Pekka Buttler, 01/2026
Expert in brief
Expert is not a lens manufacturer, but is instead a rebrander. The ‘Expert’ electronics retail chain was founded by a Swedish businessman in Switzerland in 1967 and – at its height – had more than 4000 stores in 22 countries. Expert has always been selling whatever consumer gadgets are in vogue, and for some years that included SLR lenses, flashguns and film and slide projectors.
The expert electronics chain still exists, but no longer has their own brand of lenses.
Expert lenses
Expert-branded lenses were available for the usual suspect lens mounts (M42, Canon FD, Konica AR, Minolta SR, Nikon F, Olympus OM and Pentax K).
Expert is known to have sold at least the following lenses:
- Expert 24mm f/2.8
- Expert 24mm f/2.8 MC
- Expert 28mm f/2.8
- Expert 28mm f/2.8 MC
- Expert MC Auto 28mm f/2.8
- Expert 35mm f/2.8
- Expert 35mm f/2.8 MC
- Expert 135mm f/2.8
- Expert 135mm f/2.8 MC
- Expert MC Auto 135mm f/2.8 [data sheet]
- Expert 200mm f/3.5 MC
- Expert Tele-Auto 300mm f/4.5
- Expert 300mm f/5.6
- Expert Tele-Auto 400mm f/5.6
- Expert 400mm f/6.3
- Expert Zoom 40-105mm f/3.5 MC [data sheet]
- Expert MC Auto 75-150mm f/3.8
- Expert MC Auto Tele Zoom 80-200mm f/4.5
- Expert Zoom Macro 85-210mm f/4.5
Who were the OEM’s?
One interesting question with rebranders is always the origin of the actual gear. A majority of the lenses sold as ‘expert’ lenses are also available in identical or near-identical form as Tamron and Chinon lenses, so it is safe to say that Tamron played a key role as source for ‘expert’ lenses. At the same time, a number of other ‘expert’ lenses clearly hold more than a family resemblance to same-era Osawa lenses.