to suit your needs and requirements and not to cover a focal range from 10mm - 300mm. I hope that makes some sort of sense to you, but it's not an area to get hung-up over.