AVENON L 28/3.5

Review and Photo example of AVENON 28mm F3.5 with a LEICA M digital camera.

Gallery

Photo example for AVENON 28mm F3.5 with a EPSON R-D1

Photo example for AVENON 28mm F3.5 with a Leica M8 and Leica M8.2

Review

Avenon 28mm is a Leica L39 screw mount, wide-angle lens with a focal length of 28mm, released by the now-defunct Avenon Koki.
This lens comes in an early model in silver and a later model in black, and the difference is in the shape of the focusing lever.
The old model has the shape shown in the photo, and the new model has a bifurcated shape similar to Summicron 6-element lenses, and the number of aperture blades has been changed (6>10).

The silver lens I owned came with a dedicated viewfinder.
I don’t know what accessories come with the black one because I got it as a single lens, but I’m sure they have the same ones as the silver one.
In addition to the 28mm lens, Avenon Koki releases three types: a 21mm focal length lens, and a pinhole lens.
These lenses are OEM supplied to other companies and released under the Kobalux name and several other brands.

Avenon Hikari also provides a service to modify CONTAX-G mount lenses by linking them to LEICA-L rangefinders, and they have a modified CONTAX-G 28mm L-mount lens on hand.

The 28mm focal length is highly versatile, so I used the Avenon 28mm more often than the Avenon 21mm. As you can see from the live shots, the performance is perfect for use with APS-H or smaller sensors, but it’s disappointing that the minimum shooting distance is 1m.

It’s a compact lens, so it’s suitable for compact cameras. I mainly used this lens with R-D1 and M8/M8.2. I had already sold my M9 so I couldn’t check the full size image.
Would I get it again? It’s a bit confusing if you ask me. There are many unique lenses in the LEICA-L39/M mount with a focal length of 28mm, so the presence of the Avenon 28mm was low.
Personally, I only have a few rangefinder lenses with a focal length of 28mm on hand, including the first-generation symmetrical ELMARIT-M 28mm and CONTAX G 28mm.

Regarding this lens, Tsuyoshi Hagiya contributed a review to the book “Leica Lenses of the World Part 2” Shashin Kogyo Publishing (ISBN978-4-87956-065-0), page 96.

Avenon lenses were traded at fairly reasonable prices in the 2000s, but as of 2023, they can be seen on the second-hand market, but prices are on the rise. It’s not comparable to modern lenses in terms of depiction, so I’m not sure if it’s worth the price in practical terms. Collectors may not care much about the price because they want to own it.

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