on Dec 22, 2019 17:13:59 GMT
Any of us here in the UK that were users of Contax/Yashica gear back in the 1970s will remember their distributor Photax and at camera shows, on their stand, they always had a range of Paragon and Super Paragon lenses. I never gave them much attention as Zeiss was my principal concern. More recently, I have been reading good things about a number of Super Paragon primes and zooms - something sparked by the discovery of one of their 28mm lenses which came in a bundle with a camera I was after. The Pentax forum is always a good starting point for checking on 3rd party lenses as they provide very useful assessments, details and photos. So I bit the bullet and shot some stuff through the lens - a Super Paragon PMC II Auto 28mm f2.8 Macro; it turns out to be a superbly sharp performer with good contrast and resolution - and surprisingly even illumination. Checking the reviews, a lens hood is recommended in bright light as it is prone to flare; its multi-coating produces warm tones, aided by that excellent contrast.
Many of the Super Paragon branded lens are made by Cimko - their green diamond mark being an indicator - but this one has a solid red diamond so I'm not sure of the manufacturer. But if this lens is indicative of the image quality they can produce, I'll try to find some more of their top performers. Build quality is exemplary so if they've been stored correctly, they should be around for years to come in top condition - and not very expensive! Makes a nice change.