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101 of 104 found the following review helpful:
 The No-Flash Answer To EverythingFeb 09, 2008
By J. Malinsky
I've owned this lens for just over a year now, and it's on my camera almost all the time - despite the fact that I've bought two other lenses.
I'm a fan of shooting candid shots, mostly indoors, and flash is just NOT an option if you really want great pics that don't interfere with (or annoy) your subjects. I came to this lens because the EF50mm f/1.8 was just a bit *too* tight/long for candid pics without stepping back all the time, or settling for face shots only. This 28mm approaches the 'standard' 50mm lens length that shoots pretty much what you see with your eye.
I thought the lens was a bit soft at first, but over time, I've gotten to know it inside and out, and my photos are close to tack-sharp most of the time - even though I rarely shoot above f/2.5 with this. I'll take shooting with this at f/1.8 or f/2.0 over a lens with image stabilization any time. And of course, being a prime (non-zoom) lens means that your pictures are going to be sharper than a zoom lens with IS anyways.
This is a lens that will spoil you forever. You'll be able to capture photos in virtually any lighting conditions. I love shooting with it, and ISO 1600 shots at f/2.0 are just spectacular - exactly what I need for shooting in *extremely* low light. With a bit of post-processing, I'm making incredible photos that were simply not possible in the days before digital.
Build quality is excellent, and the USM auto-focus does a great job in bright-light and low-light situations with ease, silently.
If you want sharp low-light photos in a compact and lightweight lens, this is your saviour.
104 of 110 found the following review helpful:
great all-purpose lens for APS-CJun 25, 2006
By Satch
For APS-C digitals cameras with a 1.6 crop factor, this becomes equivalent to 44mm with a 35mm film camera. I bought this lens a general purpose prime lens for APS-C with roughly the same angle as 50mm for the 35mm film camera (Canon does not have a 30mm, only Sigma's 30mm f/1.4 is the closest). I have used this prime lens on my Digital Rebel and 30D for a few hundred shots so far, and I am very pleased with the sharpness of the photos, as well as the speed. I think it is softer at f/1.8, which happens in most cases of any lens, and rather like to used a little to f/2.2 - 2.8. With such low apertures the area of focus is very shallow, thus I appreciate the great autofocus from the USM, which works flawness with the combination of a Canon digital SLR and a Canon lens. Also there are 10 glass elements, producing a nic bokeh, minimum distance of 25cm for focusing, so it is well-built lens. It is about 10 oz, not as light as the f/2.8 version, but it is much stronger in low-light situations, and when used at f/2.8, the f/2.8 version shold be much sharper.
It is not an L lens (these are so expensive, and also heavy), but is exceptionally good in the non-L lens category, especially for the APS-C camera's. For full size APS sensors, the 50mm f/1.4 would be the choice, but if you use the 50mm in APS-C systems, the crop factor makes this a medium telephoto 80mm equivalent lens, not good for general purpose shooting.
It is realively higher in price to the f/2.8 version. The reasons I chose this f/1.8 version was because of the following:
1. low-light shooting in the f/1.8-2.5 range
2. USM for fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus, espcially helpful targets are moving
3. Nice soft bokeh per Canon (I like it so far).
4. Can use as wide-lens in full-size APS sensors the future if digital SLRs would gradually shift in that direction.
It depends on the type of situations you plan to shoot photos, but I think if you need such features, this lens is very much worth the price.
103 of 110 found the following review helpful:
The best non-L-series lens for this focal length.Nov 15, 2004
By Richard B. Williams
"huge nerd"
I love this lens. Excluding Canon's L-series professional lens offerings (which are all considerably more expensive), this is the sharpest lens I have seen from them. I use it primarily for long-exposure night photography to get wide-angle sky shots. The fast optics allow for short enough exposures that I don't need a wedge to avoid star trails.
It's also very compact and light, making it an easy lens to carry around for general use. With my 300D DSLR and its inherent 1.6x crop, the lens has an effective 45mm focal length, which makes it a good general-purpose lens. Its portability combined with its good performance in low light make it the perfect lens for candid indoor photography.
59 of 68 found the following review helpful:
 A frustrating lens that should have been greatMar 24, 2009
By Craig Dickson
The Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 lens focuses quickly and accurately, and can produce nice pictures as long as you keep your subjects away from the edges of the frame. The center is sharp, but even on an APS-C (cropped frame) camera such as a Digital Rebel or 50D, the edges are quite soft at f/1.8 and remain noticeably soft no matter how far you stop it down. On a full-frame camera such as the 5D Mark II, the edges are unspeakably bad. The lens also shows strong chromatic aberrations and heavy purple fringing around specular highlights. Stopping down does not reduce these effects significantly, but it is usually not a problem on indoor shots as long as sunny windows and unshaded lamps (including flourescent tubes) are kept out of the frame.
My goal in purchasing this lens was to improve my indoor martial arts photography, but its optical defects were so frustrating that I found myself taking any excuse not to use it. I simply couldn't trust it to produce usable images. I ended up selling it. Now when I need a fast lens in about this focal length, I usually reach for the less-expensive but optically superior Canon EF 35mm f/2 Wide Angle Lens. The 35mm f/2 does not have USM, so it does not focus quite as quickly or silently as the 28mm f/1.8, but it produces good pictures without weird color artifacts.
The EF 28mm f/1.8 USM is the worst prime SLR lens in Canon's product line as far as I know. It is the only such lens that I recommend avoiding.
25 of 27 found the following review helpful:
My new favorite lens.Mar 23, 2007
By Elmo Love
"Zoe's Customs"
I just got this lens used from a marketplace seller. The first several test-shots were breathtaking. My seller included the lens hood. The lens hood even installs backwards for easy storage.
Yes, it has a very narrow depth of field at f/1.8. But that's the idea sometimes. Backgrounds are totally obfuscated one foot past the focus point. It gets deeper and sharper the more you stop it down.
If you've been looking for an EF AF lens that will shoot in awful, low-light conditions, this is a great one. Neither my EFS18-55 nor my EF35-80 can come anywhere near the low-light performance! I'm using a Digital Rebel/300D, and I was able to manually focus perfectly in very dim light. The USM AF works great, but you have to choose your focus point very carefully at f/1.8.
I'm a fisheye-guy, so the pictures are a little un-artistic for my "Artwork" but for portraits, landscapes, architecture, even drunken snapshots (I'm assuming) it's tack-sharp every time! If you hate the curved lines from shperical wide-angles, this lens will tickle you pink!!
I'm going to take some pictures at night, I'm hoping for cloud definition in near-total darkness. I will post them with the other customer images. (Even if they're bad, I want to test the LIMITS of this very fast/bright lens!)
Find a good used one if you can, but it would have been worth an extra $100 if a used one wasn't available.
Every time I buy a more expensive Canon lens, I wonder if I'm finally going to get something that's not quite worth the high price; but it hasn't happened yet!!
My next purchase will be:Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens My wife will kill me when she sees that pricetag!
Stay Tuned!
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