FUJINON 28mm F3.5 from TIARA

From Tiara to M-mount lenses

A review and photo examples of the SUPER-EBC Fujinon 28mm F3.5 M-mount modified lens.

Gallery
Review
Specification
Options
Reference links
Update history
Affiliate link

Gallery

The digital camera example was taken using the SONY α7sII.

The film camera example was shot using Minolta CLE + FUJIFILM 100.

1．Overview

The Fujinon 28mm F3.5 is a lens that was extracted by Ms-optics (Miyazaki Optical) from the SUPER-EBC FUJINON 28mm F3.5, which was installed in Fujifilm’s compact cameras, the Caldia Mini Tiara (TIARA), Caldia Mini Tiara II (TIARA II), and DL Super mini (overseas name), and transplanted to the MS-28, a helicoid for Leica M mount conversion developed by the same company.

2．Usage

If you send a camera to Ms-optics and ask them to modify it, they will return the original body with the lens removed, but this time I bought a lens attached to a Minolta CLE from an Okinawa recycle shop, which was treated as junk but was priced reasonably. Therefore, I don’t know if the original body was a Tiara or Tiara 2.
Also, I don’t know if the hood is stuck or fixed, but I can’t remove it.
It should have been an L39 screw mount, but the M/L ring seems to be fixed and cannot be removed.

The lens that came all the way here has the shape of an old Ms-optics lens when you look at the lens barrel, and because the helicoid is small and has a large inclination, it is difficult to get your fingers on the lens, making it a little difficult to attach and remove the lens from the camera. Also, the aperture control is right on the edge of the front lens, so there is a risk of accidentally touching the front lens. Because it is compact, operability is sacrificed.

The lens was attached to a Minolta CLE film camera, and Fujifilm 100 film was used.
The CLE that came with the lens had difficulty focusing on a camera with a faded double image, but it was compatible with film and there was no major breakdown in the depiction. The slightly loose depiction of negative film is well suited to this lens. This result also shows that there is a big difference in performance required between the film era and digital.

In backlighting, ghosting occurs depending on the direction of the sun and the lens angle. It disappears when you change the angle while looking through the EVF, so it seems that it can be avoided to some extent.

Because it is an old MS-28 helicoid lens, the minimum shooting distance is limited to the rangefinder coupling range of the M-type Leica, at 0.85m, which is not very close. It is unfortunate because the original Tiara can get as close as 0.35m. This will be compensated for by using an auxiliary helicoid when using a mirrorless camera.

The digital camera used was the Sony α7sII.
The center is good, but the periphery is not resolved. Some older 35mm full-frame sensors may cause color casts. The LEICA M9 and LEICA M typ240 are probably at high risk. For practical use with digital cameras, I think the LEICA M8 APS-H size sensor, Fujifilm X, and Sony α6x series APS-C size sensor are suitable.

3．Add info.

The nameplate of this lens only says “28mm F3.5”, and unlike the Kyocera T-Proof and Tessar lenses, there is no “Tess” or other notation indicating the lens on the nameplate. Therefore, in order to identify the lens used, I looked for a compact camera equipped with a 28mm F3.5 prime lens before purchasing. The only cameras equipped with a 28mm F3.5 prime lens that remained were either Fujifilm’s Tiara (Tiara 2) or Nikon’s Nikon Mini (AF600D), and I judged that the Tiara was most likely the case based on the shape of the lens front frame. In addition, I was able to confirm that it was definitely the Tiara by looking at the exterior photo of the modified Tiara lens on Hayata Camera Lab’s Miyazaki Optical Lens Modification page.

When I looked up the lens information on the website in the reference link before purchasing, I was a little hesitant to purchase it because it said that Tiara lenses are lenses from the film era, so you can’t expect good depiction in the peripheral areas and they don’t work well with digital cameras. However, as an Ms-optics modified lens enthusiast, I couldn’t resist the temptation to use this lens and purchased it.

Trivia about the Cardia Mini Tiara

Released in 1994
Equipped with a 28mm prime lens in a compact aluminum body. Received the Good Design Award in 1995.

Trivia about the Cardia Mini Tiara 2

Released in 1997
Improved successor to the first model. Exposure accuracy has been improved, and changes have been made to the strobe.

The website explaining compact cameras in the reference link states that there seems to be a difference in the lens coating between the Tiara and Tiara 2, which makes the image look different, but since there is no way to compare them at the moment, the truth is unknown. I also looked online for lens configuration diagrams and looked at old camera magazines, but it seems that Fujifilm does not openly disclose lens configuration diagrams, and all I know is that it uses 4 groups, 4 elements, and aspherical lenses. I don’t want to buy a junk Tiara and cut it in half, so I don’t know the lens configuration. If you have any information, please let me know.

Specification

Items	FUJIFILM TIARA	Nikon mini(AF600)	RICOH GR1
Focal length(mm)	28	←	←
Max aperture	3.5	3.5	2.8
Min aperture	16	←	←
Lens Construction	4elements in 4groups	3elements in 3groups	7elements in 4groups
Leaf blade	12(Ms-Optics modified	←	7
Min distance(m)	0.85	0.85	0.35
Lens length(mm)	18.2 Hood included	–	–
Max diameter(mm)	47.6	–	–
Filter Size(mm)	–	–	–
Hood	Cylindrical screw-in hood	Bayonet hood LH-6	none
Release date	1994 (Tiara) 1997 (Tiara 2)	2004	1996
Production number	15 (number of modifications as of 2016)	–	–
Weight(g)	60 Hood and M/L rings included	–	120