18-28 Exakta for CY mount

[palom]

Does anyone knows something about this lens?
There are different versions, but I think that change only the brand name and the lens is always the same, made by someone in Japan?
It easy to find it on e-bay so I would like to know something about its quality.

Paolo

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I have one of these lenses bought from Foto Walser. The first one I had from them was poorish but as it also had a focussing fault (would not focus to infinity) I sent it back. After they ensured it was not operator error they replaced it and sent it back with some complimentary rolls of film. The second one is astonishingly good. I did not expect much given the low price and certainly it does not handle like a precision bit of equipment. However, once I had taken some pic's it was difficult to see any real significant difference in the results from a friend's 21-35 Leica APO-ROM, which cost about 10 times as much. It is not worth attaching a photo as only 300x300 allowed. Tell me an email address and I will send you a high res scan. Wilson

 

[skeeton]

Is the 18-28 Exakta the same lens as the 18-28 Sirius?

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I have just looked at my Exacta 18-28 and the country of manufacture is not declared on the lens or the instructions, although the box is all in German. I have seen suspiciously similar looking lenses marketed under the names of Centon, Samyang, Tron-tec and Tokina + others. I suspect they are all made in some back street bucket shop in the PRC, hence the quality varying almost as much as the focal length. Wilson

 

[bobbl46]

My Sirius 18-28 doesn't sound as bad as this description of the Exacta ... below!

I think the Sirius is a very nice budget lens ... and am not disappointed with the results. It does vignette slightly at 18mm and produces darker slides below about 20mm (never could figure out why!) ... a tweak of +1/2 will correct it.

Cheers, Kyocera Kid.

"Hi Robert,

You are right, the "Exakta" lenses are the same as "Samyang" lenses.

I have had the 18-28 zoom for about 6 weeks, and shot a lot of pictures
with it, but I never got good results. I sold it and bought a 17mm Tokina,
a much better lens.
The Samyang and Exakta lenses are made in Korea (

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, notice the "320kg" weight of the 500mm mirror lens....) and are sold
under a few brands. The built quality isn´t bad, the 18-28 zoom seems to
be a all metal construction, but with large tolerances: the front element
of the zoom could be shifted sidewards by about 1mm ! Sharpness was
acceptable when stopped down to f8, vignetting is high full open and
acceptable when stopped down. But what I really hate on this lens, are the
bad colours and very hard contrast. Pictures didn´t show fine structures
in darker areas and colour tends to blue-green. The Tokina however is
nearly "Zeiss"-like regarding contrast, sharpness and colour.
Save your money, don´t buy this zoom.

Dieter"

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I have been saying for the last year that it is a real lottery how good one of these lenses is. If you could only find a dealer with them in stock, take your Contax body along and try a few. It is immediately obvious when you get a good one, even in the viewfinder. Look for vignetting, distortion at 18mm, focus distance accuracy. If these are all acceptable at full open, once you stop down to say f8, you will never notice them up to at least 8" x 6" enlargements. If you regard this as a fun, holiday lens and get a reasonable one, you will not be disappointed. No, it's not a Planar G scoring 4.7 on Photodo but then how often do we need this quality of lens. I reiterate that I will send anyone interested a hi-res scan of its results and they may be surprised. I think in the last few months I have used it more often than my CZ VS 35-70, as I have tended to use my G2/45 Planar for mid range shots. Wilson