Yashica 28mm f2.8 - lens review

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 Last winter I bought three Yashica lenses and this 28mm is one of them, along the 135 and the 50mm; it’ the most “humble” of the trio, being part of the basic, single coated DSB line. Yet, it doesn’t fall behind it’s sisters, in fact I would say it is better than the 135mm.

Yashica 28mm f2.8

 The body is made of metal and it weighs 220 grams, it is 40mm long when focused to infinity and 44mm when fully extended, with a 52 mm front thread.

The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2.8 to f16.

The focusing ring is textured, it turns 180 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 30 centimeters.

Contax Yashica mount flange distance is 45,5mm and adapters are easy to find.

 Sharpness is good wide open and it gets even better by stopping down a bit. Same goes for edge falloff. Background blur is not the softest, but it is not distracting either.

 Chromatic aberration did show up in some really high contrast areas, but I only noticed it because I was actively looking for it.

 The DSB single coating still handles flaring quite well and I haven’t had any issue with ghosting or loss of contrast using the lens without a sun hood, even shooting towards the sun.

 I also did a quick comparison between the Yashica and the Canon FD 28mm f2.8. They are quite similar in size, weight and rendering of color, but the Canon is noticeably sharper, brighter and ever so slightly wider.

 After testing the 135mm ML I wasn’t expecting much from the 28, especially considering it is part of the more affordable DSB line, but it turns out it is actually better than the 135.

 Sure, compared to the Canon you can see it’s not the greatest, but at the same time it is really not bad either. When I look at the samples I shot I am satisfied, pleased by the results. If I didn’t have the Canon, I would be perfectly fine using the Yashica in, well, any situation, to be honest.

Final verdict: it’s a good lens, nothing more, nothing less.

 I am currently working on the review of the 50mm f1.7, that will conclude our little excursus into Yashica lenses, but meanwhile don’t forget to check the full video for all the samples and if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments.



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