Canon Wide Angle EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Autofocus Lens

Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM held a lot of promise on paper - a well performing fast wide angle prime, with silent and accurate AF system in a compact and light format that is affordable to a mainstream photographer. Unfortunately, in the real life the lens does not come even close to all these promises.

The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 lens was evaluated for use in wide field astrophotography. The following information on resolution and 50% MTF is applicable to all photographic uses of the lens.

Handling and features This classic wide angle prime from Canon provides a wide angle field of view, fast, silent focusing and a bright f/1.8 maximum aperture. With this lens costing around £380, could it be the perfect budget solution for hand held low light shooting?

The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Lens is currently Canon's fastest 28mm lens . And the only wider angle lens that is faster (wider aperture) is the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM Lens . My first thought upon removing the 28 f/1.8 from the box was that it was very similar to the Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM Lens...

If ever there was a case for updating an old lens design, then this is a pretty strong one. At apertures faster than f/2.8, this lens could be considered unusable, that is unless you're after a hazy, soft focus effect.

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  Good build quality, Compact, Reasonably lightweight

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  Poor optical performance at fast apertures, CA at fast apertures, Price versus performance doesn't add up

The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM is not a great lens but from a real world perspective it is not all that bad. At large apertures the center is very sharp - and that's probably the priority spot at such settings anyway. However, the border and corner performance is certainly disappointingly low here.

The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM disappoints on the APS-C format. It is a full format lens yet the border quality leaves something to be desired even when stopped down. The fairly heavy amount of lateral CAs reduces the subjective quality perception even further.

The Canon EF 28 mm f/1.8 USM can be used in two ways. The owners of APS-C reflex cameras will want to use it as a relatively fast standard lens, with the angle of view about 50 degrees. The owners of full frame cameras, for a change, might want to use the tested Canon as a fast, wide angle classic.

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  good build quality,, very good image quality in the frame centre (apart from the maximum aperture),, slight distortion,, low level of vignetting on APS-C,, silent and quick autofocus.

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  weak image quality at the maximum relative aperture,, low resolution at the frame edge of an APS-C and full frame sensor alike,, quite significant chromatic aberration,, huge coma,, unsatisfactory accuracy of the focusing mechanism.

I have used this lens on a Canon 5d Mark II, Canon 6D, and a Sony A7R with adapter. All pictures I took with this lens always turn out great or better than expected. It is tack sharp and on the Sony A7R it shines amazingly! It also works very well on the 6D and the 5D.

I have owned this lens for almost three years and have used it on a 40d, 60d and a 7d. I love the speed and accuracy of the USM focus system and appreciate the solid build quality and feel of this lens in hand.

I recently got this after thinking about buying it for at least one year. After reading the reviews I decided to go for this one instead of the Sigma 30mm F1.4. This lens have been "glued" to my Canon 7D after I got it. The feel and "fun factor" of this lens is huge.

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  "Normal view" for a APS-C camera, sharp, excellent bokeh, lightweight compared to zoom lenses, excellent built, great film lens

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  Some "travelling" of the auto focus, difficult to focus in low light

This lens is a little on the heavy side if you're used to the cheap plastic lenses, like the 50mm 1.8 series, but it's built like a tank, just like the old FD lenses were. My eyes are watering from the nostalgia. Sorry.

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  I grew up with manual focus prime lenses so the Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 feels like home to me. I use the autofocus most of the time – it's spot on and fast, but I like to focus manually, especially with the very shallow depth of field this lens offers at f/1.8, and it has a large and very smooth focus...

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  Doesn't come with a lens hood, an essential with any wide angle lens for outdoor shooting. Skip the aftermarket brands and get the Canon hood. Or you can do like I did and buy twice by first getting the cheap knock-off with threads that wear out then opting for the reversible Canon bayonet mount.

Their is a little noticeable barreling around the sides, so be careful if straight lines are important. (As with all wide-angle lenses) Good balance, good size.

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  Purchased this lens for my Rebel XSi. With the XSi all lenses have a 1.6 multiplying factor, so it looks like a 50mm on a film XLR. I wanted something fast for indoor photos without a flash. Focus is critical. Good color and detail when you set up the photo correctly.

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  You have to force this lens f-stop down to get good depth of field. Some like the 'bokeh', I don't. I go for f10-14 on a tripod and I am happy.

I have discovered a hidden gem in the canon EF lens lineup! The EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens has never really received exceptional praise or glowing reviews. I honestly don't know why! On digital SLRs (namely full frame and 1.6x bodies) it's perfect for available light photography.

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  F/1.8 is a definitely bonus!, Fast AF, Decent build quality, Not too expensive, Works on any EF-Mount camera.

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  Could be a tad bit sharper wide open (fixable in post production however), Small amounts of CA can be seen at wide apertures (also correctable), Plastic vs. metal construction (personal preference)

Love this one! Trying to take a good photo everyday...