Site Supporter Registered: October, 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 7,967 | | Review Date: April 30, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Small size and focal range on film. | | Cons: | Variable aperture and two touch design make it cumbersome to use. Too slow at the 50mm end. | | Camera Used: K Series film bodies (K1000, KM, KX, K2, K2DMD)
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The K28-50/3.5-4.5 was released in late 1976 or early 1977 and is the first Pentax wide angle zoom. It’s also the first Pentax zoom with a variable aperture and two touch zoom design. The K28-50 was retagged as an M28-50/3.5-4.5 zoom in April 1978. The M version is almost identical, except the K version weights 5 grams more and has a slightly shorter minimum focusing distance of .55 meters. (The M version is .6 meters)
The s/n range was also different between the K and M versions. The K version had a s/n of 5xxxxxx and the M a s/n of 6xxxxxx or 7xxxxxx. This is the same as with the K80-200/4.5 zoom when it was retagged as an M.
Optics:
The K28-50 has average optics and suffers from some distortion like all these old MF zooms.
Focal length:
28mm - 50mm covers the wide to standard focal range on film and makes a good walk around lens.
Build/Mechanics:
The K28-50 is very similar in size and weight to the M24-35 zoom, with the same good build. It’s a good lens for traveling. The K28-50 has a dedicated screw-on metal lens hood with a 52mm filter thread, that's also for the M28-50. The K28-50 is a two touch design which makes the lens cumbersome to use, as you have three rings in a short space. (Aperture, zoom and focus) It would have been better as a one touch zoom and there would be less chance of turning the wrong ring when you are looking through the cameras viewfinder. The K28-50 does not have a DOF scale which is missed on a wide angle lens.
Speed:
F3.5 is pretty good speed for the wide range, but f4.5 is too slow for the standard 50mm focal length. A constant aperture of f3.5 would have been preferred.
Summary:
I prefer the M24-35 or M24-50 zooms over the K28-50, so I probably will not be using it very much. The K28-50 will be relegated to my lens “collection” section, as it’s more of historical lens than a practical wide angle zoom.
Sample shots taken with the K28-50/3.5-4.5. Photos are low resolution scans from original slides or negatives
Camera: MX Film: Fuji Sensia ISO: 100
Camera: K2DMD Film: Kodak T-Max ISO: 400
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