"Distinctive", as used here, can mean different things to different people.
I can't recall ever having a bad ("non-distinctive?" 28 from anyone (mostly SLR-based: Canon FD, Nikon, Minolta AF and Pentax K). I like my current 28 M-Hexanon "lots." It's not so much "distinctive" as it is simply a really well-designed, solidly-built optic with no odd performance tics, and whose "signature" matches my 50 and 90 M-Hex lenses, which for me is a bigger deal.
Having only one stand-out piece of glass in my possession won't do it for me. Put another way, Derek Jeter is a hell of a player, but he can't get the Yankees to postseason play all by his lonesome. (Yeah, as a Mets fan, I just had to bring that up, right?)
- Barrett