Follow-up on the EF 28mm f/2.8

Follow-up on the EF 28mm f/2.8
Saturday, May 19, 2007

This is going to sound like a contradiction to my last post titled "I wish Canon would make better small lenses." I am greatly enjoying my cheap new lens, the EF 28mm f/2.8, which arrived in the mail yesterday. I dsicussed my rationale for purchasing this lens here. The 28/2.8 is so light and compact, it's almost like there's nothing on the 5D at all. It's just long enough to use the left hand for balance. The manual focus ring, while nothing great, is leaps ahead of that found on similarly inexpensive Canon lenses like the 50mm f/1.8 and the EF-S 18-55mm "kit lens." I like what I see so far in regular use, nice color and contrast stopped down. I haven't had reason to shoot it wide open yet. This lens has excellent flare resistance. Edge and corner sharpness are better than most reviews had seemed to indicate. Unlike my 24-105L, which has considerable barrel distortion on the wide end, this lens is nearly distortion free. For non speed freaks, this would be a very nice normal lens for a Rebel XT or XTi, providing great image characteristics in an extremely light and compact combination. For the 5D, I think the 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4 will make a terrific light kit for my style of shooting.

Downsides are as follows: Autofocus, while pretty fast, makes an annoying high-pitched noise. Lots of light falloff at maximum aperture. Build quality is overall cheap. As stated in the previous post, I really wish Canon would improve the build quality on these small primes.

A few examples from yesterday and today:

Posted by Amin

Labels: Canon, EF 28mm, lens

4 comments:

Will said... May 20, 2007 6:40 PM

Are you seeing any distortion at the edges with the 5D and the 28mm? I have a Canon 28-70 (I usually don't shoot with primes because I'm lazy) that has real distortion issues at its widest setting. I almost want to bag the full-frame sensor.

amin said... May 20, 2007 8:24 PM

I haven't formally tested for barrel distortion, but I can definitely tell that there is far less barrel distortion than the 24-105L. The 28-70L also has less distortion than the 24-105L though, so I'm not sure how the prime would compare to it. My understanding of the 28-70L is that it has minimal barrel distortion at 28mm. Are you referring to a different type of distortion?

Ryan & Jenn said... December 29, 2007 9:34 AM

This post has been removed by the author.

Ryan & Jenn said... December 29, 2007 9:51 AM

(My apologies, I needed to edit a line. My completed post follows.)

Thank you very much for your commentary and the links that you provided re: Canon's EF 28mm f/2.8. I'm what one might refer to as an amateur amateur photographer. My wife and I got a Digital Rebel XT about a year and a half ago (we didn't want to have to make another camera purchase again), and my in-laws have given me accessories and lenses for Christmases and Birthdays since. I put the EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye on my Christmas list more as a joke (it's way above Christmas budget), and I ended up getting the EF 28mm f/2.8. Keeping in mind my extreme amateur status, I began reading reviews of the lens, and found many reviewers who didn't like it. In the meantime, I was snapping images of my dogs and other still life at home, and I was really liking the results. Then I stumbled on your blog and found your review, your suggestions, and the links that you provided very helpful. I've bookmarked your blog and will be coming back.