# Rokinon 28mm f/2.8......



## Stradawhovious

Worth the $30 to toy around with, or are they just junk?

Haven't seen much on the on the intrawebs, so I'm assuming the latter...


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## Stradawhovious

Too late! I bought it. Item can be found here. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=160539895782&si=URyVmFjURy3w4c8uqOHX9IQ0tB0%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Advertised as NIKON AI mount, so should mount and meter on my D7000.....and for 30 bucks, even if its a piece of **** it will look good on the bookshelf.


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## Davor

would love to see how the pictures turn out on this


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## Stradawhovious

Davor said:


> would love to see how the pictures turn out on this


 
You and me both.  

When it arrives, I will fire up the Madd Photographist Skillz I have been honing (through the purchase of more equipment of course) and post up some images that will knock yer socks off...........

Or make you herniate yourself with laughter.... one or the other.

Either way, I will post some images when I get it..


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## RockstarPhotography

can't wait......


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## 100010011100

so cool!


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## Stradawhovious

100010011100 said:


> so cool!



How's that post count coming?


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## Ron Evers

I bought a Vivitar 28/2.8 for the same money.  It had a dint in the front that did not allow a filter to be mounted that was not declared in the ad.  I was able to tap it out so as to not be noticible & mount filters.  Nice little lens.  Perhaps we can compare when you get yours.


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## Stradawhovious

Ron Evers said:


> I bought a Vivitar 28/2.8 for the same money. It had a dint in the front that did not allow a filter to be mounted that was not declared in the ad. I was able to tap it out so as to not be noticible & mount filters. Nice little lens. Perhaps we can compare when you get yours.


 

In the limited information I was able to find about the rokinin 28mm 2.8, they way it's one and the same with vivitar, just different packaging and lettering.

Of course I can't substantiate this.....

Do you have any sample photos you can post with the Vivitar?


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## djacobox372

Good luck!  In my experience the 3rd party brands need to be stopped down one stop more to reach tack-sharpness, and suffer from CA more then the nikon brands.

If you like the manual focus glass, you should really look into some of the nikon brand gems like the 50mm f1.4 ais, 24mm f2, or 20mm f2.8 ais.  Amazingly sharp and well built!


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## Ron Evers

Stradawhovious said:


> Ron Evers said:
> 
> 
> 
> I bought a Vivitar 28/2.8 for the same money. It had a dint in the front that did not allow a filter to be mounted that was not declared in the ad. I was able to tap it out so as to not be noticible & mount filters. Nice little lens. Perhaps we can compare when you get yours.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the limited information I was able to find about the rokinin 28mm 2.8, they way it's one and the same with vivitar, just different packaging and lettering.
> 
> Of course I can't substantiate this.....
> 
> Do you have any sample photos you can post with the Vivitar?
Click to expand...



My Vivitar is made by Bauer, as identified by the first two serial #s, 42****** it has 49mm filter threads.  I do not keep a record of what lens I use so I would have to shoot with it specifically to show results.  I have 15 prime lenses so it is difficult to remember which I used for any shot.  

Vivitar would spec a lens & have various manufactures build them.


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## Stradawhovious

djacobox372 said:


> Good luck!  In my experience the 3rd party brands need to be stopped down one stop more to reach tack-sharpness, and suffer from CA more then the nikon brands.
> 
> If you like the manual focus glass, you should really look into some of the nikon brand gems like the 50mm f1.4 ais, 24mm f2, or 20mm f2.8 ais.  Amazingly sharp and well built!




Well no ****......  but those are a bit more than thirty dollars. This one is all but disposable...


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## dxqcanada

I think made by Samyang ...


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## dxqcanada

I couldn't find a review of the 28mm ... but I did find a review on the Samyang 85mm f/1.4: Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherical (full format) - Review / Test Report


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## Stradawhovious

thanks!


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## enzodm

Rokinon is a re-brander, so it might be built by different manufacturers (like Vivitar, but Vivitar also designed some lens to be built by others). I had a Vivitar 28/2.8 that I recently sold, which vaguely resembles yours (on the left on picture, I kept the Tamron 28/2.5). It was not bad (some comparison here, only on close focus).
Not expensive, so just try. On Nikon you do not have many chances to try old lenses. I recently bought a Nikon 100/2.8 to be used on my Canon, and I'm glad of it (another interesting piece if you find one).


