Customer Reviews

Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've owned this lens for just over a year now, and it's on my camera almost all the time - despite the fact that I've bought two other lenses.

I'm a fan of shooting candid shots, mostly indoors, and flash is just NOT an option if you really want great pics that don't interfere with (or annoy) your subjects. I came to this lens because the EF50mm f/1.8 was just a bit *too* tight/long for candid pics without stepping back all the time, or settling for face shots only. This 28mm approaches the 'standard' 50mm lens length that shoots pretty much what you see with your eye.

I thought the lens was a bit soft at first, but over time, I've gotten to know it inside and out, and my photos are close to tack-sharp most of the time - even though I rarely shoot above f/2.5 with this. I'll take shooting with this at f/1.8 or f/2.0 over a lens with image stabilization any time. And of course, being a prime (non-zoom) lens means that your pictures are going to be sharper than a zoom lens with IS anyways.

This is a lens that will spoil you forever. You'll be able to capture photos in virtually any lighting conditions. I love shooting with it, and ISO 1600 shots at f/2.0 are just spectacular - exactly what I need for shooting in *extremely* low light. With a bit of post-processing, I'm making incredible photos that were simply not possible in the days before digital.

Build quality is excellent, and the USM auto-focus does a great job in bright-light and low-light situations with ease, silently.

If you want sharp low-light photos in a compact and lightweight lens, this is your saviour.

For APS-C digitals cameras with a 1.6 crop factor, this becomes equivalent to 44mm with a 35mm film camera. I bought this lens a general purpose prime lens for APS-C with roughly the same angle as 50mm for the 35mm film camera (Canon does not have a 30mm, only Sigma's 30mm f/1.4 is the closest). I have used this prime lens on my Digital Rebel and 30D for a few hundred shots so far, and I am very pleased with the sharpness of the photos, as well as the speed. I think it is softer at f/1.8, which happens in most cases of any lens, and rather like to used a little to f/2.2 - 2.8. With such low apertures the area of focus is very shallow, thus I appreciate the great autofocus from the USM, which works flawness with the combination of a Canon digital SLR and a Canon lens. Also there are 10 glass elements, producing a nic bokeh, minimum distance of 25cm for focusing, so it is well-built lens. It is about 10 oz, not as light as the f/2.8 version, but it is much stronger in low-light situations, and when used at f/2.8, the f/2.8 version shold be much sharper.

It is not an L lens (these are so expensive, and also heavy), but is exceptionally good in the non-L lens category, especially for the APS-C camera's. For full size APS sensors, the 50mm f/1.4 would be the choice, but if you use the 50mm in APS-C systems, the crop factor makes this a medium telephoto 80mm equivalent lens, not good for general purpose shooting.

It is realively higher in price to the f/2.8 version. The reasons I chose this f/1.8 version was because of the following:
1. low-light shooting in the f/1.8-2.5 range
2. USM for fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus, espcially helpful targets are moving
3. Nice soft bokeh per Canon (I like it so far).
4. Can use as wide-lens in full-size APS sensors the future if digital SLRs would gradually shift in that direction.

It depends on the type of situations you plan to shoot photos, but I think if you need such features, this lens is very much worth the price.

I love this lens. Excluding Canon's L-series professional lens offerings (which are all considerably more expensive), this is the sharpest lens I have seen from them. I use it primarily for long-exposure night photography to get wide-angle sky shots. The fast optics allow for short enough exposures that I don't need a wedge to avoid star trails.

It's also very compact and light, making it an easy lens to carry around for general use. With my 300D DSLR and its inherent 1.6x crop, the lens has an effective 45mm focal length, which makes it a good general-purpose lens. Its portability combined with its good performance in low light make it the perfect lens for candid indoor photography.

I just got this lens used from a marketplace seller. The first several test-shots were breathtaking. My seller included the lens hood. The lens hood even installs backwards for easy storage.

Yes, it has a very narrow depth of field at f/1.8. But that's the idea sometimes. Backgrounds are totally obfuscated one foot past the focus point. It gets deeper and sharper the more you stop it down.

If you've been looking for an EF AF lens that will shoot in awful, low-light conditions, this is a great one. Neither my EFS18-55 nor my EF35-80 can come anywhere near the low-light performance! I'm using a Digital Rebel/300D, and I was able to manually focus perfectly in very dim light. The USM AF works great, but you have to choose your focus point very carefully at f/1.8.

I'm a fisheye-guy, so the pictures are a little un-artistic for my "Artwork" but for portraits, landscapes, architecture, even drunken snapshots (I'm assuming) it's tack-sharp every time! If you hate the curved lines from shperical wide-angles, this lens will tickle you pink!!

