Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens

2019-07-08T13:08:03

Mounted on a T6i the 28mm is hardly noticeable. It provides an 'almost normal' 50mm perspective that reminds me of the days when I was using a Canon QL17 Rangefinder. I really like the focal length, and it's been the only lens I've used in more than a month. IQ is what you'd expect from a Canon prime, with lovely color rendition, and edge-to-edge clarity. I do mostly outdoor photography with lots of limited distance landscapes, South Florida flora, 'street', and family activities. However, the IS and f2.8 have enabled me to work more indoors, where my biggest challenge now is white balance! Highly recommended.

William B.

2016-12-25T08:53:57

I recently purchased this lens with the intent to use it on safari in South Africa for wide angle landscape shots and for photo journalism shots in the cities visited. It is wonderful and meets all of my requirements. Used it for photographing flowers with great success. Recommend to anyone

ROBERT B.

2016-08-31T20:00:00

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. I spent a great deal of time considering all my options, reading reviews and assessing what I was going to use the lens for and the quality of the optics I wanted. My selection of an upgrade to my zoom was the Canon EF 28mm f2.8 IS USM. This lens has been absolutely phenomenal! This wide angle lens is fast, optically sharp and light weight. The Image Stabilization has increased its versatility and has made it great for evening and indoor photography without flash. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War I took a tour of several battlefields and museums in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I matched the EF 28mm f2.8m IS with my Canon EF 70-300mm IS DO zoom lens for a fast versatile and light weight kit. The EF 28mm f2.8 IS was great for landscapes, monuments and late evening shots on the battlefields. The Image stabilization came in handy shooting inside buildings, historic displays and late night pictures in the Gettysburg National Park. While it might lack an L-series designation the Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM provides a quality build, fast and quiet Auto-focusing, image stabilization, excellent optics, image sharpness and an f2.8 lens speed w/ IS. This lens has been great for travel, reenactments, interior shooting, architectural and general photography. After more than a year of use I know I made the right decision! I would recommend this lens to anyone looking for a fast, versatile and high quality wide angle lens.

Napoleon

Originally posted at

2014-04-20T20:00:00

This new 28mm IS USM lens is about as good as it gets, image sharpness wise on Canon SLRs. On a crop sensor (APS C body it works out to a 44.8mm lens, in 35mm format terms. That's almost exactly what your eye sees and was once considered the "normal" focal length in 35mm photography. If you read any of the many reviews online, it out performs even the 1.8 (non IS) version, which is much older technology. CA is really low here, almost non-existent. Distortion is low, especially for this focal length. If you go with this len's 24mm brother, you will gain more CA, more corner softness and more distortion. You just can't beat this lens. Yes it's not as versatile as a zoom (I also have the 15-85 IS USM Canon lens) but man, is this 28mm tack sharp. If you really care about image quality, you can't beat a prime lens, and this 28mm IS USM is the lens to beat.

Bill W.

Originally posted at

2014-03-14T21:00:00

I purchased this lens for an upcoming trip to Ireland. I wanted a relatively wide angle lens as an alternative to the EF 28-105 L lens I usually use for travel. This lens is very clear, fast (f2.8), has IS, is light, and not a budget breaker. Easy to carry around without fatigue.

Jim

2013-12-09T19:00:00

A nice sharp,fast and light prime

Edward K.

2013-12-09T19:00:00

I returned mine. The lens falls into the category of "if you need the focal length, you'll love it." I was using this on a full frame, and found it too wide for normal, too narrow for wide. For the price I just didn't see it getting used all that much. Image quality was great, the IS is solid. It's a great lens, just ask yourself if you need the focal length.

JOEL L.

2013-12-09T19:00:00

Great for landscape opps when trail will not allow tripods! IS nearly always gives me gives me 4 stops shuttere advantage when needed due to poor light. Love the lens!

LEON D.

2013-06-03T21:00:00

Most of my photography is birds and wildlife, but I also enjoy flowers of all kinds and scenery. My telephoto lens handle the birds and wildlife but not much good for the flowers and scenery. I would have liked another "L" lens but could not afford it. I settled for the EF 28mm f/2.8. I am very pleased with it--sharp pictures and auto-focus works well and with the discount the price was reasonable. Adorama offered additional gift items that certainly added great value (EF 12 II Extension tube, filter kit & cleaning kit). I'm very pleased with the purchase. Although I have much to learn about photography yet, I take over 6000 photos a year and love it. I am unable to share a photo because of snail-speed internet.

