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Pentax Lens Review Database » Film Era Pentax K-Mount Lenses » Non-SMC Pentax Prime Lenses
Takumar 28mm F2.8 Bayonet Review RSS Feed

Takumar 28mm F2.8 Bayonet

Sharpness 
 7.6
Aberrations 
 7.8
Bokeh 
 6.8
Handling 
 7.7
Value 
 8.5
Reviews Views Date of last review
10 53,793 Fri September 25, 2020
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $37.75 7.80
Takumar 28mm F2.8 Bayonet
supersize


Description:
This lens has no super multi coating of the lens elements but is otherwise optically identical to the second version of the smc PENTAX-M 28mm f/2.8 lens. This lens has no "A" setting and thus does not support aperture automation (Tv and P modes are not supported).

Takumar 28mm F2.8 Bayonet
© www.pentaxforums.com, sharable with attribution
Image Format
Full-frame / 35mm film
Lens Mount
Pentax K
Aperture Ring
Yes (no A setting)
Diaphragm
Automatic, 5 blades
Optics
7 elements, 7 groups
Mount Variant
K
Check camera compatibility
Max. Aperture
F2.8
Min. Aperture
F22
Focusing
Manual
Min. Focus
30 cm
Max. Magnification
0.13x
Filter Size
49 mm
Internal Focus
No
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 55 ° / 46 °
Full frame: 75 ° / 65 °
Hood
Pentax rectangular 49mm clip-on hood for 28/35mm lenses will fit
Case
No dedicated case
Lens Cap
Coating
Weather Sealing
No
Other Features
Diam x Length
63 x 37 mm (2.5 x 1.5 in.)
Weight
180 g (6.4 oz.)
Production Years
1984 (start of production)
Engraved Name
TAKUMAR BAYONET 1:2.8 28mm
Product Code
22937
Reviews
User reviews
Notes
No SMC coating
Features:
Manual FocusAperture RingFull-Frame SupportDiscontinued
Price History:



Add Review of Takumar 28mm F2.8 Bayonet
Author:
Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-10 of 10
New Member

Registered: September, 2016
Posts: 3

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: September 15, 2016 Recommended | Price: $20.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Field of view on APS-C
Cons: Build quality
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 4    Handling: 7    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-30   

+ Great field of view on crop cameras - 42mm full frame equivalent - very useful in general shooting.
+ Neutral color and contrast makes for very accurate reproduction of what the eye sees (at least in natural outdoor lighting).
+ Short focus throw makes for fast shooting even though it's a manual lens.
+ Reasonably sharp at all apertures.
+ Can be had for almost nothing.

- A bit boring rendering, no "pixie dust".
- Not the same smooth feeling when focusing as the M-lenses.
- Build quality felt ok until the DoF-ring came loose all of a sudden, now that scale is unusable.
- Unpleasant yellow cast under tungsten lighting (no, It's not the white balance, it's a more subtle effect intrinsic to the lens).

Don't own any other 28mm's but would love to try more of them, hoping to find one that performs better indoors.

Scores are in relationship to price.

   
Pentaxian

Registered: August, 2008
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Posts: 11,250

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 1, 2009 Recommended | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: small, close focusing, very good IQ
Cons: fully manual

I haven't put this lens through all its paces yet but what I've seen has impressed me.

The bokeh is more than "OK" it is really smooth and pleasing. One can already tell from the PSF of the highlights, i.e., the absence of a pronounced brighter outer rim that the bokeh is going to be non-distracting. Very good transition from in-focus to the OOF areas.

My copy is seriously sharp. Coupled with its close focusing ability (30cm) you can shoot nice "macrops" with this lens. This and the A50/1.7 were the only lenses ever to create moiré on an image (6MP sensor), a sure tell-tale sign of exceptional resolution.

On APS-C this lens is a "normal" lens, the only focal length to not yield in perspective distortion. And it's FF so this oldie is even future proof. The lens is practically as small as an M50/2, which makes it a pancake wide angle on FF.

It is easy to underrate this lens but it delivers just nicely. The only disadvantage I see is the fully manual operation.
   
New Member

Registered: September, 2016
Location: Mascouche, QC
Posts: 4
Review Date: September 25, 2020 Recommended | Price: $37.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: great Quality, smooth focusing, sharp!
Cons: Aperture ring stiff
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 6    Value: 7    Camera Used: Pentax K-1   

Very fine lens fot it's age, sharpnes is great at all opening but not good at F22. bokeh is smooth but with nothing in particular.
I think the sharpness is great cause I never shoot at f22, and f2.8 to f16 sharpness is there
The only thing I found not appealing is the stiffness of the aperture ring, I even opened it up to check it and seem the problem is the being ball is to big for the f-stops ring.



   
New Member

Registered: November, 2016
Posts: 5
Review Date: June 3, 2017 Recommended | Price: $20.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Build quality, easy focusing
Cons: Not sharp
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-50   

The best thing is build quality, really solid lens (even dropped 2-3 times but nothing happened, still works perfectly) also, easy to focus. I like to use it but mostly photos are soft(above f8).



