Yashica ML 28mm 2.8 "C" - any info?

[PhotoGog]

I have been offered this lens by a friend for my recently acquired Contax ST. Despite a thorough search online and in forums there is not much info about Yashica C line of ML lenses, particularly the 28mm. Can anyone shed some light in this? Such as, was it produced later in the run of MLs (1980s)? And how does it compare to the regular ML 28mm? Is it decent? Thanks in advance for any shared knowledge and opinions.

 

[Kai-san]

There isn't a lot of information on this issue, but from what I understand the C stands for Compact. These lenses have a different configuration and they are newer that the regular versions. It seems that the opinion on the web is that the C version is better. I do not have the 28mm (because I have the Zeiss 28mm), but I've got the ML 21/24/35/50 1.9/55 Macro/100 Macro and the 300mm C. In my opinion they are high quality lenses and I cannot see much difference from my Zeiss lenses in daily use. But I'm not checking my negatives with a microscope to see which are the best, that I leave to others. These lenses are all metal and glass, and if it looks and operates OK I would buy it. I'm not sure that the quality difference compared to Zeiss glass is worth the extra money.