The Hanimex 28mm f2.8 lens is a really interesting little lens...
Sometimes I just throw the dice on a vintage lens and occasionally it comes out really good and sometimes it is a dud. The Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 I picked up for $20 at Ball Photo in Asheville? This time it's a winner.
Sometimes I just throw the dice on a vintage lens and occasionally it comes out really good and sometimes it is a dud. The Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 I picked up for $20 at Ball Photo in Asheville? This time it's a winner.
I paid something like $20 for this lens at Ball Photo. Twenty bucks. For that price, even if it turned out to be terrible, who cares? You're not risking much. But when it turns out to be actually good — sharp, solid build, nice colors, usable on a modern camera — that's when you feel like you found a hidden gem sitting in a used lens bin.
This is why I love digging through vintage gear at camera shops. Most people walk right past this stuff looking for autofocus lenses or the latest Sigma Art prime or whatever. Meanwhile there's a perfectly good 28mm sitting there for the price of lunch. Sure, it's got quirks (the sun flare is real), but it's also got character and it actually works. Can't beat that value.
The Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 on my Leica SL2 — not the prettiest combo, but it works.
Hunting for Glass at Ball Photo in Asheville
I went to Ashville NC on a small trip recently and on this trip I was doing photography. Well, when it is a photography trip I always make it a point to go to Ball Photo and just “go shopping” for something interesting. They have SO much vintage gear to choose from that it is almost overwhelming to be honest. It is not for the feint of heart to be honest about it. But today found me at Ball Photo and while there I started looking for some glass to pick out… Well I found some.
All-metal construction with nice silver accent rings. Built like lenses used to be built.
We all know how much I love to shoot with vintage glass and I am always on the hunt for a new lens to play with. I have Leica glass for the Leica SL2 and use it quite often but I still really enjoy adapting some older lens to the camera and then seeing what I can get with this lens and camera combination when I go out with it. It is almost a challenge to see if I can come away with something good using this old lens… What generally happens is that I slowly build a collection of lenses that I REALLY love to use and I am starting to collect a full set of these lenses. Some examples would be the 28mm f3.5 Asahi Optical M42 mount lens that I keep in the camera bag, this lens is literally one of my favorite lenses of all time for some reason. I just love the results I get with it on the Leica SL2 camera. Well today finds me using a lens that is 2/3 of s top faster and a little bigger too.
What Makes the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 Special
The Hanimex 28mm f2.8 is a well made lens with the whole thing made of metal (probably brass from the way it feels but it could be anodized aluminum too I really am not sure) and has some really nice accents like the little silver bands around the focus ring which also has a faux leather appearance but I am almost certain is rubber. The range focus scale is graduated for every aperture marked (sans f4 for some reason) on the aperture ring, which is a nice touch for street photography. The detent clicks on the aperture ring are nice and pronounced as well as solid, no mushy aperture detents on this lens! All in all, it is a great little lens by design engineering standards. It is even a well designed attachment scheme as well with the M42 mount as it is easily adapted to about all mirrorless cameras on the market.
The M42 mount adapter — see those three tiny set screws? That's how you time the lens if you care about that kind of thing.
Adjusting M42 Adapters (If You Care About That Sort of Thing)
Many people also don’t realize that the M42 adapter can be adjusted to get the lens top dead center of the adapter too. There are three tiny set screws on the adapter that hold the threaded ring in place on the lens adapter to adjust this. To make this adjustment is simple, just screw the lens into the mount till it seats and snug it well so it wont work loose while in use. Next get the Allen key that came with the adapter and loosen the three set screws till the lens can spin in the mount and simply turn the lens till the center mark is top dead center of the adapter and then push in on the mount while tightening the set screws back down to make it hold the ring again and your done. It is that simple. Mine is slightly off center here and I have simple been too lazy to adjust it as it is close enough for me to be able to get out and shoot anyway. I don’t normally worry about it too much as once you set the adapter once, then all the lenses will time up and you don’t have to mess with it again. Installing lenses over the years on this adapter and tightening them has slipped the timing a little and this is why it is slightly off center. Once again, it is no big deal to me and i just go out and shoot…
Look, I know there are "better" lens mounts out there. But M42 is just so easy to adapt to basically anything. You can throw these lenses on Leica, Sony, Fuji, whatever — and they cost pennies compared to native glass. Plus there's something satisfying about the all-manual experience. No electronics, no autofocus hunting, just you and the glass trying to get the shot. It's photography the way it used to be, which sounds pretentious when I say it like that, but honestly it's just fun. There's a directness to it that I appreciate.
