While early versions of the 28mm f/2.8 lenses carry the "MC" (Multi-Coated) designation on the front ring, later products did not, though the coating standard was maintained.
The lens, considered a great value in the vintage lens market, is often associated with a "cult classic" or "sleeper" status, celebrated for its incredible compactness, excellent sharpness-to-value ratio, and its performance on both film and mirrorless digital cameras.
Often recommended over the slower 28mm f/3.5 for speed and the 28mm f/2 for value, the lens is a 6-element in 6 groups construction with an all‑metal barrel, has 6 straight aperture blades, a minimum focusing distance of 0.3 meters, measures about 32mm long, takes 49mm filters, and weighs approximately 170 grams.
On 1.5x crop sensor APS-C digital SLRs, the Zuiko OM 28mm f/2.8 is equivalent to a 42mm lens on a full-frame camera (45mm on Canon EOS DSLRs), a very exciting selection as 40mm (or thereabouts) primes are considered the "sweet spot lens for photography," with natural perspective that mimics what the human eye sees, without the distortion of shorter, or the compression of longer focal lengths.
On 2x crop sensor MFT (Micro Four/Thirds) mirrorless bodies, however, the lens is equivalent to a 56mm standard normal lens (lenses typically with a focal length of 40mm to 60mm), which offers a natural field of vision with a natural, human-eye-like perspective with minimal distortion.
The focal length is also considered the most apt for a walk-around lens, especially when used in a one-lens camera setup for daily shooting, candid moments, landscape, travel, and documentary photography, as well as for crops and close-ups.
On the Olympus Pen E‑PM2, the Zuiko OM 28 mm f/2.8 delivers very good, classic vintage‑sharp images with solid center sharpness, good contrast, and color. Zuiko OM designs are known for high contrast and clean color rendering, and the 28 mm f/2.8 is often described as punchy and holographic‑like in tone, especially on digital bodies.
The Olympus Pen E‑PM2, a compact, entry-level MFT (Micro Four/Thirds) rangefinder-style mirrorless digital camera introduced in 2012, is fitted with a 16MP Four/Thirds CMOS sensor (the same as found on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 at the time) and comes with a 460,000-dot 3-inch touch LCD, 8 fps burst shooting, and 1080p video. Features include a TruePic VI processor, an ISO range from 200 - 12,800 (expandable to 25,600), a shutter speed range from 60 to 1/4000 second, 2-axis in-body stabilization, and 35-point contrast-detect AF.
