Small & Mighty 💪Canon RF 28mm

The RF28mm F2.8 STM Lens is a great pair with the Canon EOS R8. It's as small as you hoped for, and I like the value here. But then again, I already liked the 28mm focal length 😆
• Sigma EF 28mm f/1.4 DG...
🌿⭐️ NEW LR Presets "Gloomy Green & Gold": danyosua.gumroad.com/l/gloomy...
15% OFF at Lensrentals, Code - DANY15 (affiliate): bit.ly/dany15
Shop Moment (affiliate): moment.8ocm68.net/zanqPW
0:00 - Canon RF 28mm Overview
1:33 - Ultra Portability
3:48 - For the 28mm Lover
5:45 - Gripes
-----
Subscribe for more Reviews, Travel, & Canon
#canon #widelens #lenses
-----
On Instagram - @dan.yosua
-----
I earn product credit or commission for referral and affiliate links that I share above.

[@DanYosua]

GREETINGS - This is one of those cool times where I could buy this lens purely with AdSense and affiliate income from the channel. So thanks for watching and supporting, it enables more/better vids! I have more thoughts on the 28mm focal length in general, video in description on why I've been liking my EF Sigma 28mm. The two lenses are night and day in terms of size but if I could only keep one the Sigma fits better in my current bag for my use cases. I'm planning on using this pancake with the R8 though, at least for the next several months. And may end up keeping it long-term depending on how often I still reach for it.

[@reallycoolguys]

Great video! Thanks for reviewing this and giving the lens a good shot. I'm very interested in it! Appreciate the work!

[@DanYosua]

Thanks for watching! I'm excited to have a compact option again for a bit.

[@CalebThomasMedia]

Did you just pour syrup right on us?! 😂

[@DanYosua]

I'm not going to eat pancakes plain 😂

[@GunslingerMediaCo]

Great photos, you're color grades are always perfectly done

[@DanYosua]

Definitely not perfect, but appreciate it!

[@vikaskumar1512]

I saw your 2 year old video. You have come a long way. Keep going brother 💪

[@DanYosua]

Thanks! Just trying not to stop, even if I slow down at times 🙌

[@DT0me7624]

Very helpful video. Thank you!

[@DanYosua]

Welcome! How do you feel about 28mm? Weird? Or does it work for you?

[@DT0me7624]

@@DanYosua I don’t feel like it would replace my 24-105mm f4, but at the same time it feels like a great “nifty-fifty” wider angle. Definitely a weird lens but I’m very impressed by it.

[@asterisk606]

I hope it gets down to $250 eventually, as well. That's more convincing than $300.

[@NerdAffiliated]

Bruh, spot on! I literally started looking at this lens, because of the Fuji craze.

[@DanYosua]

I've used it a lot since swapping with the 35mm. Still ultimately prefer the Sigma when I don't need to pack small.

[@christianmayrhofer4178]

With the R50, you have a small lightweight street-combination that is roughly equivalent to the 45mm FF. However, i find the sharpness performance at open aperture disappointing for the price.

[@DanYosua]

Hmm, that's a shame, but I can imagine still a compact normal option for the R50.

[@capture_the_stoke9646]

sold my x100v reluctantly, then this lens came out few! it's now my x100v lens! used on my r6 and r7 for when I want small form, with prime quality images. so far so good, I might just use it at an event this weekend instead of my rf 24-70. something I noticed on the way to the camera store, I had my 24-70 and didn't take any photos as people were noticing the camera, leaving the store and walking about with the rf 28, no one noticing this set up at all, great for street photography!

[@DanYosua]

It's a really nice thing to feel like your camera is (somewhat) invisible. I just got some good family shots over Labor Day weekend, and probably wouldn't have packed a camera unless I was bringing this small of a combo. I don't often go out for a strict "street photo" outing, I find it difficult and I get self conscious depending on how busy/familiar I am with the area. But excited to try a bit more with this in the coming months. How did you feel about the x100v overall? Do you miss other things about it?

[@capture_the_stoke9646]

the x100v was a luxury for me, while I enjoyed it I could get similar results with my other cameras which I use also for work so thinking I didn't need 3 cameras. one day I might pick up another but for now I'm set, and the rf 28 was good timing as I like the 28mm. also the full frame look is just a little extra in my images. I'm with you on the street photography, it's more I have a camera in the bag or pocket incase something cool to capture. @@DanYosua

[@DanYosua]

@capture_the_stoke9646 nice, that all makes sense. Hoping I get a chance to try one someday.

[@FriendsFan4ever]

You are really funny lol Thank you for the review !

[@DanYosua]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RWAquariumPages]

great review and video, love you provided some sample photos, and they look amazing before and after. about 1.5 weeks ago, i got this lens for a vacation trip to use on my r6 for a smaller package. But with digital is for video, it wasn't wide enough to capture my family + background. I ended up using my 16mm and then sometimes for photos using the 1.6x crop mode (i know you can crop in post, but wanted to use the jpegs instead for quicker family phtoos) I'm going to keep this lens as a collectors item and give it another chance, but from my first use of it, i dont find it wide enough for my purposes. keep up the great videos!

