A Trip to Okinawa with the Minolta 28mm f2.8 (a small review)

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A Shiny Object Catches My Eye

My wife and I are on our honeymoon in Japan, and our itineraries are loaded in a spreadsheet, with each day carefully researched. It was surely the setup for a great romantic getaway. In between stuffing ourselves with udon, sushi, beer, ramen (sometimes all in one meal), and the scorching July heat (35 degrees was a typical day), we found ourselves seeking cover and walking off our excess calories.

As I mentioned in my Minolta 85mm f1.4 Review (or ramble, depending on how you look at it), I was a bit awestruck to see the sheer amount of camera stores in Japan. It made our humble home in Vancouver, Canada, look like a Luddite nation by comparison. Practically every block you’d find some tech store. The 6-floor camera/tech stores (whether it’s a Bic Camera or Kitamura) are so numerous in city centers, you’d think that the Japanese need them for sustenance.

Walking around the city core in Osaka, we sought shelter after a Marugame Udon binge, at the nearby mall, Namba Parks. There wasn’t necessarily a game plan for the visit, it was a small allowance of spontaneity in our Type-A honeymoon – and we chose a mall. Lindsay would shop solo after I told her that I would be hunting for more camera gear. I stumbled onto another Kitamura, named Kitamura Osaka Namba City Shop (rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?).

Sticker Shock

I spent a good hour or so searching for the next lens fix I could get. My Minolta collection was growing at home, and that train wasn’t going to stop in its motherland.

So when I did eventually stumble onto this Kitamura, I was on the hunt. They had, I’d guess, 50 or so used lenses. Sorry, I meant 50 or so *Minolta* lenses. I had my pick of the litter. Eventually, I landed on a wide 28mm prime f2.8. The price? $17 CAD. Incredible. I love this country.

Flying Out

The next leg of our Japan trip had us flying out to Okinawa via Peach Airlines. After practically missing the flight (we made it to check-in 15 minutes before the plane took off, I’ll get to expand on this at a later post), we landed safely on the beautiful island of Okinawa, surrounded by blue and green water, a new lens in tow.

We had scheduled this trip to Okinawa after seeing videos of the Okinawa Aquarium and were aching to experience a little bit of Hawaii again but in Japan. Snorkeling right next to turtles in Oahu will forever be one of my happiest memories. The waters of Okinawa were supposedly just as clear and filled with sea life.

So long story, short, our photo reels were going to be filled with beach and aquarium photos.

I wasn’t expecting much from the lens itself. Kitamura marked it as a Poor-condition lens, so I had assumed there’d be some level of dust, mold, or whatever other disease that could infect a 30-40-year-old lens like this. After driving our little Daihatsu to the beach for sunset to snap that very first photo, I held my expectations rock bottom on the results. Well, it turned out that Poor condition must’ve only been indicative of the revenue/profit of the retailer after the sale because this lens was pristine.

Driving around the island, with our Google Maps pin system in tow, we had been looking forward to a few stops. For snorkeling, we had Blue Cave (Cape Maeda) and Gorilla Chop as the highlighted stops. The former was supposed to have a cave close to the launch area. We had arrived at Blue Cave just an hour before sunset and struggled to find the entrance/launch for snorkeling. Instead, we first veered off into a small walking path, that was memorably filled with plenty of critters (those damn cicadas, man), that almost scared us city folk off. To any snorkelers checking out Blue Cave, just find the steep stairway down to the water, right by the parking lot. You can’t miss it (like we did). I’d spot a few fish here, but nothing like in Oahu. What was memorable was a very unassuming-looking lionfish. Its red and brown stripes, reminiscent of a tiger, with long spine spikes of a more ancient ancestry. I didn’t get stung by it, as Lindsay was happy to find out. Never got to check out that cave, the tide was too high (so another tip, go earlier than we did).

Gorilla Chop was certainly more clear, with the coral reefs being very close to the beach. I’d spot an octopus or a cuttlefish here. It scooted incredibly quickly back into its nook in its coral home after I gestured for Lindsay to come and see it. I swear, it was an octopus, but we never got a second glimpse to confirm (I’ll just say it was).

For sunsets, any of the beaches on the west side would be viable, but we chose Zanpa Beach, and Araha Beach (by America Village) as our top spots. Zanpa is certainly more quieter of the two, being further away from America Village, and less crowded. However, America Village is home to a pretty amazing sushi joint, Jirocho Sushi, so I guess you take the good with the bad here.

Oh Right, the Review Part

What I primarily look for in a lens is usually a delicate balance between weight and size, to the focal length coverage and its max aperture. A lens that’s heavy and huge, is acceptable if it has outstanding coverage and a wide aperture (take for instance, the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 DG DN Art Lens). A lens that’s more limited in coverage or with a fairly smaller max aperture is acceptable if it’s portable and light.

The Minolta 28mm f2.8 falls in the latter category for me, but ultimately: this lens cost me less than a bowl of Vancouver ramen, and is far more memorable, so it’s an A+ in my eyes, 5 stars, slap a sticker on it that says ‘Star Student!’. It truly was a star for me during the few days we had in Okinawa, and the rest of our travels thereafter.

Ultimately, this is a lens that’s a hyper-low-cost solution to a fairly useful focal length for traveling, and I would very highly recommend adding it to your arsenal.

The Pros

• Cost is tremendously low (though, not quite as dirt cheap buying it outside of Japan) which sets the bar lower for performance
• The colors produced are outstanding, especially the orange hues, making golden hour blooms stand out
• Sharpness is relatively good
• Very little to no vignetting
• Not too noticeable chromatic aberration

Cons

• Images lack contrast and come across as more flat color-wise when lighting is less than ideal
• Flare control is supposedly not great, but I did not experience this

Tech Specs

• Max-min aperture: f2.8-22
• Aperture blades: 7
• Minimum focus distance: 300mm
• Auto-focus drive: in-body
• Filter size: 49mm
• Weight: 185g

Check Prices for the LA-EA4 Adapter | Check Prices for the eBay Minolta 28mm Link | Body used: Sony A7ii

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