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New Member Registered: January, 2022 Location: Cov Posts: 8 | | Review Date: April 2, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp. Handles really Well. Nice size. Excellent Value | | Cons: | Lots of flare. Some CA | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-r
New Or Used: Used
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Nice sharp lens especially for the price I paid. Definitely one to keep. My copy is the early model with A contacts allowing it to work 100% natively with my dslr.
This is an 100% crop of the photo below.
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New Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Bucharest Posts: 17 | | Review Date: January 21, 2024 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | small, smooth, sharp | | Cons: | hard to find one considering it is such an old piece of kit | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: k5
New Or Used: Used
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I was gifted this lens from a friend who got it in a batch of camera equipment he bought. it has an incredible ding on the filter thread. i am surprised this lens is still optically ok. mechanically it has a problem with the aperture. it tends to stick open and practically i can only use it at f2.8 so all i have to say about it is for the wide open performance. i think it is very sharp. i have attached a sample that compares it to my Sigma 18-35mm ART. i have had an M28 f2.8 in the past and have used it for a long time. i liked it but not at f2.8. i think this Sigma is much better at wide open. i will try and fix the aperture because i really want to use this lens especially on my ME Super. The focusing is even smoother than on the Pentax M 50 1.4. My version also has the A setting on the aperture ring but it does not work. I think this lens is much better than the Pentax version.
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Junior Member Registered: February, 2023 Location: Berlin Posts: 44 | | Review Date: February 12, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, solid construction, smooth, size | | Cons: | none that I can tell | | Sharpness: 9
Bokeh: 7
Value: 9
Camera Used: K30
New Or Used: Used
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Very nice lens. Small, fast, sharp. Can't complain. Great value.
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Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,894 | | Review Date: July 6, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, light, good rendering, very sharp even wide open, nice bokeh, very useful close focusing | | Cons: | Not as well-built as an M series, flare, many copies are for Ricoh cameras and have the dreaded Ricoh pin | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-3
New Or Used: Used
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Back in the day there was fierce competition to provide wide (28mm) and telephoto (135mm) primes for people to add to the standard 50mm lens that came with the camera. This little Sigma must have been very close to the top of the pile because it's an excellent little lens that can be had for very little. It's light but still made of metal and compact. It handles well and is a pleasure to use on both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
Image quality is very good, with nice colour rendering, good contrast, nice out-of-focus rendering and it's very sharp even wide open. Many reviews warn of flare but it's not something I've experienced a great deal and when I have I've been able to control it and use it to add to the image rather than detract from it. Perhaps if you used this as a general use wide angle on FF or film then the sun and other light sources would be more problematic.
My copy has an A setting on the aperture ring but it's not compatible with Pentax's implementation of automatic aperture, it's compatible with Ricoh's system which means it has the dreaded Ricoh pin which can cause the lens to get stuck on an AF K-mount camera. I opened the lens up and removed the pin (rendering the A setting useless regardless of the camera used) for safety. It wasn't difficult.
The close-focusing capability of this lens is extremely useful and makes it a good lens for capturing little details.
All in all I'm very happy with the lens, especially for what it cost. It's far superior to the Pentax M series 28mm f/2.8 or /3.5 and compared to the A series 28/2.8, which it would have competed with back in the day, it's much sharper and has much nicer bokeh. In fact, the only classic 28mm lenses I've tried that I like more are the K and Vivitar (both Komine and Kiron) 28mm f/2s, which cost much more and are much harder to find. For most people looking to try an old 28mm lens this Sigma would be my recommendation.
The first two sample photos show examples of the flare put to (I think) good use.
DSCF1048a Sigma 28mm 2.8 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
DSCF1051a Sigma 28mm 2.8 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Fishy by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Hand by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Paint by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
DSCF1037a Sigma 28mm 2.8 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
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New Member Registered: February, 2015 Posts: 3 | | Review Date: March 17, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | cheap, construction, performance | | Cons: | flare/lensehood issue | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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lense its self is well discribed below, I'd better mention about lensehood and what I did.
The original hood of Sigma28/2.8 is a plastic flower cut and cost $15 in well used condition.
Why do I have to pay so much for just a hood with no good looking?
I bought Nikon's HN-3 metal hood for about $5 and it's still available for new!
The HN-3 screw in hood is for filter size of 52mm, can be attached without any adapter.
Hood is designed for 35mm lense or longer, but lot of example on Nikon Ai-As28mm and no problem ever reported.
I tried HN-3 on Sigma28mm and attached to ME-super, this works perfect.
A lense cap?
you can use 49 and 52mm Nikon's or 72mm Canon…oops.
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New Member Registered: December, 2014 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: December 9, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, cheap love its build quality | | Cons: | need a hood | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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Veteran Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: SoCal Posts: 518 | |
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New Member Registered: May, 2013 Location: Toronto Posts: 10
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 17, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $56.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp even at f/2.8, close focusing distance, metal construction | | Cons: | Lens flare | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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The angle of view is extremely versatile, allows for very nice close-ups too. The focus is very very sharp, The bokeh is ok - I'm giving it an "8". Handling is wonderful and focus ring quite nice. The only gripe - (this has already been pointed out by others) this lens has a flare problem.
