Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: Another marvelous Canon prime lens
Summary: 5 Stars
As much as I love the 50mm f/1.4 lens there were times when it just was not wide enough. So I started an detailed search to find, for me, the perfect wide angle fixed focus lens.
As this lens will not get used a whole lot I immediately eliminated the 'L' lenses as too costly for the return. I was looking for something in the 20-30mm range. It needed to be a USM as non-USM lenses make too much noise while focusing and this lens will be used at plays & concerts. (I have the 35mm f/2 and it is way too noisy to use at these events.)
To make a long story short I selected the 28mm f/1.8 USM. This lens approaches the 'standard' 50mm lens length that shoots pretty much what you see with your eye. It excells in dimly lit interiors, such as auditoriums, for instance. Use it wide open with confidence, but focus carefully - DOF is narrow even with a 28 at 1.8.
Pros: Lightweight, Consistent Output, Strong Construction, Rugged, Easily Interchangeable, Durable, Sharp Focus, Wide Aperture
Cons: my only complaint is the same as with all non L lenses, that I have to pay extra for the hood.
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: Best lens in my bag!
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens far exceeded my expectations! The images are super sharp with a gorgeous bokeh. Works great in low light conditions. I mostly use manual focus, but the automatic is fast and despite what some say... quiet. The lens has a heavier, solid feel. I was looking for a wide angle lens with a high aperture, and this is perfect! The color is amazing, even before white balance is set. I would definitely recommend... I can't believe this isn't an L lens!Digital camera Review: Canon 28mm f1.8
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a good copy lens and works perfect for my canon EOS 60D. Superfast autofocus and no problem whatsoever. it's always on my camera bag with my el cheapo 50mm f1.8. Plan on upgrading my 50mm to a 50mm f1.4 with usm because i know the build quality of this 28mm is superb and they are in the same category with the quite usm. this 28mm lens becomes my 44.8 lens on my 60d and my 50mm becomes my 80mm on my aps-c camera.Digital camera Review: Compact, solid build, fast/quiet focus, but sensitive to shake, expensive
Summary: 5 Stars
Solid and compact, this lens focuses briskly, taking crisp photos, but is on the expensive side, sensitive to camera shake, and has an odd effective-focal-length.
The USM AF is quiet and fast, and has no trouble finding focus even in very low-light, attached to my Canon Rebel T1i.
However, in the same low-light (eg nightlife) situations, shooting at Av f/1.8 - f/2.5 (ISO1600), I experienced notable blur in my results. The lens is more sensitive to shake than I expected; that might just be my grip, but during low-light shooting, it begged for IS. Images are a a little soft at f/1.8, sharpening up by f/2.8, but reasonable throughout the range.
Important to note: on cropped-sensor cameras like most Canons (check Wikipedia for "APS-C" and "Crop Factor" for details), the body's 1.6x crop-factor means this lens is effectively a 45mm. Which I find to be an odd focal length. I have to back up several feet behind where I'd stand with my compact point&shoot to get the typical "small group" people shot, but a close-up or typical face+shoulders portrait requires substantial cropping.
This seems like the right focal-length for outdoor shooting, kids+pets, and general snapshots. The short length and broad aperture make this a convenient walk-around lens, although the limited wide-angle was sometimes frustrating.
The lens is solid and heavy, feels very well-constructed, with "big" glass.
I found the colors slightly cooler and images softer than the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens. Compared to that much cheaper lens, the EF28mm feels much better made, is much quieter, slightly faster focusing, and has a more usable focal length on APS-C cameras.
I found the quality and colors nearly identical to the Canon EF 35mm f/2 Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras. Compared to that cheaper lens, the EF28 feels better made, is much quieter, much faster focusing (especially in low-light), and is slightly more useful than the EF 35mm's effective APS-C length of 56mm.
Recommended for multi-purpose use, but outdoor-only photographers may do better with the cheaper Canon EF 35mm f/2 Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras which is much noisier and focus-hunts horribly in low-light, but takes comparable photos for being notably cheaper/smaller.
Digital camera Review: Excellent Lens on a 1.6 Crop D-SLR
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought mine in August for use with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D (as a complement - and emergency backup - for the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras I'd been using as my standard lens). I read many reviews on Amazon and elsewhere before buying, and I had my concerns about this lens because of reports it was soft around the edges. I assumed, however, that any soft parts would be effectively cropped by the smaller sensor in my camera, and this does appear to have been correct.
Focus is fast and quiet, and the lens is very sharp except when opened as wide as it will go, but this is the tradeoff you get with almost every fast prime. At f/8 the results are hard to beat. Field of view on a 1.6x crop camera (like mine) is equivalent to about a 45mm lens on a full-frame SLR, and since the smaller sensor crops out the edges for you there's little distortion to worry about.
My concerns with this lens are the reported edge softness (which I have no way of testing, since I don't own a full-frame Canon body - film or digital) and the external lens barrel, which like the 50mm 1.4 protrudes from the front of the lens and makes it susceptible to shock. Having had to send my 50mm for repair I opted for the lens hood when I bought the 28mm. For image quality alone on my camera I'd rate this a five-star lens, but since I have these concerns I'm knocking a star off.
I have no complaint with focus accuracy, but the depth of field can be hard to manage in full program mode. Shooting indoors in low light I generally bump the ISO up to about 400 and shoot in aperture priority mode to give myself a better chance of getting the shot I think I'm getting. Otherwise with moving subjects (people), at close range (likely when indoors), and with a wide aperture (low light indoors) I find that even a small shift is enough to result in front- or back-focus and a lost shot.
If you're outdoors or have very good light this is an excellent lens for candid shots of friends or family, and in low light it's still quite a good lens for candids, just as long as you pay attention to the aperture. The angle of view is adequate for scenic photos when traveling, but since a true wide angle lens on an APS-sensor camera is prohibitively expensive, 'adequate' is good enough for me. If you grew up with a film SLR and a 50mm fixed lens (as I did) this lens will come very close to the same utility you remember, and I recommend it highly.