| Author: | | New Member Registered: June, 2017 Posts: 15 | | Review Date: January 4, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Tiny, lightweight and inexpensive | | Cons: | same with all basic 28mm, corners at F2.8 | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: P30 and adapted to M4/3
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This is the Vivitar 28mm F2.8 version made by Cosina - it has 5 aperture blades.
- I paid £8 GBP (about $10 USD) on UK eBay in January 2024
It is a 1980s-90s design which perfectly fits the design spec of taking 6x4 to 10x8 inch prints or 35mm transparencies for a projector slide show by amateur photographers.
It has all the weaknes you expect for these lenses:
- For those picture outputs unless you zoom in to see at pixel levels you won't see any chromatic aberration. But at 100% it has it in the corners in high contrast areas (and can be fixed in post process)
- At F2.8 the centre is sharp and the corners a bit soft, but by f5.6-8 it sharpens up across the frame.
- It needs a hood or a hand to shade it from veiling flare in sunlight.
- there is mild barrel distortion that corrects easily in post-processing
- It vignettes about a stop on full frame when wide open
Mine must be 30-40 years old and has been well used - as the lens mount shows wear but other than that it works well with a snappy iris.
Simply turning the front lens element unscrews it for cleaning - and the rear element is the same but needs a spanning wrench to get it free.
The K1, like all full frame digital cameras with big MP output, is cruel to amateur spec film-era wide angle lenses as you see all the faults magnified. But look what a 24-28mm full frame prime, or the APS 16-18mm equivalent costs today! For that you get many more lens elements as well as aspheric and high density glass with floating elements to correct CA for closer focus. They also are much bigger in size, are heavy and cost a sackful of salary.
If photography is your job, then pay up for modern glass - but for fun, these old lenses are great value! I use these on my 3xP30s that I got to enable me to keep enjoying film (usually 200asa colour negative, printed to 7x5") and love their tiny size and creative composition performance (as long as you remember to shade against flare).
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On M4/3 it makes a great "standard lens" with a bit of character with some of the "look" of an East German 50-58mmmm F2.8 "standard Lens" of the 1970-80s. Yes the Leica 25mm F1.4 for M4/3 has much better bokeh and has autofocus too - but the price difference is huge. I have several different PK mount 28mm's from different makers all of which offer something extra over the rather "neutral" behaviour of the costly native AF lenses. Shooting JPEGs for SOOC images these make great creative portrait lenses on the 1:2 crop size.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: June 28, 2018 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Small, cheap, very light, reasonably sharp | | Cons: | Not as good as the 24mm f/2,8 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 7
Camera Used: Fuji
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Paid quite a lot for mine but it is truly mint, as it has never been used before. Not collectible, but beautiful. Build quality is not outstanding, but I know it's quite solid because my 24mm looks exactly the same and had a long thrilling life.
It's a good lens, not as good as the Vivitar 24mm but renders similarly. It's reasonably sharp, very light and not too precious, may be important sometimes. Bokeh is average. My lens is not close focus at all, I use it on mirrorless cameras with a lens turbo.
It's probably not the best 28mm lens ever (although it can be very sharp when stopped down, as usual with almost every lenses), but regarding it's price, it's very decent. I like to use mine.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2012 Posts: 678 | | Review Date: January 26, 2017 | Not Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Very inexpensive, | | Cons: | Sharp in the middle, soft on the edges | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 5
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: K100D, K10D
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So I impulsively picked this little legacy lens up for a "Hamilton" because it was in NOS condition and in that respect, it did not disappoint. It's in its original box with all the paperwork, three pieces with print dates ranging from 1986, 1990 and 1995. Honestly, this thing looks like it's never been used, no signs of wear at all. It does have the dreaded Ricoh pin but while I briefly considered performing a 'pin-ectomy', but I ultimately decided it wasn't necessary. The pin is very, very tiny, really just a rounded bump that sticks up about the thickness of a fingernail and doesn't cause a problem with the two Pentax bodies I've tried it on. It twists on and off just as smoothly as any other lens. The trick is to put the camera into manual focus mode before installing the lens and turning the camera on so that the autofocus shaft stays retracted. Besides, it really would have been a shame to molest such a pristine looking lens.
Optically, the lens isn't all that great. it's sharp enough in the center but soft at the edges. I don't know that I'll be using it all that much but there might be some situations for it where its inherent weaknesses could be turned to creative advantage. I might have considered sending this lens back for a refund but I couldn't even buy a hamburger with what would be left over after the return postage, so I'll find an out-of-the way spot for it in one of my bags and not give it much further thought.
I stated above that I would not recommend this lens but I need to clarify that a little. My 'no' recommendation would apply mainly to DSLRs. On a legacy 35mm camera like a K1000 or an ME Super, it might just perform a little better, who knows...
UPDATE--I've played with this lens a little more and as I come to better understand its quirks, my results are getting better. They're still not exactly outstanding but they're definitely better than my first impression. As others have noted, it's a flare monster outdoors in the bright sun. A lens hood is a must. Fortunately, I've got a couple I can use. While I'm feeling better about my purchase, I'm still glad it only cost me $10 as it will never be one of my 'first string' lenses.
| | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2016 Location: Euless Texas Posts: 267 | | Review Date: December 28, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, Easy to focus, small, A contacts | | Cons: | Had to remove the evil Ricoh pin | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-S2
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i performed my first Ricoh pin surgery on this lens and the patient lived.
I love this little lens. From playing around with it today I found it is very versatile. I acquired it so I could add a wider prime than my 50mm.
The surprising aspect of the lens is it takes wonderful closeups in addition to wider shots. Most of the test shots were at F8 and they were nicely sharp.
My copy looks pristine and the pictures I took were sharp with good colors. I took some shots of the outside of my house in the late afternoon and caught a
tiny bit of flare. I do not have a little hood which will be my next purchase.
I plan to do a little shoot off with my Pentax 18-55 kit lens and will update the review after some comparisons.
I think this was a $25 well spent.
And now the obligatory cat picture;
 | | | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2015 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 6,273 | | Review Date: October 3, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, Fast, Cheap | | Cons: | Sharpness wide open | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-20D
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Amending my Review. I am finding this is a very versatile little lens. I don't have a "10" lens to compare to yet, but sharpness is very good in most shooting situations. I like the bokeh and I like small lenses so handling is very good IMHO. For the money you can't go wrong with this one.
Prior Review: I haven't used the lens enough to weigh in on the details. But for the price, it is definitely worth it. I got this one in brand new condition for about $35. it is very sharp at smaller apertures, not so good wide open. it seems to do best on color with a little underexposure. It is easy to focus. The macro focus is very usable. I haven't encountered the purple fringing mentioned before, but probably have not used it in the same conditions. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: SoCal Posts: 518 | | Review Date: July 21, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | inexpensive, light, fast, smooth focus | | Cons: | ca/purple fringing in high contrast light | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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For a $20 lens, it does the job well (used).
Only real complaints are for the purple fringing. This is the purple monster.
Very sharp - compared to my utility Sigma 18-200mm DC.
https://flic.kr/p/orMCpF | | |
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