[@DanYosua]

Thanks for the comment! Maybe we'll see something like a 20mm in this form factor at some point. How are you liking the 16mm overall?

[@RWAquariumPages]

@DanYosua thanks for the reply. Honestly I never use it at home, but at my Disneyland trip trying to capture environmental portraits it was amazing , even at 16mm x 1.6 crop factor of 24mm that was pretty good to use for punch in shots. It's a unique lens to be honest and as much as I love l lens, I was really considering the 15 35 2.8 for a while but the size for convince and the best camera is the one you carry with you, thr form factor is perfect for travel. I really like the 16mm and 50mm combo, struggling not to get the 50 1.2 but that's just first world problems. Stay safe

[@DanYosua]

Haha gear is definitely first world problems, but thanks for sharing thoughts and what's working for ya. Makes a lot of sense. Hopefully a 50 f1.4 at some point soon 🤞

[@mh7711]

This lense is incredible sharp, at F4.0 and F5. 6 the outer Corner is as sharp as in the middle, never have seen such stunning sharpness in other lenses, it is even sharper than a 1500 Dollar Ef 35mm 1.4 L II

[@DanYosua]

I'm pretty happy with it so far, a light, capable companion to a zoom!

[@lifetimesofamultiplemediam1003]

As a street photographer who mainly shoots 28mm, I would love a street photographer's perspective of using this on a full frame body, with images to back up the talk. How much vignetting? What does the lens flare look like? How is manual and Zone-focussing with this tiny ring?… The studio talks are good, but we need to see what it can actually do. One of the things that I would like to know, is how quickly can I shoot after turning the camera on? Or how quickly can I shoot when the camera is in sleep mode? Does the lens need time, (a second or two) to talk to the body before I can quickly get a shot off?… These are things that are important to a street photographer, and are some of the reasons why I still shoot mainly with a Canon 6D DSLR, and have mostly avoided going mirrorless. I do sometimes use a Canon M50 though, with the 7 Artisans UFO lens, which has no electrical connection to the body. This allows the M50 to be able to shoot virtually from the moment the camera is powered up. I do this to save battery life, which is not good on these mirrorless cameras… 🤔

[@DanYosua]

Just checked your vids, that 7 Artisans UFO lens is interesting haha. All great questions, you might try to find someone a bit more familiar with street style for definitive answers, as I use this pairing largely for landscape/travel and video content creation. From a technical standpoint, I think it's important to recognize this lens is about as cheap as you can go in the Canon ecosystem. Anecdotally (and based on others' reviews) it seems better designed than the 16mm and 24mm primes, but I still like to use corrections here, and I wouldn't expect L quality in technical areas. The R8 and 28mm boot up fast - you can shoot within about 1s. If that's too slow, I'd leave it on. But to your point, the R8 battery life isn't great because it's a mirrorless FF with a small battery. You absolutely need to buy one additional with this camera, or I'd suggest two extra if your main body and you shoot often. If you're still liking the 6D and want to stay Canon, I might hold out a bit longer. Something like the R6ii will be more similar ergonomically and much better with the bigger Canon batteries.

[@dannytranlx]

Really interested too, but I haven’t used 28 mm before. Might be the time to slap one on my EOS R

[@DanYosua]

It seems to be hit or miss for most people. I've been using the Sigma 28mm in place of a 15-35. So obviously some compromises, particularly wide. And this is a great mini version! Could be nice on the R for video if you like a tighter shot.

[@MennoniteFarmhouse]

I just bought the canon EOS R7 for cooking videos on my kitchen counter. My mil told me to get 50mm F1.8 and it’s terrible for what I need it for on the counter. The camera needs to be 10 feet away and I still don’t have everything in frame. I need help! I don’t know anything about frames.

[@DanYosua]

50mm on the R7 will be a tight field of view for that use for sure 😕 I would consider a couple of things - if you need the faster aperture for low light, and want to go much wider than you have now, I might look at the 16mm or the 24mm (I can't speak to these personally though). This 28mm might be a good option as well, but if you need a truly wide shot in tighter spaces, even this might not be ideal. If you're unsure, I would lean more toward getting a zoom lens. And if you already do or have the ability to light shots, then I wouldn't worry about darker apertures as much. Something like the RF 14-35 would probably be great if you plan to keep the R7 for a long time, though an investment. Something like the RF 15-30 will be a much more affordable option. And if 24mm is wide enough on the R7 for you, even the 24-105's might be worth considering as well.

[@MennoniteFarmhouse]

Thank you so very much for your help! I wish I would found your channel sooner!

[@DanYosua]

You're welcome! I'm renting the R7 right now and am struggling myself on the wide end. My main use case was to get some extra reach for birds so it's been excellent for that. But if it were my main camera I would be in the same boat - contemplating a wide zoom for the landscape/travel/talking head shooting.

[@BadSloucher]

I love pancake lenses but I'm not sure about 28mm as a focal length, personally. You did a great job with getting some good shots though. I love ferns 😍

[@DanYosua]

Thanks! I'm hoping some other choices in this form factor will follow.

