Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Fujinon 28mm f/3.5

Fuji Photo Film · Fujica ST · 1970

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Fujinon SW 28mm f/3.5 · Fujinon-SW 28mm F3.5 · FUJINON·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm · EBC Fujinon SW 28mm f/3.5 · EBC Fujinon-SW 28mm F3.5 · EBC FUJINON·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm · Fuji EBC 28mm 3.5 M42 · Fujinon 28mm f/3.5 M42 · EBC フジノン SW 28mm F3.5 · フジノン 28mm F3.5 M42

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Fujinon·SW 28mm f/3.5, single-coated, plain M42 Fujica ST 1970 — —
EBC Fujinon·SW 28mm f/3.5, multicoated, M42 with Fujica coupling tab Fujica ST 1972 — —
  1. The X-Fujinon·W 28mm f/3.5 DM (1980) is 5 elements in 5 groups, 0.3m close focus, 160g and 41mm long: a new design, so it is not a variant here. Wikipedia's table carries the 5/5 count on the EBC M42 row as well, against Fuji's own brochure and AZ-1 manual, which give 7/7 for the EBC lens; Fuji is followed.
  2. Weight. The ST701 manual (1970) and the US brochure give 155g (5.47 oz); the AZ-1 manual (1977) gives 184g, without saying whether the barrel changed. 155g is used and the AZ-1 figure left as it stands.
  3. Blades. Five, from Bengt Köhler Sandberg's review alone; no Fuji document gives a count. The single-source badge applies to it.
  4. Dates. 1970 is the ST701's launch (July 1970 in the Japanese Wikipedia list), whose manual lists the lens; 1972 is the ST801's launch and the arrival of EBC. No end date is given for either version.
  5. No launch price and no serial ranges have been found.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • EBC in green on the front means the multicoated lens with the coupling tab; a plain FUJINON·SW ring with a silver aperture ring is the 1970 lens
  • Both are 7 elements in 7 groups, 75°, f/3.5 to f/16, 0.4m close focus, 49mm filter, fit-on hood

Fujinon·SW 28mm f/3.5, single-coated, plain M42:

  • FUJINON·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm with no EBC on the name ring; single-coated
  • Plain 42mm thread without the Fujica aperture tab: the ST701 metered stopped down, so nothing on the lens indexes the aperture (japb's Type I barrel: silver aperture ring, metal focusing ring)
  • 7 elements in 7 groups, 75°, f/16 minimum, 0.4m close focus, 155g, fit-on hood, per the ST701 manual

EBC Fujinon·SW 28mm f/3.5, multicoated, M42 with Fujica coupling tab:

  • EBC in green and FUJINON·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm on the front (the Commons example); Fuji's US brochure and the AZ-1 manual list it as Fujinon·W, the engraving says SW
  • Fujica tab on the aperture ring and the lock notch on the flange for open-aperture metering on the ST801 and later; black aperture ring, rubberised focus ring (japb's Type III, ribbed rubber on the late IIIb)
  • Still 7 elements in 7 groups, 75°, 0.4m, 49mm; 155g in the brochure (5.47 oz), 184g in the AZ-1 manual²
  • No A/M switch: wide open on an adapter without a pin-pressing flange

Specifications

Formula
7 elements in 7 groups (Fuji: 7 components, 7 elements) on both the single-coated and the EBC lens; the X-Fujinon 28mm f/3.5 of 1980 is a different 5-in-5 design and not part of this family
Construction
7 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/16
Diaphragm blades
5
Min. focus
0.4 m
Dimensions
61 × 38 mm
Weight
155 g
Filter
49 mm
Years manufactured
1970
Country
Japan
Coating
single-coated Fujinon (1970); EBC multicoating from 1972

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Flare & ghosting
well controlled

History

The 28mm f/3.5 was the wide-angle lens of the Fujica ST system from the beginning: the ST701 manual of 1970 lists Fujinon·SW F3.5 28mm with 7 elements in 7 groups, a 75° angle, f/16 minimum, 0.4m close focus, 155g and a fit-on hood, alongside a 35mm, two standards and three telephotos. The first lenses were single-coated, with a silver aperture ring and a metal focusing ring, and the ST701 metered them stopped down through a plain 42mm thread.

The EBC lens arrived with the ST801 in 1972. It is engraved EBC FUJINON·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm, the EBC in green, although Fuji’s US brochure and the AZ-1 manual print it as Fujinon·W; the barrel gained a black aperture ring and a rubberised focusing ring, and the aperture ring gained the small tab that lets an ST801, ST901 or AZ-1 read the aperture at full opening, with a notch in the flange for the body’s lock pin. The optics stayed 7 in 7 by every Fuji document, which is worth saying because Wikipedia’s table gives the EBC lens 5 elements in 5 groups: that count belongs to the X-Fujinon 28mm f/3.5 DM of 1980, a new lens at 160g and 41mm long that japb calls significantly different from the M42 design, and which is not a variant of this one. Fuji’s weights disagree, 155g in the brochure and 184g in the AZ-1 manual.

It is an M42 screw-thread lens and works on any M42 body, but the tab on the EBC version can foul the mount of other bodies and of adapters, which is why it is so often found filed off, and the lens has no A/M switch, so on an adapter without a flange to press the pin it stays wide open. Bengt Köhler Sandberg says as much in the one full review, that the edge on the aperture ring needs filing for most adapters, and otherwise calls it a really nice lens: good wide open, very good at every aperture, mild corner softness at f/3.5, flare handled well, five blades. Stephen Daugherty agrees on the centre and the build and not on the corners, which on his copy never sharpen; he paid $40 in 2019 and puts the going rate at $100. Forum users who own the wider Fujinon set rank the 28 among the good ones.

Buying: check for the tab, for haze and a slow diaphragm, and for the fit-on hood, which is specific to this lens. No launch price, no blade count from Fuji and no serial ranges have been found.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Fujinon 28mm f/3.5
EBC Fujinon·SW 1:3.5 f=28mm, the multicoated M42 lens (Alfred from Germany) — Alfred from Germany, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Fujinon 28mm f/3.5
Rear of a Fujica-generation M42 Fujinon: the 42mm thread with Fuji's open-aperture coupling (Tap-pentax) — Tap-pentax, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 de)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Fujinon 28mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $160 across 27 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-20 (middle half $130–$200). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 38 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-20. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: EBC Fujinon 24mm f/2.8 · Fujinon 35mm f/2.8 · EBC Fujinon 35mm f/1.9 · Fujinon 55mm f/1.8 · EBC Fujinon 50mm f/1.4

Sources (17)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.