28mm as a focal length seems all the rage nowadays. There is the Ricoh GR, Fuji X70, Leica Q, and more. Recently, I was given an Amazon gift card and the 28mm f/2.8 IS from Canon was on sale, so I grabbed one to use on my 5Ds for fun. Here are my thoughts after my an initial outing.
Pros:
- Sharp (see photos below).
- Image stabilization comes in very handy since f/2.8 isn’t the fastest in low light.
- Works for portraits, understanding that it will be distorted.
- Lightweight.
- Inexpensive.
- Fun to use.
- Fast focusing.
Cons:
- No lens hood — come on Canon. Really? I bought a third party one on Amazon.
- Quite distorted out of the box, the shots below all had optical corrections done via post processing.
- I wish it was an f/1.4L, but then it would cost much more.
- Not weather sealed.
All in all, my complaints of this lens really aren’t deal breakers. For what it is, it’s a great lens.
The following four shots were all taken at f/2.8, processed in DxO, and then seasoned with Athentech’s Perfectly Clear:
This was shot outside, under a walkway, at the Seattle Central Library.
Look how sharp this is at f/2.8!!!
This was taken through a glass case. It’s a First Folio of Shakespeare. It’s opened to Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech (bottom left of the right hand page).
The following two shots were taken at f/8 also using DxO and Athentech.
Notice that very tall black building? The highest Starbucks in the world is in that tower. That’s where the next image was taken.
Taken through the window looking down on the street we were walking on in the previous image.
I would recommend this lens for casual street shooting or a daily outing with good light. I would also only recommend this for full frame use. If I were shooting on a cropped sensor, you could save money and get the 24mm f/2.8 STM which is a similar focal length for quite a bit less money.
Originally published at bershatsky.com on March 27, 2016.
