Review: Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f1:2.8

Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f1:2.8

The Promaster Auto MC 28mm f2.8 lens offers a astonishingly bad overall image quality, but can be a compelling value proposition for those looking to buy a wide angle lens with money they find at random on the street. It's so cheap, this lens dares you to buy it. This lens also has very real paperweight potential, although that probably wasn't the intent of the manufacturer...or was it?

Search it on eBay!

Similar options to consider

1. Rokinon /Samyang 28mm f/2.8 M.C (much better optics for a moderately higher price)

At a glance

This lens was widely produced and sold under the brand names "Promaster" and "Focal" in the 1980s. It's among the softest wide-angle lenses I've ever tested at this focal range with the exception of the and, optically, there's virtually nothing impressive about it outside of its terrible sharpness, crazy chromatic aberration, wild looking bokeh, color rendering gone full on Rambo, gawd-awful contrast, and overall crap image quality.

Who manufactured it?

Knowing that Promaster typically teamed up Tamron and Sigma as a re-brand manufacturer, there's the temptation to attribute this optical monstrosity to one of them. However, this lens is a radically different sort of beast than any of the high quality, low price-point Promaster-Tamron or Promaster-Sigma lenses I'm familiar with. Given that Kmart also sold this lens under the Focal brand name and did not use Tamron or Sigma as a re-branding partner almost ever, I'm going to put my money on this lens being the product of one of their usual partners in crime - Cosina or Haking. Given that Haking had a reputation for abnormally bad optics around the time this lens was produced, my bets are on them as the manufacturer.

First Impressions

The moment I picked up the Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8 lens, I was struck by its solid, no-nonsense design. This lens, like many of its peers from the 1980s, is a throwback to a time when lenses were built to last. The all-metal construction feels robust in hand, giving you confidence that this piece of gear won’t let you down in the field. It’s compact, but there's a certain heft to it that suggests quality.

Unboxing the lens, I was met with a design that’s simple yet functional. The smooth focus ring, marked with distance scales, and the clicky aperture ring are both reassuringly tactile. In a world dominated by plastic, autofocus lenses, the manual operation of this lens feels almost meditative, like a throwback to the fundamentals of photography.

Image Quality (or lack thereof?)

When it comes to image quality, the Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8 is a surprisingly bad performer, even considering its age. The lens delivers consistantly poor images with low sharpness and contrast from the center of the frame right out to the corners, especially at wider apertures. This softness can add a massive degrees of "character," if you're looking for more of an effects lens.

Color rendition is objectively wild and has little bearing on reality, leaning towards otherworldly and might be more challenging than most to adjust in post-processing. The lens’s multi-coating doesn't seem to really do much, if anything. In fact I'm fairly confident that it makes things worse rather than better. though it's not on par with modern multi-coated lenses. Vigneeting is tolerable on this lens, but the barell distortion is the stuff of legends.

Bokeh

Bokeh isn’t what you’d buy this lens for, but it’s not without its charm. The six-blade aperture produces a decent out-of-focus rendering, with highlights appearing as hexagonal shapes rather than perfectly round balls. The bokeh can be a bit busy in some situations, but for close-ups and medium shots, it adds a pleasant separation between the subject and the background. If you’re looking to create that classic, slightly retro bokeh, this lens can deliver.

Build Quality

The build quality of the Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8 is easily one of its strongest attributes and nearly guarantees a lifetime of torment and continual dissapointment. It's quite possible this could extend to multiple generations should you decide to hand it down to someone you expressly dislike. As with many lenses from this period, the all-metal construction gives it a durability that’s rare in today’s market. The focus ring is smooth, with a good amount of resistance that allows for precise adjustments. The aperture ring, while not de-clickable, is solid and gives a satisfying click as you move through the stops.

While the build quality is very good, the lack of weather sealing means you should be cautious when using this lens in challenging conditions. Dust and moisture could potentially be an issue, so it’s best to keep this lens out the elements

Manual Focus Performance

Manual focusing with this lens is a breeze and another one of its strong points. The focus throw is long enough to allow for precise adjustments, making it ideal for careful composition in landscape or macro photography. The Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8 isn’t a lens for fast action or quick snapshots, but for those who enjoy taking their time with a shot, it offers a rewarding experience. The focus ring is well-damped, and the markings are clear and easy to read, which helps in achieving critical focus, especially in low-light conditions.

Feature Breakdown

This lens is a straightforward entry level tool designed for photographers who appreciate simplicity coupled with truly wild image quality. It doesn’t come with the bells and whistles of modern lenses, but what it does offer is a potential lifetime of underperformance for a price that dares you to buy it. The multi-coating may not reduce flare, but it'll give you spectacularly strange results in whatever style of photography you chose to shoot in.

Using a variety of adapters out on the market, this lens has compatibility with a variety of camera systems and thanks to the different mounts it was produced with, the adapter and SLR potential multiplies. Whether you’re using a vintage film camera or a modern digital camera with an adapter, this lens can bring something markedly different to your kit.

Optical Construction

The optical design of the Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8 is relatively simple but still manages to be ineffective. It consists of 7 elements in 7 groups, which theoretically should help to control aberrations and deliver a reasonably sharp image - epic fail here.

Let's look at this on the bright side

On the flip side, this lens can often be had for less than $10, so the cost to performance ratio could be compelling to those looking to start with an insanely cheap wide-angle that can be retired as a glorified paperweight. The novelty of how terrible it is could also be considered a major selling point...maybe. One additional up side to this lens could be just how good everything else you've ever shot on is going to feel by comparison after you're done with it.

Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f1:2.8

• Terrible perceptual center sharpness, unimagineably bad sharpness at the edges
• Magically transforms colors into those of an alternate universe
• Solid all metal body construction (the one good thing this lens has going for it)
• Heavy distortion
• Very, very bad chromatic abberation
• Soft accross the frame wide open at f/2.8, acceptable at f/8, best at f/11
• Distracting bokeh
• Best suited for landscape and architechtural photos where the end goal is to have an otherworldly look that can't be corrected in post

PROMASTER AUTO MC 28mm f1:2.8 Wide-Angle Vintage Lens (Images)

Technical Specifications

Features

Our Take on the Promaster/Focal MC Auto 28mm f/2.8

Equipment

The product images were captured using a Samsung Galaxy Note 9