Data sheet: Pentacon Prakticar 28 mm f/2.8

Pekka Buttler, 11/2022 (Updated 08/2025)

Specifications

The table below summarises the lens’ key specifications (measurements based on pictured samples):

Brand:	Pentacon	Lens name	Prakticar 1:2.8 f=28mm MC
Focal length(s) 1	28 mm	Angle-of-view 2	74 °
Maximum Aperture	f/2.8	In Production	1978-1990/1991 (all versions together)
Lens mounts	Praktica B	Subfamily (if applicable)	––
Length 3	44,7 mm (early) 45,1 mm (ratio)	Diameter 4	62,1 mm (early) 61,8 mm (ratio)
Filter ring diameter	49 mm	Weight	238 grams (early) 205 grams (ratio)
Lens element count	7	Lens group count	7
Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5	6 S	Focus throw	150 ° (early) 210 ° (ratio)
Minimum focusing distance	25 cms	Maximum magnification	1:6,8
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Automatic	Aperture click stops 6	2.8•4•5.6•8•11•16-22

Further notes:
• Prakticar is the name given to all lenses designed for the Praktica B mount by Carl Zeiss Jena and Pentacon (and many other).
• Alike all Praktica B mount lenses, this lens has three electronic contacts that it uses to communicate selected aperture to the camera body and a physical aperture stop-down lever.
• The Pentacon Prakticar 28/2.8 is a descendant of the Pentacon 29/2.8 [data sheet] (which is essentially the same lens as the Meyer-Optik Görlitz Orestegon 29/2.8 [data sheet]).
• While this lens was intended only for the Praktica B mount, there are accounts of a limited batch also leaving the factory with an m42 auto mount.
• Alike many Pentacon Prakticar lenses, a rationalised (‘ratio’) cost-saving version was manufactured from (roughly) the mid-80s. Some of these ratio versions even carry the name ‘Carl Zeiss Jena’ on the lens’ name ring (see below)

Versions

There are two physically distinct (but optically identical) versions of this mount.
• Early versions were designed with a rubber focus ring, and were manufactured in East Germany.

• Later versions were designed with increased use of plastics, with a plastic focus ring, and were at least in part manufactured by IOR in Romania (even though the lenses say otherwise).

After the 1985 rearrangement of the East German optics industry under the aegis of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, some samples have also been sold branded as “Carl Zeiss Jena P” (see article on this here).
Similarly, copies sold after German reunification (1990) have a name ring saying “Meyer-Optik Made in Germany”.

History of Pentacon

Pentacon – more precisely VEB Pentacon – was an East German state-owned camera and optics combinate that was very influential (also outside the East Bloc) from its inception until the demise of the East German people’s republic.

But Pentacon was not born out of thin air. Therefore any real appreciation of Pentacon – either as a camera maker or as an optics manufacturer – has to start with a back story. Read more in the JAPB company profile on Pentacon …

Adapting

This lens cannot be used natively on any current SLR or dSLRs. To use it in its native environment, you will need a Praktica B mount film body. Luckily there are a lot of those available, and many of them are still in perfect working order.

Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable adapter. Moreover, Praktica B lenses are so uncomplicated that a simple ‘dumb adapter’ will do the job perfectly (The electronic contacts communicate only from the lens to the camera and do not impinge on adapting). However, due to that the Praktica B mount never was so successful, one should not expect special adapters (helicoid adapters, tilt/shift adapters) to be easily available. Alternatively, one can choose to daisy-chain adapters (e.g. Praktica B->Canon EF; Canon EF –> mirrorless) which not only opens up possibilities for special adapters, but also allows using speed boosters for those photographers that use smaller than full-frame sensors.

Using Praktica B lenses on dSLRs can also be an easy option, depending on which dSLR.
• Canon EF has the shortest flange focal distance among full-frame dSLR’s and Canon’s wide range of dSLRs are able to mount Praktica B lenses perfectly using a suitable adapter ring.
• With other dSLR mounts (Minolta/Sony A; Pentax K; Nikon F) the relationship between flange focal differences becomes an issue, leading to that adapting will necessitate an adapter that uses corrective optics to allow reaching infinity focus.

Footnotes

1. Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
2. Picture angle is given in degrees (based on manufacturers’ specs) and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
   > 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
   70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
   50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
   40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
   20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
   10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
   5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
   < 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎
3. Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
4. Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
5. S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
6. Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