AVENON L 28mm F3.5
Avenon L39 screw mount 28mm lens
A review and Photo example of AVENON 28mm F3.5 with a digital camera.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Photo example for AVENON 28mm F3.5 with a Leica M8 and Leica M8.2
Review
1．Usage
The Avenon 28mm1 is a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 28mm and a Leica L39 screw mount released by the now defunct Avenon Optical Co., Ltd.
The focal length of 28mm is highly versatile, so I took the Avenon 28mm out more often than the Avenon 21mm. As you can see from the actual photos, it has excellent performance when used with sensors smaller than APS-H, but it’s unfortunate that the minimum shooting distance is 1m.
It’s a compact lens, so it suits a compact camera. I mainly used this lens with the R-D1 and M8/M8.2. I sold the M9 before using it, so I wasn’t able to check the image quality on a full-frame camera.
Would I get it again? It’s a bit of a tricky question. There are many unique lenses with a focal length of 28mm for the LEICA-L39/M mount, so the Avenon 28mm had a weak presence.
Personally, the only 28mm rangefinder lenses I have left are the first symmetrical ELMARIT-M 28mm and the CONTAX G 28mm.
Avenon lenses were traded at a fairly reasonable price in the 2000s, but as of 2023, you can still find them on the second-hand market, but prices are rising and they cannot compete with modern lenses in terms of image quality, so I’m not sure if they are worth that price in practical terms. Collectors want to get their hands on them, so they may not care much about the price.
2．Lens overview
This lens comes in an early silver model and a later black model; the difference is that the shape of the focus lever on the old model is the one shown in the photo, while the new model has a bifurcated shape similar to six-element Summicron lenses, and the number of aperture blades has been changed from six to ten.
The silver lens I owned came with its own viewfinder.
I purchased the black lens alone, so I don’t know what accessories it comes with, but I have seen it being sold in its own box on the second-hand market, so the black lens may not be equipped with a viewfinder.
3．About AVENON
In addition to the Super Wide and 21mm, Avenon Optical has released three types of lenses with L39 screw mounts: 28mm, Avenon P.H AIR LENS, and pinhole lenses. Lenses other than pinhole lenses are supplied to other companies on an OEM basis and released under the Kobalkux brand.
They also offer a service to convert CONTAX-G mount lenses to rangefinder-linked Leica L39 screw mounts, and I have a CONTAX-G 28mm converted to an L mount.
Nakamura Fumio has contributed a review of the AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm on page 941 of the book “Leica Lenses of the World Part 2” (Shashin Kogyo Shuppansha, ISBN978-4-87956-065-0), and Hagiya Tsuyoshi has contributed a review of the AVENON 28mm on page 96.
There is not much detailed information about Avenon Optical Co., Ltd. on the web, except for a brief mention in an article written by Fumio Nakamura in Capa, and a review of the AVENON 28mm by Tsuyoshi Hagiya in the book “Leica Lenses of the World Part 2” (ISBN978-4-87956-065-0) that states that the president of Avenon Optical Co., Ltd. is “Tsuyoshi Abe.” To verify the authenticity of this information, it is necessary to search for past magazines, but much of the information compiled about Avenon on the web is of unknown origin.
Specification
| Items | Early type(silver) | Late type(Black) |
| Focal length(mm) | 28 | 28 |
| Max aperture | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Min aperture | 16 | 16 |
| Leaf blade | 6 | 10 |
| Lens Construction | 6elements in 4group | 6elements in 4group |
| Min distance(m) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Lens length(mm) | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 51 | 51 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 43 | 43 |
| Weight(g) | 100 | 100 |
| Release year | 1992 | 1997 |
Reference links
- THE MAP TIMES AVENON 28mm (Japanese text)
- “Leica Lenses of the World Part 2” Shashin Kogyo Publishing Amazon Affiliate link
Update
- 2024.9.7
- 2024.2.7:Update
- 2023.6.23:First draft
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