Originally posted by blende8 The M 28/2 is a great lens.
Very good optically and well built, and small.
It is the only M lens I kept ( and I owned about 20 K and M lenses).
The lens is quite rare, because it was very expensive when it was available new (I have a price of 750 German Marks for it, ca. 1980). There is also the A28/2 of the same formula, equally rare and more expensive.
I even gave away my K28/2 because I found it too large.
I did a few tests against the M and found no difference at all.
Typical price for the M: 200 € or less.
Here are a few images:
DigitalFotoNetz.de :: Thema anzeigen - UadB, Teil 4: M 28/2.0 Originally posted by Michaelina2 I own an M-28/2 and I pair it to a K-7 and/or K-x using the "Catch-in focus" technique which tends to be a little fussy. I've not posted a review to this forum's entry because the description and experiences expressed by the two other posters mirror mine and feel I have little to add.
Like you, I was a bit apprehensive about closing on it due to the general lack of impressions from other users. I can't speak to rarity, but its been on my radar for several years. Mine is the first (and only) one I've seen made available from the usual sources (PF, eBay, Craig's List, etc).
Even so, I took the jump and I'm glad I did. Mine seems to be a great "M-class" lens (I own an M-85/2, too)... Both are true to their focal length and offer great color, sharp images, great subject isolation, etc. I could include some sample images, but I shoot RAW, crop to compose and don't hesitate to push LR3.2, if I feel it's needed. Needless to say, it's doubtful you would get a pure sense of how the lens functions from my examples.
It was included in my recent Venice ---> Athens travel kit. I found it to be an appropriate focal length for general urban settings. If I were to rate the M-28 using this forum's scale, I can easily give it a 10.
Hope that's helpful. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask, or PM me...
Many thanks for the input guys, this is what I was looking for. The photos look good but bokeh is a bit funky, but I think itīs because the pics are highly compressed on that page. My primary concern is that it be decent wide open, as otherwise it offers little over the f2.8 version I have now.
I think with a few changes, just posting whatīs above would do as reviews in the appropriate section, if you want to post them. I find the reviews on this site invaluable, especially for old lenses. The M 28/2.0 currently rates at 9.5, which is extremely high, but with only two opinions it devalues the result.
According to various internet sources, 750 GDM = 1360 US$ in 1980. This equalled around 3436 US$ in 2007 (closest year I could find), going by CPI. For that price, Iīm not surprised itīs rare, and it certainly ought to perform well, even at f2. I can get it for around €180 including shipping, with condition stated as "very good".