And here's the thing: M42 lenses were made by so many different manufacturers over the years that there are hundreds of options out there. Some are great, some are terrible, and part of the fun is just digging through used lens bins at places like Ball Photo to see what you find. It's like thrift shopping for camera gear.
First outing at Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga on Black Friday. The Hanimex handled it just fine.
Taking It to the Mall on Black Friday (Because Why Not)
So the first official outing with this lens was to go to the mall in Chattanooga TN with it and capture some Christmas spirit with it…on black Friday no less.
Well to be quite honest, it performed wonderfully. Now to be fair, the camera does have IBIS in it and this allows me to shoot at pretty slow shutter speeds without the need for a tripod. As long as you go into the camera settings and tell the camera it is a 28mm lens, the camera can compensate for movement really well allowing for incredibly slow shutter speeds like the last photo in this string from the mall where it was 1/10 of a second…hand held. Most of the other photos are shot at 1/250 second to freeze the people so that I can show the current clothing styles as well as the general appearance of the mall in 2023.
The Leica SL2's IBIS is genuinely a game-changer for vintage glass. Without it, that 1/10 second handheld shot at the mall would've been a blurry mess — the old "reciprocal rule" says you need at least 1/30 second for a 28mm lens, and that's being optimistic. But with IBIS doing its thing, I can get away with shutter speeds that should be impossible with a manual lens.
This is why I keep coming back to the SL2 for adapted lenses. It makes old glass way more usable than it has any right to be. You're essentially taking a lens from the 1960s or 70s and giving it capabilities it was never designed to have. Nikon didn't build this Hanimex thinking someone would hand-hold it at 1/10 second in a mall forty years later.
1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.
1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.
1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.
1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.
All in all, the Hanimex performed extremely well in this role. The images are sharp and the colors are easily adjusted in post processing to give any look you want. It also doesn’t hurt to have that Leica “look” from the camera processing the colors before saving the RAW file too, Leica does something special with their processing to give the colors a look that is unique to Leica cameras. It is hard to explain, but it is a thing.
The Sun Flare Problem — Yeah, It's Bad
In the next photos I didn’t show all the images as they just reflect what it is like to shoot indoors where there is controlled light and no sun to deal with. The following photos show what happens when you have the sun shining on the front element.
Same shot as the next one but the lens is shaded from the sun — clean and sharp.
Above is the same photo as the one right under this text except that I shaded the lens from the sun. This lens cant handle the sun shining on it from any angle without showing you that it was happening with some sort of sun flare in the image. In the below image there is geometric artifacts as well as a overall glare from the sun.
What happens when the sun hits the front element. Vintage lenses and coatings don't play nice with direct sunlight.
In the below photo you can also see the geometric glare in the center of frame, this could be used to your advantage in some applications like vintage style portraits where you position the subject to where the flare adds to the aesthetic of the image. Here the flare doesn’t do that though and is more of a nuisance that anything else. So this is something to keep in mind when using vintage glass, you will run into these kinds of problems from time to time like the older generation has to do…lol.
That geometric glare in the center? Classic vintage lens behavior. Could be useful for portraits if you position it right.
Can You Shoot Portraits with a 28mm? Actually, Yes
Lastly, can you make portraits with the 28mm lens? The answer is yes, you can as long as you are careful with the composition and keep the subject centered like I did here. The 28mm lens can distort toward the edges so it is imperative to keep the person in the center of the photo as much as humanly possible if you want the image to turn out like anything you want at all. Maria was gracious and allowed me to make her portrait at the mall using one of the advertising lights as a “studio light” to give us nice diffused side light and I think the image turned out really well for a 60 year old lens with improvised lighting.
Maria at the mall using an advertising light as improvised diffused side lighting. Not bad for a 60-year-old lens.
Now, shooting portraits with a 28mm isn't what most people would recommend. The conventional wisdom is 50mm or 85mm for portraits, and there's good reason for that — longer focal lengths are more flattering and don't distort faces. But if you keep your subject centered and don't get too close, a 28mm can work. The key is composition and knowing the lens's limitations.
