Pentacon 29mm f2.8 - lens review

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Last summer I reviewed the Pentacon 50mm 1.8, which has quickly become my single most used vintage lens and I’ve been looking for more Pentacon lenses since then so when, a few months ago, I saw an ad for a box of lenses and cameras among which was this Pentacon 29mm I just had to buy it.

For those of you who are not familiar with the brand, it was founded in 1959 in the German Democratic republic and it mass produced cameras and lenses, popularizing the m42 mount.

It still exists, by the way, but now it is in the injection molding and cnc turning business

The Pentacon 29mm weighs 220g, it is 44,5mm long when focused to infinity and 50mm when extended, with a 55mm front thread.

The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2.8 to f22, with a switch to select auto or manual.

The focusing turns 160 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 25cm.

Pentacon lenses come with an m42 mount.

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Sharpness wide open is good in the center, but it does fall off quite fast towards the edges. By f5.6 the center is very sharp, but corners are still soft.

Chromatic aberration did not show up in my tests, but wide open some blooming can be spotted.

Background blur is soft but might feel a bit busy. Boke balls wide open range from soft to soap bubbles and stopping down to f4 they become hexagonal, but not remotely as prominent as the 50mm.

And yes, shooting wide open, it does swirl.

I haven’t had any issue with ghosting, but it does flare a little when shining a light directly into the lens.


I also did a quick comparison between the Pentacon and the Canon FD 28mm 2.8. The Pentacon obviously has a tighter field of view and it is just a bit darker. Colors are way warmer than the Canon which has the upper hand in terms of sharpness, especially further away from the center.

 

Honestly, I was expecting a little bit more from this lens, but don’t get me wrong: it is not bad. It’s just not great. The swirly backgrounds and soft edges at wider apertures make this lens more of an artistic choice than a jack-of-all-trades and I would not recommend getting one unless you are specifically after that look.

And I have come to realize something: the Pentacon 29 might be the wide angle everyone’s looking for to match with the Helios 44; I’ll have to run some tests.

Check the full video for all the samples:



 

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