I'm going to take some pictures at night, I'm hoping for cloud definition in near-total darkness. I will post them with the other customer images. (Even if they're bad, I want to test the LIMITS of this very fast/bright lens!)

Find a good used one if you can, but it would have been worth an extra $100 if a used one wasn't available.

Every time I buy a more expensive Canon lens, I wonder if I'm finally going to get something that's not quite worth the high price; but it hasn't happened yet!!

My next purchase will be:Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens My wife will kill me when she sees that pricetag!

Stay Tuned!

The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 lens focuses quickly and accurately, and can produce nice pictures as long as you keep your subjects away from the edges of the frame. The center is sharp, but even on an APS-C (cropped frame) camera such as a Digital Rebel or 50D, the edges are quite soft at f/1.8 and remain noticeably soft no matter how far you stop it down. On a full-frame camera such as the 5D Mark II, the edges are unspeakably bad. The lens also shows strong chromatic aberrations and heavy purple fringing around specular highlights. Stopping down does not reduce these effects significantly, but it is usually not a problem on indoor shots as long as sunny windows and unshaded lamps (including flourescent tubes) are kept out of the frame.

My goal in purchasing this lens was to improve my indoor martial arts photography, but its optical defects were so frustrating that I found myself taking any excuse not to use it. I simply couldn't trust it to produce usable images. I ended up selling it. Now when I need a fast lens in about this focal length, I usually reach for the less-expensive but optically superior Canon EF 35mm f/2 Wide Angle Lens. The 35mm f/2 does not have USM, so it does not focus quite as quickly or silently as the 28mm f/1.8, but it produces good pictures without weird color artifacts.

The EF 28mm f/1.8 USM is the worst prime SLR lens in Canon's product line as far as I know. It is the only such lens that I recommend avoiding.

I've had this lens for my Rebels for a couple of years now. It was the first lens I bought with my original Rebel. Coming from a background in 35mm SLR's (Back in the day) I thought I needed to start with a prime. Apparently that isn't the case as my 28-135 IS is the lens that has become 'glued' to my camera(s).

This lens, however, is my goto lens for indoor shots without a flash. The fast f/1.8 comes in handy when I don't want to wash out a subject with flash (even with a speedlight).

I only give it a 4 out of 5 because I think it is a bit soft for a prime, but I've kept it around while other lenses have gone back to the store or been sold on eBay.

I am using it on my Rebel XT now and I suspect I will use it on my next DSLR body (EOS 30D?) whenever that happens.

For a fast, wide-angle prime, this is it from Canon...

I was a G9 and S90 user that decided it was time to step up to the major leagues, so I decided on the Canon 60D. Of the three cameras with the same 18.1 megapixel sensor, the 60D had the most appeal because it didn't feel quite like a toy (as the t2i did), it has an articulated screen for video shooting, and it is enough below a 7D in price that you can afford a nice lens if you were considering the 7D w/kit.

And that's where this beauty came in. I looked at the $100 Canon f/1.8 50mm, the 50mm f/1.4, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and this one. My primary use for this setup is to take pictures of the parties that I throw in a club setting at night and lots of indoor candids.

I settled on this lens because it best fulfilled the above reasons, but also because it did not have any of the focusing issues gamble involved in the Sigma 30mm AND because unlike all of the other 50mm lenses I was considering, this comes closest to the traditional 50mm prime view on the 1.6x crop APS-C sensor that the 60D has.

Let me just tell you that I am absolutely blown away by the 60D/Canon 28mm f/1.8 combo. My excitement should probably be tempered a bit because I am stepping up from P&S realm to a dSLR with a nice lens, but still. I uploaded three shots to the user section of a nighttime walk around my block I did after a nice rain here in LA, shooting at f/2.8 in pretty much darkness with no flash and no IS and the results were just stunning.

I also took some candid portrait shots of a friend who paid me a visit after having a few drinks and it really captures the mood/moments so well. It's so freeing to be able to shoot like this indoors. I have seen none of the "softness" reported by other users, except at f/1.8 where I believe it is narrow DOF on this lens. I stopped up to f/2.8 while outside and saw some incredible sharpness on pictures focused at infinity. Did some some slight CA in high contrast area (cluster of street lamps behind some trees) but nothing that bothered me and again, if I am going to do a ton of outdoor daytime shooting, I'll probably get another lens down the road.

