Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 - Legacy 50mm. Which one is the best? Part 3

Together with Chinon and some re branded models such as Agfa color i.e. this Minolta is one of the cheapest 50mm primes, that you can buy today. Realistic price is between 15 -30 USD as of today.
Apart of the aperture ring, that is made of plastic, the rest is solid metal and glass. A little red ball on the aperture scale, might remind you one famous brand.
Lens is small and light and look still pretty modern. 38mm long with diameter around 64mm. It takes 49mm filters. With its 156 gr, it fits perfectly small MLC bodies despite necessary adapter.
Lens construction is made of 6 multicoated elements in 5 groups.

Focus ring is rubberized and very smooth.It takes only around 90° to pass through the full focus, which is very convenient. 

6 blades aperture can be stopped from f1.7 to f22. Between f1.7 and 2.8 as well as between f16 and 22, you can't set anything between. Between f2.8 and f16, there are half click stops.

Lens itself has been made in several versions, mine shown here is the latest (cheapest build quality) so called MD 3rd generation. Beside build quality and filter size reduction, optical formula is supposed to be the same among the versions. Some believes that earlier rokkors had better coatings. I have one Rokkor X 1.7, so might try it one day to see, if there is any difference in IQ.

Lens and Camera:

Following test shows lens character, color, contrast and out of focus rendition at most apertures.

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 1.7

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 2.8

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 4

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 5.6

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 8

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 11

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 16

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 22

Colors are rather natural, contrast is good even wide open.

Here are the 100% crops of the focus area.

Also Minolta is softer wide open, but this is rather typical for most fast lenses.

From f2.8 to f8, lens is very sharp across the frame. The sharpness seems very similar to the Pentax SMC 50 f1.7.

In a real life situations, corners wide open are slightly better than with Pentax SMC 50mm f1.7, while center resolution is slightly weaker at all apertures. But this is really cutting the hair.

 Distortion

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 5.6

If there is any, I can hardly see it.

Field Shots:

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 1.7

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 2.8

Bokeh
Surprisingly, out of focus areas are not the strongest characteristic of this Minolta. Bokeh is not bad, but it is a bit more nervous than with Pentax SMC 50 f1.7. In that department, Yashinon 50 DX f1.7 still leads.

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 1.7

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at4

Landscape:
Once stopped down, to f5.6 or f8, all tested 50mm lenses so far, performs equally well. Looking for the differences will be pure nit picking and you should probably pay more attention to the lens hood, than to the brand itself. Wide open, there is visible purple fringing, but stopped down to f2.8 and above it is not a field relevant problem any more.

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 8

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 8

Sony NEX 7 + Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 at 8 HDR

Conclusion:

¨Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 is excellent value for money. In many aspects it is a lens very similar to the Pentax SMC 50 f1.7 but still somewhat cheaper.  Pentax SMC 50 f1.7 is maybe overall slightly sharper lens, but Minolta has more even sharpness distribution across the frame and it is still sharp more than enough. Being made of multicoated glass, I do not expect significant problems with flare, but will test that separately, when I get a hood.

All in all, it is a good lens, that none should over look.