Maria's portrait here is proof that it's doable. I kept her in the center of the frame where distortion is minimal, used the advertising light for nice diffused side lighting, and shot from a reasonable distance. If I'd moved her to the edge of the frame or gotten right up in her face, it would've looked weird. But treated carefully, a 28mm can give you a portrait with some environmental context in the background, which can be a nice look.
Just know what you're getting into. This isn't a portrait lens. But it can make portraits if you're intentional about it.
As well as this blog post, I also have a video sharing some of these points and showing more of the old Sitton’s mill location should you want to go check that out at the link below.
Thanks and if you are into vintage glass, this is a keeper in my book — and for pennies too. Twenty bucks for a solid 28mm that actually performs? I'll take that deal every time. Sure it doesn't like the sun and you probably won't shoot portraits with it every day, but as a walkaround lens for street photography or just messing around? It's great.
So with that, get your camera out and go take a picture with it. Maybe even throw the dice on some weird vintage lens you've never heard of. You might just find a winner.
Questions People Ask About the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8
Is the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 any good?
Yeah, it's actually pretty good for the price. Sharp in the center, solid build quality, and it handles well on modern mirrorless cameras with IBIS. The biggest issue is sun flare — this lens does NOT like having the sun anywhere near the front element. You'll get geometric artifacts and overall loss of contrast if you're shooting with the sun in or near the frame. But for $20-30, it's absolutely worth picking up if you see one. I mean, at that price, even if it's just okay, who cares? But when it turns out to be actually good, you feel like you found a hidden gem.
What mount is the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8?
M42 screw mount, which is great because you can adapt it to basically any mirrorless camera. I use it on my Leica SL2 with an M42-to-L adapter, but it works just as well on Sony E-mount, Fuji X-mount, Canon RF, whatever you've got. M42 is one of those universal old-school mounts that just adapts to everything. Plus the adapters are cheap and plentiful, so you're not spending a fortune to use these lenses on modern cameras.
Can you use vintage lenses on the Leica SL2?
Absolutely. The Leica SL2's IBIS makes vintage glass way more usable than it used to be. You can hand-hold at slower shutter speeds that would normally require a tripod, and the camera's focus peaking makes manual focusing pretty straightforward once you get used to it. Plus the L-mount has a short flange distance so you can adapt almost anything — M42, Nikon F, Canon FD, Leica M, you name it. I actually prefer shooting with adapted vintage lenses on the SL2 sometimes because it's just more fun than using modern autofocus glass.
How do you deal with sun flare on vintage lenses?
Use a lens hood or just shade the lens with your hand when the sun is hitting the front element. Vintage lens coatings from the 60s and 70s aren't anywhere near as good as modern multi-coatings, so direct sunlight will give you all kinds of flare, ghost images, and loss of contrast. If you're shooting into the sun or with bright light hitting the lens at an angle, expect problems. It's just how old glass behaves. Sometimes you can use it creatively for that vintage look, but most of the time it's just annoying. I literally had to shade the lens with my hand at Sitton's Mill to get clean shots.
Is 28mm good for street photography?
It's a little wider than the classic 35mm or 50mm focal lengths most people use for street, but yeah, it works. You get more context in the frame, which is good for environmental portraits or showing a whole scene instead of isolating subjects. The trade-off is that 28mm has more distortion at the edges, so you need to be careful about composition. Keep important stuff — especially people's faces — toward the center of the frame. I shot a portrait of Maria at the mall with this lens and it turned out great, but I made sure to keep her centered. If I'd put her at the edge of the frame, her face would've looked stretched and weird.
Where can I buy a Hanimex 28mm f/2.8?
I got mine at Ball Photo in Asheville, North Carolina for about $20. They have an absolutely overwhelming amount of vintage gear if you're ever in the area. Otherwise, check eBay, KEH Camera, or local camera shops that carry used gear. These lenses aren't rare or collectible, so they're usually pretty cheap when you find them. Don't overpay — if someone's asking more than $30-40 for one, keep looking. There are plenty of them out there.
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Leica SL2 Mirrorless Camera Body
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Nikon 50mm f1.8 S Lens for Z mount
Have you shot with the Hanimex 28mm or other obscure vintage glass? Drop a comment below — I'd love to hear what hidden gems you've found digging through used lens bins.