Bell & Howell Bell & Howell 28mm f2.8 Heritage

Overview

The Bell & Howell 28mm f/2.8 is a rebadged wide-angle prime from the 1970s-80s era of affordable third-party glass for 35mm film SLRs. Bell & Howell, an American company, distributed lenses under its name that were manufactured overseas; multiple community sources (including a Pentax Forums reviewer) identify this lens as being made by Osawa, cross-referencing an equivalent Osawa 28mm. Originally offered in M42 screwmount, it also appeared in Pentax K (PK) mount versions. It carries no established nicknames or cult jargon in the reviews consulted. Its following, such as it is, stems from being an inexpensive, well-finished budget classic that does exactly what it was designed to do: shoot color prints and 35mm slides for amateurs. One notable modern twist is that some copies have been cine-modded with an oval aperture to produce anamorphic-style oval bokeh, giving it a small niche among experimental shooters.

Verdict: A humble, well-built budget wide-angle that punches above its bargain price. It's ideal for anyone wanting an inexpensive, characterful 28mm for casual film or mirrorless shooting who accepts soft corners wide open and modest close focus. Not a boutique optic, but a smooth-handling, honest performer that sharpens up nicely by f/5.6.

Optical Character

Bokeh

6-blade aperture can produce hexagonal/faceted highlights; a cine-modded oval-aperture variant yields anamorphic-style bokeh.

Sharpness wide open

Good center, softer edges at f/2.8 that clean up nicely by f/5.6; reveals soft corners on digital.

Community Insights

What people love

Small, well-finished, and mechanically smooth with a good depth-of-field scale
Very inexpensive, offering strong value (reviewers cite prices around $7-$12)
Excellent handling; smooth focus and often comes complete with a matching screw-in plastic hood and semi-rigid zip case
Perfectly suited to its intended role of amateur color prints and 35mm slides
Good sharpness once stopped down to f/5.6

What people dislike

Softer edges wide open at f/2.8
A couple of pixels of chromatic aberration in the corners on digital examination
Not the greatest close-focus performance
Exhibits the classic basic-28mm limitations that can't be fixed without floating/aspheric/high-density glass elements

Pro Tips

Stop down to f/5.6 for markedly improved edge sharpness
Use it as intended for general/amateur shooting where its limitations are irrelevant at normal print sizes
Works well adapted to both film SLRs and Micro 4/3 digital bodies per reviewer experience

Sources (1)

Web-grounded synthesissecondary

The Bell & Howell 28mm f/2.8 is a rebadged wide-angle prime from the 1970s-80s era of affordable third-party glass for 35mm film SLRs. Bell & Howell, an American company, distributed lenses under its name that were manufactured overseas; multiple community sources (including a Pentax Forums reviewer) identify this lens as being made by Osawa, cross-referencing an equivalent Osawa 28mm. Originally offered in M42 screwmount, it also appeared in Pentax K (PK) mount versions. It carries no established nicknames or cult jargon in the reviews consulted. Its following, such as it is, stems from being an inexpensive, well-finished budget classic that does exactly what it was designed to do: shoot color prints and 35mm slides for amateurs. One notable modern twist is that some copies have been cine-modded with an oval aperture to produce anamorphic-style oval bokeh, giving it a small niche among experimental shooters.

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