Nevertheless, I would definitely recommended this lens.
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Veteran Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Kansas City, KS Posts: 1,612 | | Review Date: September 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Smooth focus, sharp, auto-aperture, nice crop on DSLR | | Cons: | None that I've found | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I keep this lens on my K-30 more often than not. The angle of view is extremely versatile, from street photography to landscapes and group shots, and the close-focusing abilities produce very nice close-ups of flowers and details of still lifes. It does almost everything!
The focus is very very sharp and my copy has no issues with blurred corners nor CA, at any combination of settings.
The bokeh is not as attractive as my 50mm Vivitar, but it does create acceptable "dreamy" backgrounds wide open, and particularly with some diffused or "golden hour" light.
The handling is wonderful and the focus ring is a pleasure to use. It could be a bit longer, but it is responsive and sure-footed.
Definitely recommended if you're looking for a lens in this focal length.
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| | | Review Date: December 6, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | good sharpness, cheap, build quality (for the price), smooth focus ring | | Cons: | flares (needs hood) | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I would really buy it, if i had such a nice possibility again! Solid build, very very! smooth focus ring, A-setting. It´s small and a such an universal focal length on aps-c.
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Inactive Account Registered: August, 2007 Location: Helsinki Posts: 2 | | Review Date: October 15, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small size, sharpness | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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Great little 28mm prime. Very sharp.
Here you can find more my experiences about it:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/42581450 | |
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Junior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 42 | | Review Date: September 27, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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I've used this lens for decades. It always delivers nice results.
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New Member Registered: January, 2010 Posts: 23 | | Review Date: September 27, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $19.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Close-up, sharper than Super Wide II, solid construction | | Cons: | Need good light to produce good image | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I had the original (Mk I) with Pentax k mount. Compared to its sibling, Super Wide II, I found that, to my surprise, it is sharper on corners/borders and more flare resistant. People often rave about Super Wide II and tend to ignore this sleeping beauty. Grab one while it is still cheap.
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Forum Member Registered: July, 2011 Posts: 76 | | Review Date: January 29, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very Sharp detailed images | | Cons: | Lens Flare Problem | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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I bought this lens from ebay recently. The one I have is older version of this lens which is without the 'A' setting meaning I cannot set auto aperture when using under aperture priority and have to use it in manual mode. To my knowledge the optics and glass are the same except for the 'A' setting. So my review will not be mentioning anything about this feature.
I love this lens, especially the unique look it creates for my pics. As its a 28mm lens on my aps-c pentax body it gives a field of view similar to that of a 42mm lens which is just short of 8mm from a 50mm lens. Anyway what I am trying to say is that the look created with this lens is more close to that of a 50mm lens [on full frame bodies] than a 50mm lens on an aps-c body which gives an field of view of 75mm. The images are sharp and crisp. Not much purple fringing [my 50mm has serious purple fringing issues under certain conditions]. Bokeh is very good though not as good as a 50mm 1.7 pentax but the blurring is quite smooth and not harsh but one or two occassions when shot from certain angles it might produce rough looking bokeh. Plus the aperture blades inside help create round looking bokeh lights compared to other lens with create hexagonal shaped bokehs When I shoot close ups I get to shoot more visual data than with a 50mm lens. Images are sharp even at 2.8 and supersharp at 11.
Now after all that praise let me add some criticism. This has already been pointed out by another reviewer and I fully agree with him that this lens has a lens flare problem . This happens especially if you are shooting directly or from certain angles of a light source such as street light or bright sun light. One thing which I dont agree with the other reviewer is the use of lens hood to solve this problem. It doesnt! I tried shooting pics with a lens hood on and sadly it produces lens flares and worse it's an ugly hexagonal shaped flare and not the cool looking round ones [which look kinda great]. I felt maybe this was happening due to stray light falling through the viewfinder and so I clicked a pic after covering the viewfinder but it still happens! Maybe fitting certain filters might solve the problem but I am yet to find out. But then I ask what use is a lens which has a feature which can only be solved when used with an external filter. By the way the lens flare is very pronounced in long exposures but in short exposures its not strong but can still be seen.
Below are two pics I clicked which highlight this problem:-
All said and done I still love this lens and should avoid using them in situations where bright lights are in front to avoid potential lens flares!
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Veteran Member Registered: February, 2008 Location: Modbury North, South Australia Posts: 351 | | Review Date: October 8, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Well built - mostly metal - clarity | | Cons: | Non really | |
Mine has the A contacts and is a perfect match for my 24/ 2.8.
This is a poor man's version of Pentax A but is probably more solid and less plastic.
As with many Sigma lens of this vintage it perhaps has a more blue/ cold look than the usual Pentax warmth in photos taken. Apart from that which can be corrected via PS it performs exceptionally. It is sharp from 2.8.
What a bargain.
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