Minolta SR-T 101 Lens Guide: The Best Picks for Every Budget

The Minolta SR-T 101 uses a Minolta SR mount. That is where the SR-T name comes from. Minolta SR, MC, and MD lenses all work with this camera.

When the SR-T 101 came out in 1966, it was sold with four different standard lenses.

• MC Rokkor-PF 55mm f/1.7 (52mm filter)
• MC Rokkor-PF 58mm f/1.4 (55mm filter)
• MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f/1.2 (55mm filter)
• MC Rokkor-PF 55mm f/1.9 (52mm filter)

The 58mm f/1.2 is a collectible lens worth around $500 in very good condition.

The other three lenses can be found for less than $100. If you already own one, there is no reason to buy another. A wider lens like a 28mm or a telephoto like a 135mm will be more useful than a second standard lens.

The best lenses are fun and enjoyable to use. That means small, light, and cheap.

• How to load film into the Minolta SRT-101
• How to rewind and remove film from the Minolta SRT-101

Lens Compatibility

SR is the original mount design. MC and MD were later updates that added new features.

• SR - Has an automatic aperture diaphragm. When you press the shutter, the camera stops the lens down to the set aperture. This lets you focus with the aperture wide open so the viewfinder stays bright.
• MC - Adds meter coupling. This lets the camera meter at full aperture. Before this, you had to use stop-down metering, which required the lens to be stopped down to get a correct light reading.
• MD - Lets the camera read the smallest aperture on the lens and set it automatically. This makes shutter priority mode possible on cameras that support it.

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Minolta 58mm f/1.4 MC Rokkor

• Best value kit lens for the SRT 101.
• A fun and uncommon focal length.
• 55mm filter threads.

This is a great first lens. The 58mm focal length is not very common, which makes it a fun choice.

It is 1/3 of a stop faster than the 55mm f/1.7 and a full stop faster than the 55mm f/1.9. That means a brighter viewfinder, which is easier to focus with.

You can shoot at f/1.4, but stopping down to at least f/2.8 will give you sharper photos. For portraits with a blurry background, just put more distance between your subject and the background.

Minolta 50mm f/1.4 MD Rokkor-X

• Newest lens design/process.
• Best optical multi-coatings. (For the MD-mount)
• 55mm filter threads.

This lens benefits from 20 years of advances in lens making. It is sharper and has better coatings than the MC 58mm f/1.4. You will notice the difference when shooting color film.

There is an older MC version of this lens. The MD version is easier to find and costs less.

It is also a great choice if you want to adapt it to a mirrorless camera.

This is one of the cheapest manual focus 50mm f/1.4 lenses you can find from any film camera maker. If you want to spend even less, look for the Minolta 50mm f/1.7.

Wide Angle Lenses

Minolta 24mm f/2.8 MD

• Great combination with a 50mm lens.
• Optical coatings help improve sharpness and reduce glare.
• Excellent wide angle lens.
• 55mm filter threads.

Other versions of this lens are marked as W.Rokkor or Rokkor-X. All three are great wide angle options.

Minolta made wider lenses, but they cost more and have much more distortion than a modern wide angle lens.

Minolta 28mm f/2.8 MD W.Rokkor-X

• Works well with a standard lens.
• Inexpensive, small and compact.
• 49mm filter threads.

Avoid the ‘Celtic’ model of this lens as it was introduced to be a budget line of lenses. All of the other versions that feature Rokkor in the name have a better build quality.

It is the widest angle lens available that remains easily affordable. Anything wider will cost multiple times what this lens should be available for.

Another possible alternative is the W Rokkor HG 35mm f/2.8.

Portrait & Telephoto

Minolta 135mm f/2.8 MD

• Works as an 85mm substitute.
• Cheap and easy to find.
• 55mm filter threads.

Minolta made several versions of this lens because it was so popular. When the SR-T 101 came out, 135mm lenses were the go-to choice for portrait photography.

A big reason for that was price. A 135mm cost about half as much as an 85mm. Today on the used market, 135mm lenses sell for much less than 85mm lenses.

Minolta 85mm f/1.7 MC Rokkor

• Sharp when stopped down.
• Fairly expensive and hard to find in good condition.
• 55mm filter threads.

