Japanese Elmarit? M ROKKOR 28mm
A review and photo examples of the Minolta M Rokkor 28mm.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photos were taken with a LEICA M8.
Review
1．Overview
The M Rokkor 28mm is a Leica M-mount wide-angle lens developed by Minolta in 1981 for their rangefinder film camera, the MINOLTA CLE.
The main specifications are as follows, with details shown in the table.
- Maximum aperture: 2.8
- Lens construction: 7 elements in 5 groups
- Aperture blades: 10
- Minimum focusing distance: 0.8m
- Leica M rangefinder camera rangefinder coupling: 0.8m
- Hood: Dedicated bayonet hood
- Lens color variations: Black
The dedicated hood is made of metal and is thin, so it is prone to distortion during use, and you may find distorted hoods on used items.
2．Usage
The M Rokkor 28mm is easy to use, with a moderately sized finger grip on the lens barrel, allowing for smooth focusing. The aperture ring at the front of the lens also has a moderate click feeling, making it comfortable to operate.
Another good point is that the rear lens does not protrude much onto the film or sensor surface, so there is little risk of using it on cameras other than M-mount cameras using a mount adapter.
When attached to a LEICA CLE, it can be used as a compact wide-angle snap camera, and this combination can be said to be a complete camera. Both the camera and lens look a little cheap, but as long as the lens is in good condition, the image will be good.
The lens’s weakness is that it fogs up easily, probably due to the lens glass and balsam material, and most of the cheap lenses you see on the used market are foggy. When this lens was still in use, Minolta repaired it, and it was less likely to fog up, but as with most used lenses, lenses in good condition tend to be expensive.
The lens is sometimes called the slightly rude nickname Japanese Elmarit 28mm.
The lens lineup for the CLE is simple, with three lenses: 28mm, 40mm, and 90mm.
For the average photographer, these three lenses will be sufficient for most purposes, and although there is an issue with the viewfinder frame, the CLE is M-mount compatible, so you can use lenses from other companies and there is no need to worry about lenses. Minolta and other manufacturers that supplied old Japanese rangefinder cameras and lenses had simple lens lineups.
Leica and Canon, unlike other companies, supplied lenses with a wide range of focal lengths.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the MINOLTA M ROKKOR 28mm F2.8, if you can get a clear one and don’t mind the viewfinder frame display, you can use it as your main 28mm lens. However, since it is already more than 30 years old, it is not a lens worth paying more than a new 28mm lens today.
・Viewfinder frame display
Since this lens was made for MINOLTA CLE, there is some difficulty in compatibility when using it with an M-type Leica camera.When this lens is attached to an M-type Leica camera, the 28mm viewfinder frame is not displayed, but a 35mm frame is displayed. Ru.
The reason for this is that in order to separate the 28mm and 90mm indications on the viewfinder frame, MINOLTA CLE allocates 28mm to the 35/135mm part of the claw length that CLE does not use in the viewfinder frame display.
The table below shows the relationship between the length of the M mount claw that displays the viewfinder frame of MINOLTA CLE and the viewfinder frame.
| Finder Frame type | Mount Tooth length | MINOLTA CLE Finder Frame | LEICA M Finder Frame |
| 28/90 | long | 90 | 28/90 |
| 50/75 | middle | 40/50 | 50/75 |
| 35/135 | short | 28 | 35/135 |
The display on the viewfinder frame of the M-type Leica depends on the physical length of the leftmost claw when viewed from the mount side of the M mount’s four claws, and the longest claw displays 28/90. , the intermediate length is 50/75, and the shortest nail is 35/135.
When this lens is attached to an M-type Leica body, 28/90 is not displayed, so you can see that the nail is not long enough. In order to display 28mm, if the camera has a viewfinder frame control lever, you will need to move the lever or make the claw that determines the viewfinder frame larger.
I remember that in the past there were companies that would do modifications to extend the nails, but as of 2023, I no longer hear of such stories. It’s easy to file your nails as an amateur, but I think it’s very difficult to lengthen them. If a nail breaks off due to bad work and falls into the camera room and gets tangled in the shutter curtain, you won’t be able to see it, so I don’t feel there is a need to take that much of a risk.
I had no problems using this lens with the EPSON R-D1 and Voigtleder’s Bessa series, as the viewfinder frame is determined by the user with a lever, but I felt a little strange with the LEICA M8/M9, which automatically displays the viewfinder frame.
KONICA, which merged with MINOLTA, seems to have placed emphasis on M mount compatibility, and KONICA M mount lenses do not have problems with viewfinder frames.
This lens has a slightly rude nickname, such as the Japanese-made Elmarite 28mm, but I think it’s a lens that generally produces good images.
The one I owned had the appropriate helicoid torque and was able to focus smoothly.
When attached to the LEICA CLE, it could be used as a compact wide-angle snap camera.
The special hood is made of metal, but the material is thin and flimsy, so you may see used hoods that are warped. The weak point is that it tends to fog up, probably because the lens material is made of balsam material, and most of the cheaper ones tend to fog up. Lenses repaired by Minolta are less likely to fog up, but lenses in good condition are expensive.
The lineup of lenses for CLE is simple: 28mm, 40mm, and 90mm.
If you are an average photographer, three lenses will be enough for most purposes, and there is a problem with the viewfinder frame, but the CLE is compatible with M mount, so you can use lenses from other companies, so you won’t have to worry about lens play. Old Japanese rangefinder camera and lens manufacturers such as Minolta had a simple lens lineup.
Leica and Canon, unlike other companies, supplied lenses with a wide variety of focal lengths.
Specification
| Items | M ROKKOR 28 | G BIOGON |
| Focal length(mm) | 28 | 28 |
| Max aperture | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Min aperture | 22 | 22 |
| Lens Construction | 10 | 6 |
| Aperture blade | 7 elements in 5 group | 7 elements in 5 group |
| Min distance(m) | 0.8 | 0.44 |
| Lens length(mm) | 35.5 | 31 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 51 | 56 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 40.5 | 46 |
| Lens hood | Dedicated bayonet | 46mm screw-in type |
| Lens mount | LEICA M (27.8mm) | CONTAX G (29.0mm) |
| Weight(g) | 135 | 150 |
| Release date | 1981 | 1994 |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | ¥54,000 | ¥57,000 |
- The lens construction diagrams are quoted from each company’s materials, and the sizes have been adjusted by us, so they are not exact.
Reference links
- MINOLTA CLE WIKI
- Leica Lenses of the World p156 has an introductory article (link to Amazon Affiliate)
Update history
- 2025.4.9
- 2024.03.20
- 2023.12.21
Affiliate Link
- Minolta Camera・Ads by Amazon
- Minolta books・Ads by Amazon
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