DaveyBoy

2013-05-16T21:00:00

Amazingly sharp, great IS, perfect prime walkaround on an APS-C.

Jonathan R.

2013-05-15T21:00:00

I believe this is Canon's smallest and lightest stabilized prime lens. It's very easy to hand-hold, because the IS is consistently good for +3 stops. The sharpness is pretty astounding all the way to the corners even wide open. The images have good, accurate color rendition. There's no warmth and contrast boost like an L lens, though. The bokeh is just a bit busy, but not objectionably so. The autofocus is fast and accurate. This could well be a Canon-shooting photojournalist's favorite lens.

THOMAS K.

2013-05-14T21:00:00

Used for landscape and some portrait photos. It's a small, sharp lens with IS and has really useful framing on my 50D.

JOHN M.

2013-05-03T21:00:00

I use this for Street scape and candids as well as portraiture and landscape. I mst say, this is a very sharp and contrasty lens and the IS works a treat. I think if Canon had placed weather sealing on this baby, it could easily have worn a RED ring on the barrel worthy of "L" status. Well done, great glass here.

PK

2013-03-26T21:00:00

Very good IS. Sharp images at 1/15 shutter speed, handheld. I bought it to use as a fast normal lens on a T4i body. No regrets.

jpabshire

2013-03-25T21:00:00

Just a great small lens with IS to boot.

ralphw

2013-02-23T19:00:00

For starters some background: In June this year I bought the new 40mm pancake which reminded me that prime lenses are preferable in many cases. Their discrete size and the lightweight prove beneficial when walking around; but also the fact that they force not to be lazy about image composition I like. . Whilst the 40mm is so affordable that it was a risk free just-for-fun purchase, this is certainly not true for the 28mm. It is simply expensive. Up to now I keep wondering what else I could have bought for the money. . The key question is, is it worth that price? My first thought when I got it was 'what a bore'; it is rather unexciting in particular when mounted on my 5DII (the pancake is different in this respect). But how does it perform? . And that is excellent. Sharpness is just great starting at f2.8; you may find reviews stating that full open the extreme borders show some problems, but these are minimal - they appear just a bit softer. Remember, this is a wide angle lens! Chromatic errors are nearly absent. Color rendition is good as well, albeit perhaps a bit cool. The stabilizer works as advertised, although at 100% I can see some blurring as of 1/6th. Vignetting (up to f4.5) and distortion are visible, but readily corrected in Lightroom. . However correct the distortion? Any wide angle lens distorts a face towards the outer edges by their extreme perspective. However the distortion characteristic of this lens tends to mitigate this effect... I will not correct such images, I like the distortion characteristic of this lens! . This lens really shows its benefits when shooting video. Although I am not into video and the 5DII remains a bit awkward for this purpose I've shot my most professional looking videos since I purchased this lens. . For me the bottom line is that is does what I want it to do. It is a lightweight walk around lens which handles low light well and has excellent image quality. I bought it for travel photography and that is what it is excellent for. The price? Well, I will forget about it once in the future.

derob

Originally posted at

2013-02-19T19:00:00

It's not the fastest with F/2.8, but I doubt you can find a sharper one. There is no noticeable (looking at 100% on monitor) corner or edge softness wide open on a crop body (have not used it on FF yet), which so far I have only experienced with telephoto L glass. Same goes for coma. Decent bokeh. Blur circles show only slight distortion in corners and stay fairly smooth and round when stopping down. Mechanically it seems fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. It is pretty tight but materials are on the same level as the much cheaper 40mm F/2.8 STM. However, that should be sufficient for most uses. Manual focus ring is precise but does not have the smoothest feel. I have never missed IS so far even shooting with a 400mm on a crop body, but after a few test shots handheld at 1/8 sec I might change my mind. It allowed me to take some nice handheld closeups in low light that I would not have attempted without a tripod previously. Autofocus is on par with any other USM lens I have used but struggles just a little in low light. In summary, a great lens that feels good on the camera and will get plenty of use. A little pricey but for close to perfect optics still a good value (really good value with current sales going on).

RAINER G.

2013-02-06T19:00:00

I think this lens produces some very sharp detail and great color and contrast. I tried both this one and the 38mm f/2 IS and found this one to beat the 35mm in sharpness and detail. This is my new favorite lens. Can't wait to really get to get out and use it.

ROBIN E.

2013-02-01T19:00:00

Despite its hefty price tag, the lens is a well-built and compact prime lens which is good for landscape photography or general purpose. The image quality is far superior to the old non-IS version, and the auto-focus is flawless. All in all, it is a good lens.

DENGFENG Z.