There is also a second MD version of the Minolta Rokkor 85mm lens. The difficulty with either version of this telephoto lens will be finding one in good condition.

Make sure to carefully read product descriptions. Many will be listed as in “excellent” condition while having fungus and/or haze.

If you want a copy of this lens, you’re likely going to have to buy one off of eBay from Japan. KEH, Adorama, or Amazon rarely have copies of the lens for sale.

Zoom Lenses

Before autofocus arrived in the early 1980s, a small number of third-party lenses performed better than what Minolta was making. Many of these top lenses were sold under the Vivitar brand. Any zoom with Vivitar Series 1 on it has the best optics you will find on a vintage zoom.

Finding these lenses in good condition is very hard. No vintage zoom lens offers great performance across the board. If you find one cheap enough it may be worth grabbing, but they are not worth tracking down.

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5

• Covers a popular zoom range.
• Great for portrait or wildlife photography.
• A rare time when a third-party lens is the better choice.
• 62mm filter threads.

Optically, the performance from this lens on the Minolta SRT 101 is going to be better than any Minolta counterpart. The fit and finish are a little lackluster and age makes that worse.

For sharp photos, just like every vintage zoom lens, you will have to stop the lens down to f/5.6 or f/8. There are no intermediate stops between f/3.5 and f/5.6.

Shooting at an f/5.6 aperture will cause many lighting situations to be difficult without the use of an external flash. You’ll be fine shooting outdoors during the day.

The lens is sold with mounts for other camera systems. If you decide to buy one, make sure that it is for the Minolta MD mount.

Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5

• Covers a useful zoom range.
• Great for everyday photography.
• One of the rare cases where a third-party lens beats the Minolta option.
• 67mm filter threads.

Depending on the type of photography you intend to do, this could be a more useful zoom range.

However, owning 58mm and 28mm primes will make a majority of the zoom range redundant. The primes also have better image quality, are smaller, and weigh less.

Macro Lenses

For true macro photos at 1x magnification, lenses in the 90mm to 105mm range work best. You get enough working distance to use a flash, without the extra weight and cost of longer lenses.

Short focal lengths between 50mm and 60mm work best for close-up photography, where less magnification is used.

Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 Macro

• Best focal length for 1x magnification.
• Widely available and a great value.
• 62mm filter threads.

This is the best vintage macro lens available for this camera. It was made with mounts for many cameras, and finding one in Minolta MD mount is not hard.

At 1:1 magnification you get about 3 inches of working distance. Use a low ISO film for the sharpest and most detailed results.

Both Vivitar macro lenses were made by Komine and sold under many brand names including Panagor, Elicar, Quantaray, Spiratone, and Rokunar.

See the Vivitar 90mm macro lens review for more information.

Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro

• One of the best vintage macro lenses available.
• Excellent for close-up photography.
• Reaches 1x magnification without an extension tube.
• 55mm filter threads.

The Vivitar 55mm is a great pick for close-up, nature, and tabletop photography.

At 1x magnification you have a small amount of working distance. The upside is that at 0.5x you do not need to be several feet away from your subject.

Use a tripod and mirror lockup for the best results.

Avoid the older f/3 version of this lens. The f/2.8 version is much sharper. See the Vivitar 55mm macro lens review for more details

Minolta 50mm f/3.5 MD Macro

• Good for close-up photography.
• Needs a 25mm extension tube to reach 1:1 magnification.
• 55mm filter threads.

The two different versions to avoid are the MD non-Rokkor and the Celtic. Both were made to cost less than a Rokkor model, and it shows.

To reach 1:1 magnification you need the 25mm Minolta life-size adapter. Make sure it is included when you buy, since it can be hard to track down on its own.

This lens works best in a studio where you can use a sturdy tripod. Lock the mirror up before shooting to avoid blur from mirror vibration.

Evaluating Lens Condition

Make sure the glass is clear. There should be no signs of fungus, haze, or large pieces of dust.

The focus ring should turn smoothly. The aperture ring will click, but it should still be easy to turn.

Look for sand, grit, or caked-on dust. You do not want any of that getting into the shutter and causing problems.