Review: Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 Lens

The Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 Lens stands as a testament to Mamiya's commitment to optical excellence and innovation. With its wide-angle perspective and fast aperture, this lens offers photographers a versatile tool for capturing stunning landscapes, architectural details, and environmental portraits.

Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm F/2.8 Lens

Unleash your creativity with the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 Lens. This versatile lens offers stunning image quality, fast aperture, and a wide focal length, making it perfect for capturing landscapes, architecture, and portraits with exceptional clarity and detail.

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First Impressions

The moment you pick up the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 lens, you can’t help but appreciate its vintage charm. This lens is a relic from the days when Mamiya was producing lenses that were more than just functional—they were finely crafted pieces of photographic art. The lens is compact, but it carries a reassuring weight that hints at the quality of the materials used. Like many of the lenses of its time, it’s a metal and glass affair, with none of the plastic components plastic that you typically see in so many modern lenses.

When I first attached it to my camera, I immediately noticed how well it balanced. It’s neither too heavy nor too light, making it a pleasure to use, whether you’re out for a quick street shoot or spending hours chasing the perfect landscape shot. The focus ring is smooth, with just the right amount of resistance, making manual focusing a joy rather than a chore. This is a lens that feels like it was made for photographers who appreciate the craft, not just the end result.

Specifications

Features

History and Background

The Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 lens hails from the golden age of Japanese lens manufacturing, a time when companies like Mamiya were at the forefront of innovation and quality. Mamiya, primarily known for its medium format cameras, also made a significant impact in the 35mm world with lenses like this one. The "Auto" in its name refers to the automatic aperture mechanism, which was quite advanced for its time.

This lens was designed for photographers who needed a reliable wide-angle option without breaking the bank. It’s a classic example of Japanese engineering—solid, dependable, and capable of producing stunning images. While it wasn’t the top-of-the-line lens in Mamiya’s lineup, it has garnered a dedicated following over the years for its combination of performance and affordability.

Image Quality

The Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 delivers image quality that’s surprisingly good, even by today’s standards. Wide open at f/2.8, the center sharpness is impressive, though you’ll notice some softening towards the corners—a common trait in vintage wide-angle lenses. Stop it down to f/5.6, and the lens really shines, with edge-to-edge sharpness and excellent contrast.

Color rendering is natural, with a slightly warm tint that adds character without overwhelming the scene. Chromatic aberrations are well controlled, especially considering the lens’s age. Flare can be an issue when shooting directly into the sun, but a good lens hood or some careful composition can mitigate that.

Sharpness

Sharpness is one of the standout features of this lens, particularly in the center of the frame. At its widest aperture of f/2.8, you’ll get a pleasing level of sharpness that’s more than adequate for most uses. As you stop down, the sharpness improves noticeably, making it a great lens for landscape and architectural photography where detail is crucial.

The corners, as mentioned earlier, are softer wide open but sharpen up significantly by f/8. This makes the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 a versatile lens, capable of handling everything from wide-open portraits to finely detailed landscapes.

Bokeh

Let’s be honest—bokeh isn’t exactly a priority with a 28mm lens, especially one with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. That said, the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 does produce a pleasantly smooth out-of-focus area when you do manage to isolate a subject. The bokeh is gentle and unobtrusive, adding a nice separation between the subject and background without drawing too much attention to itself.

In practical use, you’ll find that the bokeh is most noticeable when shooting close-ups, where the shallow depth of field can really help your subject pop against a blurred background.

Build Quality

The build quality of the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 is what you’d expect from a vintage lens: rock solid. It’s constructed entirely of metal, from the barrel to the mount, giving it a durability that’s hard to find in modern lenses. The focus ring is silky smooth, offering just the right amount of resistance for precise manual focusing.

The aperture ring clicks with authority, and the overall feel of the lens is one of quality and longevity. However, like most vintage lenses, it’s not weather-sealed, so you’ll want to be cautious when shooting in adverse conditions. Still, this is a lens that was built to last and, with proper care, it should keep delivering beautiful images for decades to come.

Manual Focus Performance

Focusing manually with the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 is a tactile pleasure. The focus ring is well-damped and has a long throw, allowing for precise adjustments. Whether you’re shooting landscapes or street scenes, the manual focus performance is more than up to the task. It’s also a great lens to use with digital cameras that have focus peaking, as the sharpness and clarity make it easy to nail focus every time.

For film shooters, this lens is a dream to work with, offering the kind of hands-on control that makes photography feel like an art form rather than a technological process.

Feature Breakdown

The Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 is a straightforward lens with no frills, but it does the basics exceptionally well. It features a manual focus ring that’s smooth and responsive, a solid metal build that feels great in hand, and an aperture ring that clicks into place with satisfying precision. It’s a lens that doesn’t rely on gimmicks or advanced technology—it simply performs.

While it lacks modern features like autofocus or image stabilization, it more than makes up for it with its build quality and optical performance. This is a lens that’s all about the fundamentals, and it excels in every way that counts.

Pricing and Availability

Given its age and the general wear and tear that comes with vintage lenses, the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 is still relatively easy to find on the used market. Prices typically range from $50 to $150, depending on condition and whether it includes the original lens cap or hood. For the optical quality and build you’re getting, it’s a steal.

This lens offers tremendous value for anyone looking to explore vintage photography without spending a fortune. It’s an affordable way to add a quality wide-angle prime to your collection, and it pairs beautifully with both film and digital cameras.

Conclusion

The Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 is a fantastic example of what vintage lenses have to offer. It combines solid build quality with impressive optical performance, all wrapped up in a package that’s both affordable and enjoyable to use. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or someone just starting to dip their toes into the world of manual focus lenses, this Mamiya/Sekor is a worthy addition to any collection.

Its sharpness, character, and build make it a versatile lens for a wide range of photographic applications. So if you’re looking for a lens that will not only deliver great images but also make the process of taking those images enjoyable, the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm f/2.8 should be on your shortlist.

Images of the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm F/2.8 Lens

Images Captured by the Mamiya/Sekor Auto 28mm F/2.8 Lens