What is a 28mm lens good for?

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MarkoKovacevic

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I'm longing for a 50mm for my nikon, and until then I'll have to use the 28mm full time. I'm wondering what subjects/situations you think this lens is good for?
The main bad subject for this lens is a head and shoulders portrait, I think.
 
Well, yes. if you're looking for a coventional flattering portrait then a 50 to 90mm lens is the usual choice, but sometimes you can work WITH the distortion to give you a more dramatic effect. This was shot 32 years ago with a 19mm f/3.5 Canon lens. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6344/1997/1600/Blog 7 adj.jpg My daughter Elena is now 37.

Unless you're shooting some specific subject lens choice is mainly based on how YOU see the world. Some people like to stand back, observe, and might choose a longer focal length. Others like the feeling of intimacy, of "being there", that you can onle get with a wide angle. It can almost make you feel like you're IN the picture.

Look at a scene, any scene at all, and compose the picture in your mind. What's in it, what's not, the best place to shoot from, all that stuff. It might be perfect for a 28, maybe not. Most of us instinctively gravitate to one or two leses for most all our shooting. The rest may be fun to have but rarely used.

Use that 28 for awhile, try others, make use of the frame selector lever to check out the coverage of the others. For now I'd forget about a 50 and add a 90 to your kit. That'll cover you in most all situations.
 
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Nice to street about. It's a bit weird in the beginning, but once you get used to getting close first, it can be fun. I spent probably four months getting used to all the dead space I got in my shots... It's nice in B&W. At least, I like it better than in color.

What type do you have in mind? Slow, the f3.5 or a Zeiss/Leica f2.8?
 
I used a 28mm lens for three weeks as my main lens in an overseas trip last summer. People need to think out of the box; 28mm is wider than 35mm [which most people here pray to], and longer than a 21mm lens, which many people here often use. It can handle both situations that 35mm and 21mm lenses can handle. Maybe it is then twice as useful? Food for thought.
 
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I "forced" myself to shoot 28mm for one year and now I find it hard to shoot any other length. I enjoyed the experience of working with one lens over an extended period. Now using a 50mm and it takes some effort to get use to it. Here are some examples at 28mm:

Shibuya, Tokyo

Shibuya30.jpg


Casey
 
Al Kaplan said:
<snip> Others like the feeling of intimacy, of "being there", that you can only get with a wide angle. It can almost make you feel like you're IN the picture. <snip>
Click to expand...

Al summed up, very succinctly, what it is that causes me to use a 28mm lens over half the time (the rest is almost always 35mm). There is some 3-D sense of presence that comes from using a 28mm.

And I tend to want to show a bit of a subject's environment in my work. I don't want my work to look like a subject standing in front of a seamless backdrop. I also am continually in conversation with my subjects so I want to be close.

It's just that old "different strokes for different folks."
 
For me, it is between a 35mm and a 28mm for capturing what I think of as "natural vision;" which is to say that the lens records close to what I'd expect to see if actually present at the location where the shot was taken. A 35mm probably comes closest to seeing what I see; but the 28 opens up space better, giving more of a "you are there" perspective. A 24mm may give even more "you are there;" but sometimes at the expense of looking obviously wide-angle. A 28mm does not call attention to the wide-angle effect. It's there, but it's subtle. I don't even think of a 35 as wide angle. It's the normal lens, to my eye.
 
28mm is my least used lens. Dont know why. Just cant get into it. I use 50mm a lot. I use 21mm good amount. I use 35mm sometimes. Even 90mm and 105mm get some use. But 28mm just not the lens I grab. Even 25mm and 15mm get more use. I do "force" myself to use it sometimes. And I think the only reason I keep one - it's a M-Hexanon 28/2.8. This lens is very very good and while it's far from my favorite FL, optics of this lens make me keep it. But I dont think I'd buy another one.
 
MarkoKovacevic said:
I'm longing for a 50mm for my nikon, and until then I'll have to use the 28mm full time. I'm wondering what subjects/situations you think this lens is good for?
The main bad subject for this lens is a head and shoulders portrait, I think.
Click to expand...

Let's stay on topic here...

Like Al said, it does bring about a certain coparticipation from the viewer's perspective, but it's not an easy lens to get used to. If you do as Raid, who simply used it for a long period, or like Casey, who decided to use it as if there were no substitution, you'll inevitably find that it's a good all-around lens. I like it because it's very inclusive, wide enough to distort things a bit... that's why you need to get closer.

Once you get it, it's a matter of learning to like it. To me, 35mm is a very normal focal length, but 28mm isn't too strange or terribly different.

There you go! :)
 
for travel the 28mm is excellent. I do not use it much at home. As you may know the 28 is called the landscape lens, or the lens that tells a story; I suppose primarily because it incorporates so much into the foto. When you get your 50 you will have a great 28/50 kit.

Check out Bruce Gilden, Bruno Barbey, or Nan Goldin -- exquiste users of the 28.
 
A couple of months back, someone posted a series of images taken with the new CV 28/20. - that should show you a good representation of the 28's uses.

I don't own one, since I have never really taken too well to the perspective -- it just doesn't seem wide enough. I prefer 24/25mm to complement my 50mm.
 
Any excuse to post some pics... :D
These are all from the Fuji Klasse W which is a fixed 28mm P&S. I love 28mm and for as close as I like to shoot, I dont find it that different from a 35mm lens. I think its just practice and understanding what works and what doesnt with this focal length.

3006883715_035da31e86.jpg


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For me, 50mm is short-telephoto, 35mm is normal, and 28mm is where wide beings. You can begin to detect wide angle exaggeration with a 24mm but 28mm is the sweet spot. 28mm is what I see with both eyes open and 35mm is with one eye.
 
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