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Olympus PEN E-P5, Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8

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Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8, First Impression

Digital Moments: A first look at the Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8, a three-ring legacy wide-angle prime from the 1960s.

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A good start with what I might find as a keeper - a relatively obscure and low-priced three-ringed (Focus, A-M, Aperture) legacy wide-angle prime from Sankor (also known as Sankyo Seiki), a third-party Japanese lens maker active in the 1960s-1980s, the Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8.

The lens is said to be a model from a bigger range of lenses from the same maker, and is known to be rebadged and sold as other variants, such as Optomax, Unitor, Lumax Gold Star, Series E, Mayfair, and more.

The lens, a solid all-metal and glass most commonly found with a M42 mount, is a three-ring built, with the front-most being a very long throw (almost a complete 360°) focus ring, the middle an A-M (Auto/Manual) setting ring.

Typically located near the mount on other M42 lenses, the switch on the ring allows the lens to operate in either Automatic (A) or Manual (M) mode. The third (last) ring is the aperture control, with indented markings for its range from f/2.8 to f/16.

The comparatively bulky and relatively heavy fully manual wide-angle prime (when compared to later generations of wide-angle 28mm primes) is cited to have a 7 or 8 element optical formula, depending on the version, with 5 aperture blades, takes 62mm filters, and weighs approximately 200 grams on the kitchen scale.

While the lens is not regarded as a high-performance lens, its unique vintage render makes it a fun and characterful choice for vintage enthusiasts looking to experiment with vintage and legacy lenses compatible with their cameras. Images are pretty sharp when shot wide open, and will probably be a lot sharper when stopped down. 

The lens, which came with an FD mount and fitted to the 16MP CMOS Olympus PEN E-P5 via an FD-M4/3 lens adapter, equates to a 56mm normal lens on a full-frame camera. Focal lengths in the 40mm to 58mm range (on full-frame equivalent) are generally considered 'normal' because the lens provides a view close to the human eye's natural perspective.

The focal length, with its ability to compress and highlight subjects effectively, is an excellent choice for portraiture, with pleasing subject isolation and bokeh, and is also a versatile asset for street, product, food, and landscape photography. Its slight bulk, however, may not do too well if the lens is to be used as a 'one-lens' for enthusiasts who want to travel light.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Auto-Sankor 28mm f/2.8

Images for these first impression shots were taken wide open in Aperture Priority mode with the lens indexed in the PEN E-P5's lens register as a 28mm, with Peak Focusing aid.

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Kiron 28mm f2.8 MC

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Kiron 28mm f2.8 MC

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"Ramadan Kareem, All!"

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Kiron 28mm f2.8 MC

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Kiron 28mm f2.8 MC

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"Happy CNY 2026, Everybody!"

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Kiron 28mm f2.8 MC, Crops And Close-Ups

Digital Moments: First impression crops and close-ups with the Kiron 28mm f/2.8 MC, a legacy prime, mounted on the Olympus PEN E-P5.

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Ramadan Kareem, All! Time for the annual break (by Wednesday or Thursday) from the hustle and bustle of city walks and street shoots, as daily routines change and time schedules are re-adjusted, and a chance for a look back and refresh to clear a month's worth of backlog.

An interesting recent GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) find is the Kiron 28mm f/2.8 MC, a character-rich manual-focus wide-angle legacy prime manufactured by Kino Precision in the 1980s.

The lens is a robustly built 7-element, 7-group design with 6 aperture blades. It has a minimum focusing distance of 0.30 meters, measures 64mm × 57mm, accepts 55mm filters, and weighs around 284 grams.

For the vintage enthusiast, the lens has the potential of doing well as a sharp and bright low-cost alternative to the standard normals as normally seen on digital mirrorless with 2x or APS-C crop sensors.

The lens, available with various mounts including M42, Pentax K, Minolta MD, Canon FD, Nikon F, Olympus OM, and Yashica C/Y, is also reportedly sold as the Vivitar MC Wide Angle 28mm F2.8.

Where mentioned, however, references to the lens could very well be to its other sibling, the Kiron 28mm f/2, rather than to the f/2.8 itself, which is rather obscure and is missing its due attention.

Despite its age (as it was manufactured in the 1980s) and, in part, a testament to its build quality, the all-metal and glass lens I acquired is still in pristine condition, spick and span, with a clean and tidy barrel full of sheen. It looks well cared for and functions flawlessly.

