My New Favorite Lens

I’ve used many different lenses in my photographic lifetime, and I’m a little disappointed by the size of newer lenses. I remember my manual focus lenses from 40 years ago, and especially my Olympus OM System lenses, and I miss their small size and light weight compared to most newer auto focus lenses today (especially the fast ones).

Today I received a new, older, Canon lens that I’m hoping will be easier to hoist on my EOS R and 5D bodies. It’s an EF 28mm f1.8 lens, and it is very light and relatively compact compared to my other lenses. It’s a relatively old lens, being that it was first released in 1995. It has no image stabilization. It’s not fancy. But, it is small and fast. It’s images may not be the best wide open, but they are very good. What it lacks in technology, it makes up by being very small, light and simple. I like simple.

For a complete review (as well as a wealth of other camera information), visit Ken Rockwell’s site and read what he has to say about this lens.

I’m not going to give a comprehensive analysis of it, but rather I’ll show you some casual photos so you can see what the results are from a normal day of shooting. Check out Ken’s site to see more details about the lens’ performance.

Today was a beautiful, clear day. I love shooting with clear blue skies, so I thought I’d take a walk with Kingsley and share some of my shots so you could see how the lens performs. Here are some of my images. Mostly untouched – with very little enhancing in post (just slight exposure adjustments and a slight increase in vibrance to enhance colors.

I really like the 28mm focal length, but I think this lens is optically very good too. I’d love to hear what you think – and if you have other experience with this lens, I’d love to hear how you like it.