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## RockstarPhotography

enzodm said:


> Rokinon is a re-brander, so it might be built by different manufacturers (like Vivitar, but Vivitar also designed some lens to be built by others). I had a Vivitar 28/2.8 that I recently sold, which vaguely resembles yours (on the left on picture, I kept the Tamron 28/2.5). It was not bad (some comparison here, only on close focus).
> Not expensive, so just try. On Nikon you do not have many chances to try old lenses. I recently bought a Nikon 100/2.8 to be used on my Canon, and I'm glad of it (another interesting piece if you find one).



Why do you say you don't have many chances to try old lenses on Nikon?  I've used lenses my grandfather gave me that he acquired in the 70's.  granted there was no autofocus, or light meter, but they shure turned up some purdy pictures!!


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## enzodm

RockstarPhotography said:


> Why do you say you don't have many chances to try old lenses on Nikon?  I've used lenses my grandfather gave me that he acquired in the 70's.  granted there was no autofocus, or light meter, but they shure turned up some purdy pictures!!



yes, "only" old Nikon lenses (which may be very very good). On Canon you could mount almost everything, with light metering in Av and manual, except old Canon lenses.


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## Ron Evers

OK Dan, I mounted my $28 Vivitar 28/2.8 & gave it a work-out today.  


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2. Extreme crop of above shot.







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6. Extreme crop of above photo.


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## Stradawhovious

Thanks for going through all that trouble Ron!  

If my lens is anything like that, it will be $30 well spent. I will post some when I get it, and see what the bear can see.


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## djacobox372

enzodm said:


> RockstarPhotography said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why do you say you don't have many chances to try old lenses on Nikon?  I've used lenses my grandfather gave me that he acquired in the 70's.  granted there was no autofocus, or light meter, but they shure turned up some purdy pictures!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> yes, "only" old Nikon lenses (which may be very very good). On Canon you could mount almost everything, with light metering in Av and manual, except old Canon lenses.
Click to expand...


Lol, what are these great non nikon/canon lenses that u can mount on your canon?

IMO the only old lenses not made in a nikon f-mount that I would want are the canon fd mount lenses that won't work on nikon or canon dslrs.


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## enzodm

djacobox372 said:


> Lol, what are these great non nikon/canon lenses that u can mount on your canon?
> 
> IMO the only old lenses not made in a nikon f-mount that I would want are the canon fd mount lenses that won't work on nikon or canon dslrs.



Zeiss (east&west), Leica, Schneider, Pentax, Yashica, Olympus, some mechanically not great but optically great russian lenses, etc. Some hidden gems from Vivitar or Tamron (or also other re-branders). Unfortunately not Canon FD, but Canon and Nikon are only now market leaders  . 
Actually, except for some mad price, you may buy almost any old fixed 50mm/135mm/200mm for not much money and have a fast prime lens to play with (and worth it if comparing with entry level zooms).
Reusing old lenses, from what I see on Ebay, is more an european phenomen than north-american (prices for manual lenses are higher in EU, if not for customs I would buy more on the other side of the ocean).


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## Stradawhovious

Well..... here it is. Lightning fast shipping....











Arrived with a little more damage to the front element than expected, but it doesn't seem to effect IQ any so i guess I don't much care. the only thing that I question is that it makes my focus indicator all kittywampus. There are little arrows in the viewfinder on either side of the focus indicator light that tell you which direction to turn the barrel to get to focus..... and this lens makes the arrows show the wrong direction. I gues I could get used to it, but it seems strange. At any rate, I think that for $30 it was a steal.

On preliminary tests, the lens seems really soft at f/8 to f/2.8 at any distances greater than 20 feet, but closer up it's sharp. From f/8 to f/22 it's pretty clean at further distances. I didn't really get a chance to give it a workout tonight due to the youngets boy's "Blue an Gold" Cub Scout dinner, so I hope to have some test shots I'm not afraid to share by tomorrow. 

But until then, Here is one at f/2.8 to tide you over. (or once again make you groan at the prospect at wasting yet another 30 seconds of your life.)


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