The well-damped focus ring is incredibly smooth, just like the clicked aperture ring, while the elements are visually clean and clear, with only minimal dust visible under LED light.

On mirrorless cameras with 2x crop sensors, like the Olympus PEN E-P5 the lens was tested on, the lens in equivalent to a 56mm lens on a 35mm full frame camera, a focal length considered to be on the border between standard and short telephoto, ideal for general photography like street scenes, portraits, and everyday use for sharp and flattering images with natural perspective as the eye sees.

On APS-C digital SLR cameras with 1.5x crop sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 40mm lens on a 35mm full frame camera, the 'sweet spot' focal length for photography, a very versatile focal length that mimics human vision with minimal distortion, making it ideal for capturing realistic scenes without feeling too wide or too tight. The focal length is excellent for travel, street, and documentary photography, as well as for close-up details, architecture, and casual portraits.

Images, as processed, are uniquely warm and vintage, sharp when stopped down, and on the crop-sensor, do not show much of vignetting, flaring, or chromatic aberration. While the lens may not be razor-sharp wide-open, the nuances of artistic qualities that vintage lenses have over modern sharpness and clarity are the advantage that vintage enthusiasts are looking for over modern glass.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Kiron 28mm f/2.8 MC

The Olympus PEN E-P5, a top-of-the-line Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera introduced by Olympus in 2013, is fitted with an advanced 16MP Live MOS sensor, TruePic VI Image Processor, a top shutter speed of 1/8000 second, an ISO Range from 100–25600 (native 200–25600, extended 100), and a tilting 3.0-inch 1.04 million-dot touchscreen.

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

Digital Moments: Image making with a legendary cult classic, the Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 mounted on a 2013 vintage Micro Four Thirds Olympus PEN E-P5.

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The Helios 44-2 58mm f/2, from the series of Helios-44 lenses made by KMZ, MMZ, and other factories in Soviet Russia from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, is a renowned Soviet-era cult classic M42 mount preset aperture lens.

The compact and durable all-metal and glass design, based on the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm f/2, has a 6-element, 4-group construction with 8 aperture blades.

The lens offers a minimum focus distance of 0.5 meters with a magnification ratio of 1:6.5 at the closest focus point, accepts 49mm filters, and weighs about 270 grams. The often stiff and click-less preset ring is featured at the front of the lens.

The lens is known for its distinctive 'swirly' bokeh, strong center sharpness, and vintage rendering, characterized by moderate contrast and vignetting at wide apertures. It was introduced as the kit lens for the Russian-made Zenit 35mm SLR film camera series and features a well-recessed front element, which is almost a semi-hood to help protect it from stray light. On PentaxForums, the lens has a Sharpness rating of 8.8, an Aberrations rating of 8.4, a Bokeh rating of 9.5, a Handling rating of 8.4, and a Value rating of 9.7.

The Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 is also said to be the most mass-produced lens ever, seen in many versions and iterations, including an early 44 with 13 blades, the 44-2 as shown here, the 44M-4, 44M-6, and 44M-7. While the 'M' designation indicates a M42 mount version, the lens is also available with a 'K' designation for PK-mount versions. Often regarded as the best in terms of image control is the MC 44M-7, which has many fake versions circulating.

On a 2x crop sensor Micro 4/3 mirrorless digital, the 58mm focal length lens is almost equivalent to a 120mm short-telephoto lens on a 35mm full-frame, a useful focal length for everyday use, travel, landscape, wildlife, and event photography.

Just as well, if you are into portraits, the focal length allows for a comfortable distance between the camera and subject for detailed, flattering images with a pleasing background blur.

On its own, the focal length, which can be considered a versatile 'all-in-one' lens, is ideal for photographers who want to pack light and treat the lens as a go-to option for a single-lens setup. The focal length is also excellent for macro photography, for close-ups of small subjects like insects and plants, and has the potential to highlight intricate details.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Helios 44-2 58mm f/2

The Olympus PEN E-P5, a compact premium Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera released by Olympus in 2013, comes with an advanced 16MP Live MOS sensor, a top mechanical shutter speed of 1/8000 second, an ISO Range from 100–25600 (native 200–25600, extended 100), TruePic VI Image Processor, supported by a 5-axis in-body image stabilization similar to the system on the OM-D E-M5, focus peaking for manual‐focus precision, 9 fps continuous shooting, built-in Wi-Fi, and a tilting 3.0-inch 1.04 million-dot touchscreen. The Olympus PEN E-P5 was succeeded by the Olympus PEN E-P7 in 2021.

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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