28mm Options

[Al Kaplan]

Raid, either you're extremely lucky or maybe you got one of them that had been fixed by Minolta. When I bought mine new it was rated by Modern Photoraphy magazine to be as good as the Elmarit but half the price. Within a year I regretted the decision.

 

[venchka]

Agreed!

Agreed!

Hexanon 28/2.8 is a nice choice also.

Easily fits the upper end of your budget.

Unless you like flare. If you like flare, skip all Konica rangefinder lenses. They just won't flare. 😎

Look at my Backroads Gallery. The photos from Winnsboro taken 12/09/06 are all taken with the 28mm M-Hexanon and I think all were wide open.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/venchka/backroads/

As for 28mm framelines: The M5 doesn't need them. Use the entire viewfinder window. Works just fine.

 

[ERV]

I also like older less contrasty (pre-modern formula) lenses however
I shot all of my trip to Morocco last year with two M6's and two lenses,
a 35mm Summilux pre-asph and a Zeiss 28mm.
The Zeiss is a beautiful lens with sharp, rich colors.
It is probably not what you are looking for but it does have a distinctive look all its own.
My Flickr site has a collection of Morocco images made with it.

 

[raid]

Raid, either you're extremely lucky or maybe you got one of them that had been fixed by Minolta. When I bought mine new it was rated by Modern Photoraphy magazine to be as good as the Elmarit but half the price. Within a year I regretted the decision.

Well, I traded an M5 for that lens plus a few other goodies. Someone offered me $600 for it, but I refused to sell the lens. It is that good. It is also faster than many 28mm lenses on the market.

I have the Canon 28mm/3.5 for a distinct look that I like, and since it is not an expensive lens, there is no incentive to sell it.

The Kobalux 28mm/3.5 is not really needed by me, but I found out that it gives a beautiful pastel palette with Reala film. It is a special match in color-heaven. Now I m stuck with three 28mm lenses.

 

[kbg32]

I had a Canon 28/3.5. Maybe it was my specimen, but it is definitely low contrast. As far as sharpness goes, I thought it was "mushy". If you can find one, get a Leitz Elmarit 28/2.8 Second Version. Beautiful character. Wonderful sharpness and contrast. It seems to "draw" an image, not just photograph it.

 

[wlewisiii]

I had a Canon 28/3.5 and it is _the_ lens I miss the most from going back to Contax mount from LTM. Sharp, tiny & just a sweet little gem of a lens.

Definately the best bang for little bucks in wides.

William

 

[raid]

Keith: Maybe your example was a bad lens. My 28/3.5 is very sharp, as William is viewing his lens.

 

[Erik L]

any ideas where i can pick up the avenon/kobalux 28mm?
or even the nikkor one, i like its look

 

[raid]

any ideas where i can pick up the avenon/kobalux 28mm?
or even the nikkor one, i like its look

Erik,

What is your budget for the 28mm lens with finder? Send me a pm.

 

[v3cron]

I ended up getting a Minolta for about $360 from KEH. Their BGN condition rating probably means the spotting is minimal. We'll see when it gets here. Also got an external finder, since my glasses prevent me from seeing the whole finder on my M4-2.

 

[swoop]

I'm shocked no one has mentioned the 28mm f2 Ultron.

 

[tedwhite]

SWOOP: Rover mentioned it. I think he said he was waiting for it to come out. There's a thread somewhere on RFF about the Ultron 28/2 and people really like it. I've been using a borrowed Ultron 29/1.9. It's also very good, but bigger and heavier. Unfortunately rff'er desertshooter had the never to ask for it back the other day, so I'm back to my cv 35/2.5. The Ultron F2 will be my next lens. Saving for it even as we speak.