Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 - Review / Test Report
Lens Reviews - Canon EOS (APS-C)

Review by Klaus Schroiff, published November 2005

Special thanks to Frank Kirchner for providing this lens for testing purposes!

Introduction

The Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 completes the local tests of the classic Canon wide angle fix-focals. The lens was first released in 1987 so it is as old as the EOS system itself. On APS-C DSLRs the field-of-view is equivalent to 45mm so it can almost be considered as a standard lens here.

The lens is a rather simple being with just 5 elements in 5 groups including one molded aspherical element. The aperture mechanism features 5 blades. With a min. focus distance of 0.3m the max. object magnification is about 1:8. It´s really a miniature lens with a size of just 67x42mm and a weight of 185g. The filter size is 52mm.

The build quality of the lens is quite decent with good quality plastics. The inner lens tube extends a little when focusing towards closer distances but the front element does not rotate - using a polarizer is therefore no problem. The focus ring operation isn't all that impressive - typical for many Canon lenses of that era it feels a little scratchy. Thanks to the small number of elements the AF is very fast despite its conventional micro motor.



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