Intern No. 2 – Canon R5 – RF 28 f/2.8
It’s who I am
I am a 50mm kind of guy, I like an 85mm if I’m going longer, and a 24mm if I’m going wider, 50mm is where I am most of the time. My preference for 50mm is a preference for what’s known as a normal focal length. This varies from format to format, but is roughly the hypotenuse (the diagonal width) of the frame you’re shooting, for 35mm its 43.27mm, for 6×6 it’s 84.85mm, and for 4×5 its 162.89.
This is also why 35mm is considered wide, and 60mm would be considered telephoto, if wide is your breakfast and tele is your afternoon, then 50mm (or thereabouts) is lunch.
This explains my favoured focal lengths on other formats too, I love an 80mm on 6×6, and a 150mm on 4×5.
Intern No. 2 – Canon R5 – RF 28 f/2.8
Habit
Focal lengths, like so much in photography, are a question of habit. When you regularly shoot primes you become attached to some focal lengths and not others mostly because, put simply, you know where ‘to stand’. They give us the distance we need from our subject, the compression we desire, and the feeling either of being inside the action, or reporting on it.
A few years ago I got my paws on a Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L, the MKII, with the legendary optics. Unsurprisingly it was superb and it out performed my EF 50mm f/f1.2 in many ways. I was destined to part with it anyway, I just didn’t get on with 35mm. (Except in the case of the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.7 Ultra, which I had, sold, and have missed).
In the past I’d considered 28mm lenses to be a half step, neither a 24mm nor a 35mm, and as such I’ve eschewed them. This was up until I started shooting the Ricoh GR1.
It makes a certain amount of sense to use a 28mm lens in a prime compact, if you can’t zoom and you can’t swap the lens out, then it’s a good general purpose lens, this one of the reasons it’s the first focal length a phone camera offers you, (sort of, I’m talking 35mm equivalencies here)..
Like a cellphone, only bigger, and with DoF you need to consider – Canon R5 – RF 28 f/2.8
Accidental Trio
A couple of months ago Canon announced an RF 28mm f/2.8 STM and I pre-ordered it that day. I did it primarily because I need a wide angle lens for video.
My DJI gimbal mocks me from the shelf upon which it sits, reminding me of how much I spent on it, and how little it’s done to earn its keep over the last 12 months. The few times I’ve played with it have been fairly successful, but I’ve had greater success with light lenses.
I originally bought the RF50mm f/1.8 STM as a nifty-fifty to take to the park, where I could do without the weight and expense of the 50mm f/1.2. I bought the 85mm f/2 Macro because I couldn’t justify the 85mm f/1.2 for a particular project, it costs 2WPBs (2 Weeks Photographing Bears, my measure of expense).
Having committed to the 28mm before I’d seen any sample images outside Canon’s marketing material, I started to sweat a little, worried that I might have thrown good money after bad.
Once it arrived though it was evident that the lens is fine. It won’t blow any minds, but it’s quick to focus, sharp enough, and absolutely tiny. I now have mostly by accident, a workable trio of light STM video lenses that would balance nicely on the gimbal, (at a cost of 0.82WPB).
Sly & The Family Drone – Canon R5 – RF 28 f/2.8
Sly and The Family Drone
About a week ago one of my favourite bands, and a favoured collection of humans in general, played a local gig. I’ve seen Sly and the Family Drone a few times and they always deliver, they were playing at the Cube in Malvern and I wanted to go. I also wanted the option to take photos, but didn’t want to feel like I was at work.
At some point while I was looking at a shelf of gear, I realised that this was a perfect opportunity to break out ‘team video’ and to see what the 28mm could do. I packed a light shoulder bag and thoroughly enjoyed shooting 28mm, broke out the 50mm for some selectivity, and grabbed the 85mm when I really wanted to hone in.
Sly & The Family Drone – Canon R5 – RF 28 f/2.8
Sly & The Family Drone – Canon R5 – RF 50mm f/1.8
Sly & The Family Drone – Canon R5 – RF 85mm f/2
Roads not taken
If I can get on with a 28mm prime, what else am I missing? Do I need to embrace 35mm again, should I be lusting after the RF 135mm f/1.8 instead of the 85mm f/1.2? (Seriously, Canon list it as optically superior to the 85mm, it’s 250g lighter, £300 cheaper, and it actually creates a shallower depth of field. I spent more time than I’m comfortable admitting using an online depth of field calculator to check this).
I briefly owned the EF 135 f/2 and didn’t keep it because I preferred 85mm, should I risk not knowing where to stand in favour of improved optics, greater bokeh, and £300 (0.2WPB) to spend on something else?
Luckily I can’t afford either, so for the moment it’s just a question of which poster I put on the wall above my bed.
After all this, I’ve still done nothing about fixing my broken Ricoh GR: the camera that began my reappraisal of 28mm. I also haven’t gone mad and bought the Leica mount Ricoh GR lens either as it costs around 0.8WPB. (I have put some feelers out about the Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 Color-Skopar, which costs about 0.34WPB, and would funnel 28mm into my Leica.)
I’ve also not booked a week photographing bears (which, due to inflation, now costs 1.2 WPB).