Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [830kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 3.8 x 3.6 inches ; 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006I53T
• Item model number: 2505A003AA
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed for Canon SLR cameras, the highly portable Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens offers a terrific price-to-performance ratio. The lens offers a fast f/2.8 aperture that makes it easy to use in low light, providing a bright viewfinder image in the camera. The lens also focuses as close as 10 inches without accessories. And optically, it provides excellent edge-to-edge contrast and sharpness while correcting for linear distortion, ensuring that straight lines in a photographic subject--such as architecture--remain straight. Other features include a 75-degree diagonal angle of view, a 52mm filter diameter, and a one-year warranty.

Specifications

• Focal length: 28mm
• Maximum aperture: f/2.8
• Lens construction: 5 elements in 5 groups
• Diagonal angle of view: 75 degrees
• Focus adjustment: Overall linear extension system with AFD
• Close focusing distance: 1 foot
• Filter size: 52mm
• Corresponding mounts: Canon
• Dimensions: 2.7 inches in diameter and 1.7 inches long
• Weight: 6.5 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year

Product Description

Designed for Canon SLR cameras, the highly portable Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens offers a terrific price-to-performance ratio. The lens offers a fast f/2.8 aperture that makes it easy to use in low light, providing a bright viewfinder image in the camera. The lens also focuses as close as 10 inches without accessories. And optically, it provides excellent edge-to-edge contrast and sharpness while correcting for linear distortion, ensuring that straight lines in a photographic subject--such as architecture--remain straight. Other features include a 75-degree diagonal angle of view, a 52mm filter diameter, and a one-year warranty.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Before you buy this lens!, April 6, 2006

By 

Abdulrahman Aljabri (Jeddah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics)

Make sure you buy it with the knowledge that you won't be able to use it to the full extent a wide angle lens is used to. Otherwise you will be severely disappointed with this lens. But just how so?

I know a photographer that uses this lens for wedding photography with her 10D. For her the lens does the job wonderfully. The lens takes sharp pictures, is light enough to haul around in a wedding, and wide enough on a 1.6 form factor camera to provide sufficient field of view for such event. The field of view on a 1.6 form factor camera would be equivalent to 45mm on full format; almost normal view.

I on the other hand used my 28mm lens for nature photography, and let me tell you the results were not just disappointing but down right useless! Simply stated, you will not be able to use high contrast/saturation landscape and nature pictures that are procuded by this lens. The bright sun will cause sever chromatic aberration in your pictures. Hence, the fringes of trees and light poles for example will display the dreaded discoloration (with this lens the color is generally purple). Every tree branch at the top corners will become purple at the fringes. Those are truly unacceptable results.

Now for the big question, is it possible that I had a bad copy? Probably not. After being so disappointed I researched this lens extensively (especially on Fred Miranda site) and found that others had the same problem. In fact, its overall score on that site was 7.4 at the time of my research, thus my 3 star rating. After learning the facts I decided to return the lens instead of exchanging it with another one. Since then I have ordered a 17-40 L.

Should you order it? This lens is a great value. In fact, I rank it as a best value lens after the 50mm 1.8 in the lower end range of Canon prime lenses. Nonetheless, don't expect to take stunning nature photos with it; otherwise chromatic aberration will stun you!

PS. I agree with most of what a previous reviewer mentioned in his post, but wonder if he owns a good copy. This lens has been in production for a while and there may be a difference in quality between various batches out there.

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal waterfall lens, April 30, 2005

By 

Scott Burgess (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics)

Waterfall lovers will appreciate a 28mm lens, and the Canon f/2.8 is no exception. A 24mm lens often puts you into the spray zone. A 35mm lens isn't as dramatic. I prefer fixed focal length lenses for waterfalls and similar landscapes to eliminate the ghosting that blemishes photos taken with zoom lenses: this lens has fewer groups/elements, consequently fewer internal reflections. I sometimes couple this lens with a 12mm Kenko extension tube to create dramatic closeups of flowers.

Don't feel the more expensive f/1.4 is a "better" lens. In my experience, the ultrawide aperture lenses are harder to optically correct and seldom noticeably better--but they are noticeably heavier and more expensive. While the wide aperture might help with shooting action, you should ask yourself if a significant fraction of your photos require this. Otherwise you're paying money for nothing.

In short, this inexpensive lens is a solid performer and a great value.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, June 8, 2009

By 

Marcio Jose Bastos Silva (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I bought this lens some time ago and have taken several photos with it since then. I can assure you that despite this lens is quite inexpensive and made maily of cheap plastic, it produces wonderful photos! Sharp on all four cornes! Do not buy that Canon 50mm lens if you have a 1.6 crop factor camera such as Canon Xti or Canon 40D because it will become a 80mm! This Canon AF 28mm F/2.8 on a 1.6 crop factor Camera is actually a 44mm and will do the job much better. It is very light and fast. I really enjoy to connect this little lens to my Canon 40D and go around the city capturing all that I find Interesting. The ony thing I would say against this lens is that it is not a USM lens what means that the auto focus is a little slow sometimes however, for the price it is what you get and I really do not not care to wait a few seconds more for the focus mecanism to lock on the subject of my photo. I RECOMMEND THIS LENS! IT IS A JOY IN MY LIFE AND AN EXCELLENT TOOL... FOR PROFESSIONALS AND AMATEURS....