[@pr4y]

R6+grip with RF 28-70 F2 for my pro shoots, I don’t want to carry much weight for travel/street/fun I have the RP for travel, usually with the tiny combo rf 16+50 or 35 stm macro only Having that beautiful rf28 would make me having to much primes on the same range as my big 28-70 hehe Finally I’m using my very old x100T more and more for vacations, street, I feel being more stealth But if I hadn’t those stm primes already i would for sure go for this true pancake

[@DanYosua]

Agreed, sounds like you have some good compact options already. I can't imagine using the 28-70 for everything

[@whippedcreampictures]

how pronounced is the focusing sound and the extending of the lens? is it unusable for candid street photography?

[@DanYosua]

It's pretty consistent with the other STM primes, you can hear the focus, but quieter than the 35mm macro. I wouldn't say unusable for street photography at all, but I might be misunderstanding your use case... I'm usually not too worried about focus noise in photo mode. I doubt a subject would ever hear focus, but it would be something I'd consider more for video if using an on camera mic.

[@MannyScoot]

I use it on a Eos R with Grip and It's a beautiful Match ....

[@DanYosua]

Really happy with how it’s working!

[@marijanbabic9742]

Dan, if I got it right this is not "true" 28mm assuming Sigma and Canon prime are accurate, it is more 26mm in terms of FOV?

[@marijanbabic9742]

I think that Canon 28mm has focus breathing issues and If you focus to infinity all of them, then you can notice if there are some differences

[@DanYosua]

Great comment - obviously it depends on how true the Canon and Sigma are, and will differ throughout the range as you point out. But it seems pretty wide uncorrected. My example was close so not the best test of say, a landscape scenario. I'll try to dig a bit deeper into this for future vids, but I believe there is some focus breathing compensation for this lens on newer bodies, including the R8?

[@marijanbabic9742]

Yes, but breathing correction is applied only while recording movies. There is one other peculiar thing, Nikon also recently released the 26mm pancake lens, and my only logical explanation for choosing that specific focal length was to match the iPhone's main camera FOV. Maybe Canon advertently or inadvertently also went in that direction and did not apply much corrections, considering that the focal length can be off by 5-10% and still be within specs.

[@marijanbabic9742]

This sounds like a conspiracy theory (which I don't like), but again I think it is definitely worth comparing them while focusing at infinity and checking JPEG files as well

[@DanYosua]

I just found and verified - the setting is under "Lens aberration correction" under red camera menu, page 5. Seemingly works well, but FOV is a bit tighter when enabled as you might imagine. Haha yeah idk about conspiracy, but it seems common to under-engineer for distortion and correct for it in the more affordable lenses. I don't know much about Nikon's line but the iPhone 14 lenses are labeled as 13, 24, 28 and I've generally liked working with the raw wide shots when I take em.

[@jasonliu7047]

Plz don't stop watching LOLLLLLLL

[@DanYosua]

KZbin retention strategy 101... beg 😅

[@ErikPelyukhno]

Should I remind you when your 6 months is coming up to sell the R8? Lol you’re probably going to be too in love with the body to sell it

[@DanYosua]

Thank you for the offer, that's very kind, but no need. I'll keep track of the countdown myself so that when I fall a bit behind there is less shame 😅

[@JeffMesko]

@@DanYosuawhy not sell the RP and consider the difference as the cost to upgrade instead of the full price of the R8? The RP will only lose value at a faster rate now and the R8 will continue to deliver great performance for many more years.

[@DanYosua]

I sold the RP last year at a time where I wasn't shooting as much so I wanted to slim down and use my phone more often as a second angle. I think the R8 is one of the more exciting offers Canon has so I wanted to try it hands on. Especially over the next several months as I have a lot more time and will want to trek around with two bodies. I joke about getting stuck with it, but I am treating this as essentially a long term rental. After a few years, the R6 is still working really well for me despite the record limit 🥲

[@eddiegonzales13]

C’mon Canon! Where’s the RF 28 1.4 L? At least an f2 with IS.

[@DanYosua]

From Canon Rumors - "We have been told to expect between 8-10 new RF/RF-S lenses between now and March of 2024." For the wide primes I'll believe it when I see it lol 🤷🏻‍♂️🤞

[@eddiegonzales13]

@@DanYosua same here. 🤞🏼

[@Sergey_Sergeev]

Why do you make the colors so unnatural? 3:56

[@DanYosua]

The snarky answer is because I want to. Otherwise, I'm still very much playing with style. For really green images, I like to desaturate and/or shift the hues. If you ask a group of people you'll get a lot of different answers, but I personally don't feel obligated to keep a scene "real". Obviously if I were doing journalistic stuff, I'm not going to go hog wild. I like to share them in these videos, but first and foremost, I'm taking these for me as I explore places, explore the gear, with the purpose of reinforcing my own memories. I like spending time in LR as much or more than time spent "in the field" so I just experiment. Good, bad, or ugly 😅

[@Sergey_Sergeev]

@@DanYosua Thank you. I understood.