Mamiya Sekor E 28/2.8 vs SMC Pentax 28/3.5

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 3225 Location: The Netherlands

Test at infinity. First an overview image:

VeldP8DSC00302 by devoscasper, on Flickr

The the 100% crops, center and far corner:

VeldComparison by devoscasper, on Flickr

Conclusion: center performance very good of both lenses at any tested aperture. At f/3.5, the corner sharpness is much better from the Pentax. At smaller apertures, the Pentax remains superior in this regard. Also CA's seem better corrected at all apertures. At f/11, the Pentax is really excellent up into the far corners. More tests are coming.

lumens pixel · Expire: 2021-06-25

Nice test, thank you.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

What camera did you use, full frame I take it?

Also, what adapter did you use for the Mamiya?

Thanks for sharing.

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 3225 Location: The Netherlands

OK. Some more tests:

First, direct sunlight.

DirecteZonComparison by devoscasper, on Flickr

The Mamiya holds up better than I expected. The contrast loss seems to affect a larger circle of the image around the sun when compared to the Pentax, but still, not bad at all IMO.

Next picture with direct sunlight (just outside of frame). Aperture f/8.

DirectSunlight by devoscasper, on Flickr

Both lenses do good. When you look at the bricks on the right, the Pentax shows more contrast. Color temperature differs, but this can be corrected in PP.

Close focus test. Distance to subject 30cm. Aperture f/3.5. First Mamiya:

BloemM35DSC00313 by devoscasper, on Flickr

Then Pentax:

BloemP35DSC00312 by devoscasper, on Flickr

Both lenses show plenty of detail when focused close. Bokeh of the Mamiya looks less busy to me. +1 for Mamiya.

A bokeh test:

ComparisonBokeh by devoscasper, on Flickr

Bokeh looks quite pleasing to me from both lenses. Mamiya offers slightly more isolation because of wider aperture. Pentax image is more 'poppy': more color saturation, more contrast.

Last image @f/8 including crops:

ComparisonKanaal by devoscasper, on Flickr

The crops of the Pentax look better to me (less flat image, more contrast, more saturation).

Final conclusion:
- I think the Mamiya E 28/2.8 shows solid performance. In most circumstances however, I think the Pentax is the stonger lens. So it remains my favorite classic 28mm. The Mamiya however offers slightly better bokeh, is faster, and much lighter than the Pentax. Interesting detail: the Mamiya seems to be fully made of metal, so no plastics like other lenses of the E(F) series.

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 3225 Location: The Netherlands

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2537

The Pentax is probably one of the most contrasty lenses. Even Leica shooters use it. (I have a PK to LM adapter that came with my first copy to prove that, sadly it had haze that blew out corners so I had to get another one.)

cbass · Joined: 27 Jul 2019 Posts: 450

Dejan · Joined: 05 Jan 2021 Posts: 152 Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Interesting comparison and more or less expected results for the Pentax lens, which is very usable even wide open. Still, I guess the biggest benefit is that flare resistance and (subjective matter, but still) nice colour rendering. Olympus 28mm F3.5 is even sharper, just can't compare in terms of flare resistance. I'm not sure any lens can, not within that budget.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1275

Thank you ,nice review , there's a 28mm 3.5 mamiya also, but not much info about it, did you ever used it before ? That's gotta be the k version of the Pentax I assume , one of the best vintage 28mm . Have you used a hood on these lenses for the test? Just curious how using it affect the final results

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 3225 Location: The Netherlands

I havenâ€™t used the Mamiya 28/3.5. Itâ€™s only a 5 element lens though, whereas the 2.8 is 8 elements in 7 groups.

I used (non original) hoods, except in the direct sunlight test.