Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

OSAWA MC 28/2.8? (Very Compact!)
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Scheimpflug wrote:
Also, I took some measurements of my lens.

Diameter at the aperture ring grip: 63mm
Diameter at the focus grip: 58mm
Diameter at the center barrel: 56mm

Length measured from the mount: 31mm
Length measured from the rear element: 39mm

Weight (kitchen scale): ~180g


I'd like to see some tests from this lens.
If it tests well this could be a perfect lens for a Minolta X3 To X700 series.
Providing I can find one in MD.

Measurements wise it's about the same size as a Minolta 45/2 pancake.
Except the length is approx 3mm less on this lens. Shocked


PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="walter g"]
Scheimpflug wrote:
Also, I took some measurements of my lens.

I'd like to see some tests from this lens.
If it tests well this could be a perfect lens for a Minolta X3 To X700 series.
Providing I can find one in MD.



Huh! I have about eight 28mm lenses that are sharper than my Osawa, even my Kiron 28-105mm is sharper @28mm. Of course I could have a bad copy but it's in mint condition and not abused.
If you want a nice 28mm lens for your X-700 I'd go for a Vivitar 28mm close focus.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="Excalibur"]
walter g wrote:
Scheimpflug wrote:
Also, I took some measurements of my lens.

I'd like to see some tests from this lens.
If it tests well this could be a perfect lens for a Minolta X3 To X700 series.
Providing I can find one in MD.



Huh! I have about eight 28mm lenses that are sharper than my Osawa, even my Kiron 28-105mm is sharper @28mm. Of course I could have a bad copy but it's in mint condition and not abused.
If you want a nice 28mm lens for your X-700 I'd go for a Vivitar 28mm close focus.



Oh well, it was the perfect size so I was hoping it was a sharp lens.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
walter g wrote:


Oh well, it was the perfect size so I was hoping it was a sharp lens.


The digital guys are not so interested in Minolta bayonet, so there are some nice lenses going cheaper, so why get an Osawa when you can get the vivitar mentioned.
I wonder what this Hanimex 28mm is like that I have won:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150482681758&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT


PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:
walter g wrote:


Oh well, it was the perfect size so I was hoping it was a sharp lens.


The digital guys are not so interested in Minolta bayonet, so there are some nice lenses going cheaper, so why get an Osawa when you can get the vivitar mentioned.
I wonder what this Hanimex 28mm is like that I have won:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150482681758&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT


I've already got some nice 28mm lenses. And thanks, I have considered the Vivitar close focus lens. Actually I haven't found one when I had the cash. But it is on the list.

What I really want is a 28mm pancake in MD or tmount, ys, etc.
If youve used a Minolta 45/2. That's exactly what I want in a 28mm..


PostPosted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Where's the samples?????????? Razz


PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
walter g wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
walter g wrote:
I'd like to see some tests from this lens.
If it tests well this could be a perfect lens for a Minolta X3 To X700 series.
Providing I can find one in MD.

Huh! I have about eight 28mm lenses that are sharper than my Osawa, even my Kiron 28-105mm is sharper @28mm. Of course I could have a bad copy but it's in mint condition and not abused.
If you want a nice 28mm lens for your X-700 I'd go for a Vivitar 28mm close focus.

Oh well, it was the perfect size so I was hoping it was a sharp lens.


fatdeeman wrote:
Where's the samples?????????? Razz



Haha. Very Happy

So I have done some preliminary testing. I'll have to wait for daylight to do the "real" tests, but here's my first round assessment:

* Sharpness is not a problem for this Osawa. At f/2.8, it is definitely sharper than my older Soligor. At f/8, they seem to be pretty much even.
* Bloom/glow is significantly better on the Osawa, especially when wide open and with bright highlights.
* Background bokeh seems to be a touch smoother on the Osawa (less pronounced edging than the Soligor)
* Surprisingly, the Osawa appears to have lower contrast? I don't have a good explanation for that one...
* Both lenses have a minimum focus distance of 0.3m. On the Soligor, it takes a bit over 3/4 of a turn to go from 0.3m to infinity, while the Osawa takes less than half a turn. It is definitely easier to focus much more quickly with the Osawa, but probably more difficult for very accurate focusing.


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 6:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have made another discovery: There appears to be about two stops of exposure difference between the two lenses. Shocked

If I put the Osawa on the D40 and establish an aperture and shutter speed that gives a good exposure, then the Soligor at the same settings will give an image which is overexposed. Likewise, if the exposure is set with the Soligor, then the equivalent Osawa image will be underexposed. Confused If I change the shutter speed, I can achieve nearly identical exposure histograms from both lenses.

I don't know if this is just tolerances between manufacturers, or if one of my two lenses needs an adjustment? Perhaps it could even be truth-stretching for marketing purposes? Both lenses open up completely at f/2.8 (no aperture blades visible), and stop down to reasonably small openings. The Osawa stops down further, but then again it should (f/22 min aperture vs f/16 for the Soligor).

