Digital Moments, Yashica ML 28mm F2.8

Olympus E-P5, Yashica ML 28mm F2.8

Digital Moments, Yashica ML 28mm F2.8

'Image samples with the manual focus Yashica ML 28mm F2.8 legacy lens mounted on the Olympus E-P5'

An excellent lens by any standards, the Yashica ML 28mm F2.8 lens is part of the Yashica ML series, pro-line multicoated lenses developed and produced by Yashica (Kyocera) to bridge between their consumer grade DSB line and the state-of-the-art Zeiss T* within the Contax/Yashica system.

These lenses were made in Japan, at the same factory where the legendary Zeiss Contax T* lenses were made. Finished with a different coating, images rendition are slightly less contrasty, but colors and contrast are great. While not of Zeiss standards, these lenses do have their moments with acknowledgment of being of high quality.



The ML 28mm F2.8 is of 7 elements in 6 groups construction with 6 aperture blades and a minimum focusing distance of 0.3 meters, and as part of the ML series, these lenses share a common bayonet mount with the Contax RTS and Yashica FX-1 series cameras. Though not of all metal, the rings are plastic, the built quality of the lens is very good, with functions are all smooth and snappy.

A trait common to all these genres of manual focus legacy lenses is, of course, the cost factor which is definitely low priced when compared to equivalent lenses designed for current digital cameras. This cost is not much more even when you add a lens adapter to the total. The next best thing is that changing a camera body, all you need is to change the lens adapter to fit the lens to the new body, and you know perfectly well that this can be done for just a few dollars more.

On a 2x cropped-sensor digital camera body, for example, the E-P5 which is my normal digital camera, the lens is equivalent to a 56mm focal length lens, while on ASP-C sensor cameras with 1.5x crop-sensor, it will be a 42mm equivalent. The 40-55mm focal length range is the common standards for prime lenses of the 35mm film SLR cameras era.

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Yashica ML 28/2.8
Showcase - Yashica 28mm f/2.8 ML, CY mount