Man this lens is a sleeper. Just got a user copy locally for pretty cheap, and it's a blast on my R8. I plan on trying out the RF 28/2.8 STM at some point, but I know I would miss the 1.8 and look from this older lens.
There's rumor of Canon bringing a 28 1.8 or even 1.4- I hope it doesn't have similar focus speed to the 35/1.8, that lens is awful.
If Canon comes up with an RF f/1.4 with fast AF it will cost a bit more than a few pennies.
If you want great IQ, fast AF, shallow DOF and a decent price point you might want to pick up a used Sigma Art. Your f/1.8 is less heavy obviously, and if you like the look I would simply stick with it. Just don't peep the pixels.
The 28 f/1.8 USM is only sharp in the center, unless you stop it down to about f/4. But I agree it's an underrated lens. Nonetheless I sold mine years ago because at the time I already had the 28 mm FOV covered four other ways.
The EF 28 f/2.8 IS USM is sharper and delivers more contrast, but doesn't open up as wide, obviously.
I don't have any experience (yet) with the RF 28 f/2.8 STM pancake lens, but I have one on the way. I've read that it's excellent.
Both the 2.8 options are reportedly great lenses, but they are only 2.8, meaning you simply can't achieve the same look with them as the faster older 1.8...
The old 1.8 is unique in that it's one of the only low price, faster than 2.8 28mm auto focus primes out there. Probably the easiest to find at a low price too. Once you start looking at the 1.4 options prices go up dramatically.
The sigma 1.4 is legendary in its own right, but it's HUGE, and all that mass would be on top of the EOS-RF adapter, which is a big turn off.
I had an EF 28mm f/1.8 at the same time as a Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art. Wide open, the 28 was as good as the 24 in the middle 30-40% or so of the field. At f/8, on a crop camera, you'll never see the difference. Full frame corners on the 28 are soft at all apertures.
I bought the 28/1.8 a few years back along with the 85/1.8 too
Made a great pair
However I also own the EF 28/2.8 arc drive and the lEF 28mm 2.8 IS
Strangely I found I used the old arc drive the most with my 6D, often paired with the EF 135/2.8…again arc drive. They both shared the same lenshood, both were compact and fast enough for my wants and needs.
Canon used to make some fabulous lenses, I’m lucky enough to own most of them.
EF 28mm 1.8 is regularly panned. I often think this is by people who have never used it. I've never had it, but there are people who appreciate it as the OP shows. I love 28s but the Sigma ART is just stupidly huge. No way. While the 28 f2.8 IS is slower, it is an excellent lens. What's a 11/4 stop between friends really anyway?
28 mm is a focal length I find easy to use on both crop and full frame. I had the EF 28 f/1.8 USM at the time I only had crop camera. The overall image quality was very nice stopped down to f/4. Wide open, it did not appear sharp to me, even in the center. I sold it and purchased the EF 35 f/2 instead. It was sharper wide open and a bit lighter, so I preferred the 35 mm as a low light normal lens for travel. Later I regret selling the 28 mm, because I liked the 28 mm focal length better, and also the build and USM of course.
Now I could re-purchase it, but I am holding out to see if there will be an RF version. Image quality and functionality similar to the RF 24/1.8 or 35/1.8 would be good enough and make it favorable over the EF version for me.
alundeb wrote:
Now I could re-purchase it, but I am holding out to see if there will be an RF version. Image quality and functionality similar to the RF 24/1.8 or 35/1.8 would be good enough and make it favorable over the EF version for me.
The RF 28 f/2.8 STM pancake lens I ordered arrived yesterday. I snapped about a dozen pictures with it and the image quality is really excellent from the center all the way out to the far corners.
If you want something with a wider aperture in that focal length, or if you want image stabilization, you'll have to wait. But if those aren't concerns for you, this lens is worth a look.
I still own mine (actually I own a third copy, as I have bought as sold it a few times over the years).
It is something of a unique lens, being Canon's first low-light-capable wide angle for EF mount. It has one aspheric element and a unique anti-flare baffle, but otherwise gets by without the more exotic optics in the 24L and 35L.
I believe this lens was envisioned for use in photojournalism and candid photography, which is my area. Lack of edge sharpness was likely deemed less of an issue for those disciplines. It is certainly not an architecture / landscape lens.
