I apologise for the lack of updates recently! This is for several reasons, firstly the news that I am to be a father for the first time has taken up a lot of my concentration recently but the main reason is simply that I haven't gotten around to it, I've started to write a new entry several times but as I always have about 25 browser windows open I have just haven't managed to finish it. It's not even that writing an entry is a hugely time consuming job, I'm just a disorganised person as much as I hate to admit it!
Anyway!
The Super Paragon 28mm is a wide angle prime lens manufactured by Cima Kogaku and was available under various names as well as Cima selling it under their own Cimko label. Paragon was a brand name that the British photographic importer Photax put on the lenses they sold, much in the same vein as Vivitar and Soligor and so on...
Build quality and finish:
This is a well built and sturdy feeling lens with a well damped focus action, the macro scale on the front barrel is a welcome little feature and the only other wide angle I have seen with the same feature is the Sigma mini-wide although the Sigma can only manage a 1:4.5 reproduction ratio vs the Paragon's 1:4
Image Quality:
The image quality is great for what must have been a relatively inexpensive lens at the time of it's release. Starting from wide open the centre sharpness is strong with the edges being less impressive but not terrible. From F/5.6 onwards sharpness is very good across the frame and I found that between F/5.6 and F/11 this lens is a match for the Tokina RMC 28mm F/2.8 and the Tamron adaptall 28mm F/2.5 which is pretty good going for a lens that can be had so cheaply. I found bokeh was quite smooth for a wide angle so using this lens as a standard lens on a four thirds camera works quite well. Colour and contrast left no room for complaint, the images always seemed to have plenty of punch and nice colours. I didn't notice any significant issues with regards to either lateral or longitudinal chromatic aberrations. Overall the lens gives nice punchy images, it's not going to embarrass a Zeiss or Canon L but considering how much it can be had for it's a pretty impressive little optic.
By clicking on these images you can go to flickr where a larger version is available:
Conclusion?:
I found this lens to be a great little performer which delivered very solid results and as is often the case I think it's an absolute steal considering it often sells for £15 or much less on ebay. If you see one going cheap then snap it up!
6 comments:
Hey, I bought the exact same lens and the mount looks exactly like a Yashica/Contax mount, but I can't get my adapter (which works on another Yashica lens) to fit on this lens. Any suggestion ?
On eBay, the seller was saying it was a Yashica Bayonet...
Sometimes the Yashica adapters are machined and tested with one lens only and no consideration is given to slight differences from lens to lens. There is always a tiny amount of difference from lens to lens, usually in a non Yashica lens the difference is slightly more. I have this happen with many adapters and not just Yashica, some lenses fit just right, some lenses are too loose and some too tight.
If the lens is too tight you may want to try adjusting the adapter very slightly, this is hard to explain in words but in the adapter will be three bayonet tabs and if you look you should see a slit on the edge of the tabs, it's the slit that determines how tight the fit is, if you squeeze the tabs and close the slits slightly the adapter will be slightly looser and the lens should fit, if you over do it and the lens is too loose put a very small screwdriver in the slit and widen the gap again. I know it's hard to explain but if you look at this adapter you should see what I mean about the slits on the tabs:
Adapter
Otherwise it might be a different mount, do you have picture of the lens or link to the ebay page?
Thanks, i've just bought this lens and your article is really helpful.
Hi, I have the same problem FD mentioned. I can not upload a picture but here I include the link where you can see some pictures of the lens, including one of the mount. I do think it is not a Contax/Yashica mount
Thanks in advance
http://www.ebay.es/itm/280833037002?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Hi , Anyone could help me
I have Cimko mt series 75-300mm lens but I have no idea what kind of mount it has?
Thank you
Post a Comment