   
New Member

Registered: December, 2014
Posts: 1
Review Date: February 23, 2017 Recommended | Price: $50.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Nitidezza buona anche a f/2.8 - Robusto - Prezzo contenuto
Cons: Anello di MAF duro
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 7    Value: 8   

Ho comprato quest'obiettivo due anni fa per 25 euro e, inizialmente ero un po' pentito per aver letto le recensioni di esperti conoscitori di ottiche vintage. Anche se da qualche prova effettuata non avevo trovato riscontri negativi. Lo avevo considerato, sbagliando, il peggiore acquisto fatto, nonostante la mia copia fosse in condizioni eccellenti. Tenuto nel cassetto per un anno, ho provato a metterlo in campo alla fine della scorsa estate. Dopo qualche foto scattata al Lago di Misurina (Trentino A.A.), sono giunto alla conclusione che si tratta di un buon obiettivo. Ha buon contrasto, anche se per mio gusto, lo avrei preferito un po' più caldo, come altri Pentax. Conserva una buona nitidezza anche a f/2,8. Insomma, merita molto più rispetto della fama che gli è stata attribuita. Ha una solita costruzione meccanica il cui unico vero neo è la ghiera MAF troppo serrata. Pensavo fosse un difetto del mio esemplare, ma poi ho letto da qualche parte che altri hanno riscontrato il medesimo inconveniente. Resta comunque un fastidio trscurabile, vista la sua corsa limitata in soli 45 gradi. La minima distanza di MAF è 30cm, e non è poco. Conclusione: mi è sembrato un buon obiettivo da non lasciarsi perdere se lo si paga poco.


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https://www.flickr.com/gp/antonioccp/2711aY
   
New Member

Registered: July, 2016
Posts: 1
Review Date: January 14, 2017 Recommended | Price: $80.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Excellent color reproduction
Cons: Stiff feeling aperature
Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    Camera Used: K5   

Out of all of my 28mm K mount lenses (and i have waaaaaaaaaaay too many...)
This lens has the best color reproduction, the sharpest center and least aborations.
This lens is also the punchiest of all my vintage 28s right out of the camera. ...Including my smc.. a... etc
It performs well with or without the Taukmar lens hood as well.
This is one of the best vintage 28mm K mounts IMO.
Defenitly the best value.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: March, 2011
Location: Maryland (Right Outside Washington DC)
Posts: 2,902
Review Date: April 22, 2011 Recommended | Price: $45.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Construction, Good IQ, Sharp, Focuses Close, 2.8
Cons: No "A" Setting (I prefer M Mode anyways)

Good 28mm Lens - produces good image quality w/ good color renditions. Pretty sharp after stopping down a couple clicks. One of the better MF 28mm lenses I have used in the past...
   
Senior Member

Registered: December, 2010
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 141
Review Date: December 24, 2010 Recommended | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Quality, cheap, good images
Cons: no SMC

I nice lens, full manual. The focal distances are marked in green for metres and blue for feet. Not very attractive compared to the light blue/yellow SMC Pentax style. A decent little performer. Not as sharp or contrasty as my SMC 28 F2.8 but quality still. My copy was made in Japan. Focus is a little stiff, aperature movement OK. As it was purchased second hand however I'm unsure if this is due to previous handling. Being very cheap and with decent quality means this lens comes to the sand and salt more than most. Recommended for manual Pentaxians on a budget........................................................

Cheap!.................. you could pay more for a Pentax Lens Cap!
   
Pentaxian

Registered: March, 2008
Location: Quebec city, Canada
Posts: 9,352
Review Date: July 7, 2008 Recommended | Price: $10.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Small, rugged, decent image quality
Cons: Aperture ring hard to operate
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 9    Value: 8   

I got this lens as part of an heirloom. I have not used it a lot except to test it, and my Sigma 17-70 covers the 28 mm focal length almost as well, but there's something about shooting with a prime...

Wide open, my homemade test shows it to be decently sharp. Close it one stop and it becomes very sharp, surprinsingly so for a "cheap" Takumar bayonet. The corners (even with an APS sensor) are not as sharp as the center. Contrast seems ok but not great, distorsion is not noticeable even when shooting a bookshelf.

The build quality is very good, and the lens has survived 20+ years looking almost new. However, the aperture ring is very hard to operate, and can hardly be turned if the lens is not mounted on a camera. The focus ring has a very short throw (45 degrees) but since it reaches "infinity" so fast, that's not a big issue. Still, focusing in low light can be hard since the focus area is so narrow. A split screen would help.

One nice thing about this lens is that it can be fitted with my Raynox 6600 wide angle converter, and the image quality remains decent (quite good in the center, passable in the corners). That gives me a usable 18,5 mm f2,8. Now THAT is nice! Stopping it down to about f8 makes the combination very sharp across the whole range.
   
New Member

Registered: November, 2007
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 7
Review Date: May 16, 2008 Recommended | Price: $40.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: lightweight, fairly sharp, good all around
Cons: adequate construction, average bokeh. lower contrast

Picked this up to play with on my DS, my first new lens on it to complement some M42s. It's a surprisingly good, solid lens. Similar in concept to the E series nikon lenses.

My copy is surprisingly sharp and has okay bokeh when wider open. Colours are a bit muted and contrast might be a tad low, but it has a personality to it.

I'd recommend to play with, 28mm on DSLRs is a nice range and the 2.8 max aperture makes this a pretty versatile little lens to use in situations where you don't mind exposing it to the elements etc.
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