I have a suspicion that this difference is part of the reason why the Osawa appeared to have lower contrast in my first set of test shots. It would have been two stops underexposed.... Neutral



walter g wrote:
Oh well, it was the perfect size so I was hoping it was a sharp lens.

Here is a quick pair of samples to show the sharpness. I think I used f/5.6 for both of the shots. They were cropped and resized to 50%, and given the one-click auto white balance in GIMP, but are otherwise straight from the camera. I hadn't yet figured out the exposure difference when I took these, so they probably aren't good enough samples to compare contrast or color, just sharpness. Wink

Osawa:


Soligor:


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
... and here are some 100% crops of the same images:

Osawa:


Soligor:




Osawa:


Soligor:


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well I dug out my Osawa as I bought a Hanimex 28 F2.8 it was this one @ £5.50:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HANIMEX-MC-AUTO-1-2-8-f-28mm-LENS-EXCELLENT-CONDITION-/150482681758?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item2309777f9e

Well I compared the two (in an unscientific way) and would say the Hanimex was a bit sharper than the Osawa, but these lenses fit into the saying.... "you get what you pay for".


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 5:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Scheimpflug
Thank you. Smile
I'm going to try to find one in MD. It's alot sharper at 5.6 than the Soligor. Shocked


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
walter g wrote:
Scheimpflug
Thank you. Smile
I'm going to try to find one in MD. It's alot sharper at 5.6 than the Soligor. Shocked


It is, isn't it? The difference is especially noticeable as you move away from the center of the frame... The center sharpness seems to be about the same, but the Osawa is much better toward the edges.

I wish I had one more 28mm to compare these two against. In particular, to figure out which one is the outlier for the exposure difference. Neutral

Here's a MD mount version that seems to be the same series as mine:
Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:
Well I dug out my Osawa as I bought a Hanimex 28 F2.8 it was this one @ £5.50:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HANIMEX-MC-AUTO-1-2-8-f-28mm-LENS-EXCELLENT-CONDITION-/150482681758?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item2309777f9e

Well I compared the two (in an unscientific way) and would say the Hanimex was a bit sharper than the Osawa

Thanks for checking that. I am pretty sure that yours is a different design than mine... It looks like the rear element is definitely different, would you mind taking a picture of the front and rear of the lens?

It would also be interesting to see your unscientific test results, if you wouldn't mind sharing them. Cool The best I can do is compare mine to my Soligor - your comparison should be just as informative!


Excalibur wrote:
but these lenses fit into the saying.... "you get what you pay for".

It is great timing that you should mention that, because I just came across a huge price list for 60s/70s/80s lenses:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060508222338/http://medfmt.8k.com/third/table1.txt

There are 1,612 lenses in the list, 89 of which are 28/2.8s, and one of those which is an Osawa. Of those 89, the Osawa ranks #28 when sorted by price... with 61 lenses being cheaper. If you look at just the local year range (the Osawa was a '79, so we'll look at 78-80), the Osawa ranks 2nd most expensive out of 14, ahead of the Cosina, Kiron, Tokina, and other well-known names. Shocked


So I'm not quite getting the feeling that these were cheap lenses... I think they just for whatever reason didn't catch on, and as such, nobody today really knows about them or is willing to risk buying one, hence the current prices are quite low.

Searching for information on the web finds very very little - certainly nothing about there being multiple versions or manufacturers, and mostly just generalizations about the quality. No samples, that I could find. I'm hoping that we can pull together a bit more data here, from a few of these different generations, and get a better picture of how they progressed. Cool


PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
**So I'm not quite getting the feeling that these were cheap lenses... I think they just for whatever reason didn't catch on, and as such, nobody today really knows about them or is willing to risk buying one, hence the current prices are quite low.***

Surprised erm well the Osawa is nicely made on the outside and is pretty Surprised





Unscientific comparison between Osawa 28mm and Hanimex 28mm...different film and different days and different cameras and I've tried to get the best results from each lens so have sharpened results in PS.

Osawa 28mm


Hanimex 28mm


Osawa 28mm


Hanimex 28mm


...also I know my own back garden and use it for test shots, and this Osawa shot might be pretty but it's not as sharp as my other lenses:-


Hanimex 28mm wide open


Hanimex 28mm at f5.6


PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here's few examples of my Osawa 28/2.8 in Yashica/Contax mount, without post production. Shot with Olympus e-30. Imported to Lightroom as RAW and exported in full size, without PP. All were shot at f4.
My impression: not the sharpest of lenses with nice close focus capabilites.

iso 200:


iso 400:


iso 500:


PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Old post resurrection!
Laugh 1

Just thought I'd add in regards to the info given on the original post's pictured Soligor C/D.

That Soligor C/D 28mm f/2.8 was made by Sun Optical, and was also sold as an Osawa. I have this lens but under another name (Aston DX).

I think QC is an issue, but a good copy is an excellent 28mm. Performance as good as a competing Minolta MD. The multi-coat yields a warmer rendering favoring earthy tones and green and yellow. Blues are less vibrant.
I believe it's a 7 element in 7 groups formula. It's sharp across the field, good contrast and depth, no aberrations.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2