The Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens delivers fast and accurate AF, very good image quality and image stabilization in a light, compact and moderately-priced package. This statement may sound familiar, and if you read the Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review , the rest of this review is also going...

Handling and features This new wide angle prime lens from Canon sports a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture, image stabilisation and an ultrasonic focus motor. This lens is currently costs around £700. Does the performance of this lens match up to the price? Here we will take a look.

Canon makes an innovative decision to include image stabilization in its wide-angle prime lenses; the lens performs well, perhaps not quite as well as the lens it is replacing (at least in terms of sharpness) but the image stabilization will be welcomed by landscape shooters and videographers alike.

The list of pros and cons of the Canon 2.8/28 is exactly the same as in the case of the Canon 2.8/24 IS, tested here not so long ago. However our summary of this one is going to be even more critical.

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  compact and solid casing,, excellent image quality in the frame centre,, good image quality on the edge of APS-C sensor,, well-corrected chromatic aberration,, slight spherical aberration,, moderate distortion,, low coma on APS-C,, negligible astigmatism,, very good work against bright light,, very...

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  weak image quality on the edge of full frame at the maximum relative aperture,, huge vignetting on full frame,, high coma in the corners of full frame detector,, modest accessory kit.

Although this lens isn't cheap, especially for a prime lens sporting a maximum aperture of f/2.8, it does deliver excellent sharpness, low CA and distortion. Although these attributes are probably worth the price, you'd still be forgiven for expecting this lens to be more keenly priced.

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  Good build quality, Lightweight, Image Stabilisation, Outstanding sharpness, Focuses close

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  Expensive, Falloff at maximum aperture

I love this lens, especially for the money. I'm an intermediate level, and now have several L lenses in my pack. Don't be deterred this is not an L series. It's a steal piece of glass at this price point. It's quiet, IS is very effective, AF fairly quick.

Unlike Nikon, Canon decided not to drastically change the optical design of their budget prime lenses (24mm, 28mm, 50mm). This resulted in a series of lightweight and compact lenses with a classic feel. Personally, I think these primes have just the right size and shouldn't be any bigger.

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  Sharp, compact, lightweight, stabilization, build quality

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  Somewhat expensive

Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM - For the past 20 years I have been using the Canon EF 28-105 as my primary moderate wide angle lens. While this zoom is a great lens I was in need of something a little faster.

One can say that a 28mm lens is too narrow, especially for a APS-C camera but I love it.

Was this review helpful?

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  Very god pictures

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  a little pricey

I'm very pleasantly surprised with this lens. Produces beautiful colors, crisp images and a shallow DOF I would expect from a faster lens. I wanted this lens for street shooting and I'm very happy I went with this one. I'm using this on my 5D Mk2 and so far am very happy with it.

Works great for landscape photo.

I bought this lens to use with a Sony a7R II and a Canon 5D Mark III. It works great for both cameras! It's especially nice to use with the Sony mirrorless on a gimbal.

I have had this lens about a year. It is very light, yet produces clear, crisp images. I use on both my 5D III and on 7D II where it functions as a normal lens. The f/2.8 + IS makes it great for low light situations. It's great for street photography, also for landscapes.

This lens has some serious sharpness problems.