On full frame it is known for having soft corners, even stopped down, but a lot of its edge softness is due to field curvature. It also has a rather aggressive bokeh at wide apertures, along with some color blur. I find it optimized to be sharper at portrait distances than nearer to infinity when used at wide apertures, which is fine for me. I usually shoot mine no wider than f/2.0 though.
I used it more back when I shot on APS-H. It was a good 35mm-equivalent on 1D bodies, and the 1.3x crop helped to mask the edge softness. Focusing was always hit or miss on my DSLRs, but it is of course much more consistent on an R body.
Regardless of its optical flaws, I really love the mechanical design of this lens. It is a perfect match design-wise for the 20 2.8, 50 1.4, 85 1.8, and 100 f/2. Internal USM focusing is a luxury compared to Canon's modern STM lens designs.
Just for fun, here are a few samples on both full frame and APS-H, some slightly cropped:
Canon EOS 5D Mark IIEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/2.01/125s400 ISO0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IVEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/2.01/1250s100 ISO0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIIEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/2.81/100s1600 ISO0.0 EV
Canon EOS 5D Mark IIEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/1.81/125s800 ISO0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IVEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/2.01/1250s100 ISO0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIIEF28mm f/1.8 USM lens28mmf/2.51/60s800 ISO0.0 EV
Those are great pictures
It really knocks it home for me that catching memories is way more important than gear. My most treasured pictures are those I took with my phone and compacts.
Interestingly, I applied the black and white treatment to this image only recently, when I was rummaging through my LR catalog. I think it really adds to the mood.
I currently own both the EF 28mm f1.8 USM and the new RF 28mm f2.8 STM. Both are fantastic lenses and are super sharp. The EF 28mm f1.8 USM shows better contrast when stopped down to f2.8 or f4.0. The advantage of the new RF 28mm f2.8 STM is that it is smaller and lighter than the EF version.
I haven't thought about it much, but I'll probably do a side by side comparison with both lenses.
Interestingly, I applied the black and white treatment to this image only recently, when I was rummaging through my LR catalog. I think it really adds to the mood.
It adds to the mood, but it also puts more attention to some compositional goodness in the shot. As such, it's a good example of what you can do with a 28mm. Most of the time it can be quite difficult to create a nice composition, however, when it works it can be a great focal length to show a subject within the environment.
I went on a family trip last week with my new R8 kit- R8, RF 50/1.8, EF 28/1.8 and EF 100/2. The majority of the time, the 50 is what was on my camera... I simply prefer the simplicity and small size of the native mount lens. I really like the photos I've been getting with the 28, but it hasn't been on the camera a whole lot.
Decided to go ahead and grab the little RF28 pancake, as travel/compact size is a very high priority for me.
ISO1600 wrote:
I went on a family trip last week with my new R8 kit- R8, RF 50/1.8, EF 28/1.8 and EF 100/2. The majority of the time, the 50 is what was on my camera... I simply prefer the simplicity and small size of the native mount lens. I really like the photos I've been getting with the 28, but it hasn't been on the camera a whole lot.
Decided to go ahead and grab the little RF28 pancake, as travel/compact size is a very high priority for me.
I really like that particular combination of focal lengths for a simple prime lens kit. (I don't think we'll ever see another non-macro 100mm from Canon, unfortunately.)
I've owned the previous pancakes (EF-s 24 and EF 40) and have gotten good results with them, but I've held off on the RF 28 so far. I almost find these too small to easily handle when swapping lenses. I think I would have preferred a lens of a similar size to the RF 24 1.8, but I'm probably in the minority there.
Being easy to handle in the field is important to me. I actually preferred CF cards over SD for this reason, though that ship sailed a long time ago.
snegron7 wrote:
I currently own both the EF 28mm f1.8 USM and the new RF 28mm f2.8 STM. Both are fantastic lenses and are super sharp. The EF 28mm f1.8 USM shows better contrast when stopped down to f2.8 or f4.0. The advantage of the new RF 28mm f2.8 STM is that it is smaller and lighter than the EF version.
I haven't thought about it much, but I'll probably do a side by side comparison with both lenses.
I'd definitely be interested in this comparison. How is the 28/1.8 on the edges/corners stopped down? I'd mostly use it for landscapes
