A painting of me

You thought I was done with the lenses?

   26 March 2008, early morning

The Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM

I bought a Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM from some fellow in Chicago. Now, buying something from a random fellow over the internet is usually cause for concern, but in this case things worked out well. (I correctly assumed a PhD student has better things to do than scam strangers on the Internet.) I found the listing on RangeFinderForum, which seems to be a good source for gear without all the scams. As I’ve mentioned before, buying lenses used is usually a safe bet.

I have been looking to get this lens for a while now. I take a lot of photographs indoors, and none of the lenses for my Canon are well suited for this. My 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8 lenses both end up being a bit too telephoto on my Rebel, making it hard to fit more than a single person in the frame, while my 17-40mm f/4 lens is a bit too slow to use indoors. The 17-40mm f/4 works well with a flash, and i’ve been happy with the shots I’ve got with the combination, but the lens is gigantic, and coupled with a flash it turns the Rebel into a beast of a camera. The 17-40mm is really best suited for shooting out doors: for landscapes and city shots.

I’m happy with the 28mm thus far. My first real set of photos from the lens were from Shima’s Persian New Year party at our place. There’s a good mix of stuff there to get a sense of what the lens spits out. I think the 28mm is a good approximation of a normal lens on my Rebel. The lens reminds me very much of my 85mm lens, in both build quality and image quality.

My plan is to sell the 17-40mm and keep my three primes: the 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm. I like the 17-40mm f/4 a lot, but I really don’t use it enough to make it worth while. I feel like i’m wasting the lens, using it the way I do.

 

Comments

  1. I am sorta doing the same thing with my D70s, although its languishing a bit. The plan is to get a 24mm or 28mm which would be nice normal. I have the 50/1.8 but with the crop factor, its neither here, nor there. Have the 85 nikkor in mind for portraits etc. Tempted by the newer 60mm Micro nikkor which should make a nice portrait / flower photography lens. Choices! Might sell my 18-70 zoom to fund either. Zeiss also makes a range of nice primes in F mount as Nikon has dropped the ball and not updated any primes in a while.

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