I also did a quick experiment shooting video and the large, smooth focus ring makes it very possible to manually adjust focus on a slow-moving subject (like a person moving around a room) once you have an innate feel for which direction you correct if they subject moves in front or behind the focus area. It adds a nice creative dimension to go out of focus and snap back in for a second -- that nice cinematic, hand-held aesthetic -- and the detail is just razor sharp, again, even in low light. Really looking forward to messing around more with the video side of things and this lens.

All in all, very very happy. It was worth stepping down to the 60D so I could afford this lens. I finally feel like the gear is no longer an excuse at all, it's just whether or not I have the eye and get the right shot, which is how it should be.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this little lens. There are many things I really love about it, but there's one big fat negative. Let's start with the good:

+ Small, light, and fast enough for indoor work. This is the reason I love little primes for travel, family events, and portrait work. They are smaller, lighter, easier to carry, and offer great creative options

+ Reasonably sharp wide open. Stopped down to f/2.8, it's very sharp and contrasty

+ Build quality is excellent. This lens is very nicely built, has great smooth quiet autofocusing, and the focusing ring is nice and wide enough to comfortably use. I like that it's heavier than my nifty fifty and has a solid metal mount.

+ Great focal length for a 1.6 crop body. On my 7D, this lens is fabulous. The field of view on a 1.6 crop body is near the classic 50mm on 35mm film length. It's a great focal length for shooting family events and get-togethers. Very little distortion from this lens make it a good fit for portraiture also.

+ Color saturation and contrast are excellent. This little lens renders color wonderfully especially under great lighting conditions. It's a substantial change from the nifty fifty in this department.

+ Beautiful OOF (out of focus) areas. The bokeh is wonderful on this lens. It's creamy and very smooth.

Now, for the big fat con.

- The CA (chromatic aberration) is horrible on this lens wide open and even stopped all the way down to f/4. On the 7D, this is much less noticeable, but on my 1D2 (1.3 crop sensor), the CA in the corners is absolutely horrendous at f/1.8. I'm talking about huge blatant purple and green fringing in all four corners that distract from the subject in areas where white meets darker colors in the corners and along the edges of the frame. This is very unfortunate, as this lens is really great in all other departments. I was sorely disappointed when I first saw this, and I can't imagine how bad it is on a full frame body in the corners. Although CA can be removed in post processing, CA to this degree should not be present for a lens this expensive. It's really no excuse for it. When I first saw it, I thought my lens was faulty, but after taking it to a local service center, turns out, it isn't.

If you avoid high contrast areas in the corners of your images, you'll be perfectly delighted with this little lens. I am keeping mine simply because there are no other affordable options in this focal length and speed from Canon currently, and the image quality (aside from the CA) is very good. It's light, easily portable, and a decent value for the money. I just avoid high contrast areas in the edges of my frame when it is mounted to my 1D2.

If you are looking to buy this lens, be very aware of the CA issues, and think about whether this will be a substantial problem for you. If so, I'd recommend saving for the 24L, 35L, or 17-40 L instead (if you don't need f/1.8) if you can. The 17-40 controls CA much better than this lens does at the cost of speed and size. If not, this little lens is a good choice.

Unfortunately, Canon doesn't currently offer many fast prime lenses under 35mm that are affordable for most people, and of the lot of them, this is the best one with regards to build quality, speed, and image quality. I hope to see an update to this lens very soon as it could be a great lens.

This is a good prime lens for daily indoor use.

Pros:
- Fast at f/1.8 although soft
- Reasonably sharp from f/2.0, gets better from f/2.2
- Rugged
- Good 'normal' lens for APS-C sensor with 1.6 multiplier (mine is the 450d)

Cons:
- Very soft at f/1.8
- My copy has a front-focus problem at times

Overall, happy with the lens since I can take available light pictures indoors where my 50mm f/1.4 prime (must have!) is too narrow. I can see the front-focus issue on some shots when compared to my 24-105mm f/4L in a reasonably contolled test. Also, from shot to shot taken indoors, the focus is slightly off at times. On a second test indoors, the focus was spot on.

The reason I bought this lens was to use it indoors in lower light conditions. I have had this lens on my Rebel XT for about six months and it does a fairly a good job. It maybe true that the 50mm 1.4 is better but that type of lens on a 1.6 cropped sensor is only good for portraits in my opinion. It is true this lens is a little on the soft side. You will not have to worry about it long as your not blowing up your image too big. Since there is not much to choose from in 28mm f/1.8 arena for a reasonable price, this was the best choice. Take a look at the picture I posted and judge for yourself. Can you purchase a better lens that will break the bank? Sure! But why would you want too!