crazybobbles

Say hello to my lovely Canon 28mm F1.8 USM lens! A wide prime lens I will be using to shoot wider shots at gigs and whatnot. This is a lovely addition to my camera gear and will hopefully be used quite a lot in future gigs (including this one).

Now most of my photos in gigs are usually portrait shots of the singer, reason being is that my main choice of lens is the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. It’s a cheap and awesome lens that’s amazing in low light situations, if you want decent shots without using flash, this is the lens for you. I’ve been using it for quite a bit and am used to the strengths and weaknesses of this lens. The strengths being the awesome and fast f1.8 aperture (meaning it lets lots of light in which is perfect for indoor events) and the weaknesses being it’s fixed focal length being too close at times (you get pretty up and close to a person). When you’re in a gig you’re pretty much stuck in one focal length if you’re going to use a prime lens. It pretty much limits your variation of the photos. Quite a pickle one might say.

That’s why I decided to do a revolver ocelot and purchase another prime lens for me to switch around during gigs, the term revolver photography is a random phrase I coined up, merely meaning that instead of changing focal lengths with the barrel of most zoom lenses, I quickly change lenses to a different focal length, the adrenaline involved in quickly making sure the lens is fitted makes the shooting more interesting (making sure you don’t miss anything) and fun (just like camera smuggling). If you’ve played Metal Gear Solid you will get the revolver reference, plus it makes sense, revolvers are generally powerful (high in aperture) weapons that however require substantial amount of time to “reload” (or change focal lengths).

My Canon 50mm F1.8 lens, a lot lighter than the new one, I'll still use it!

So yeah, a lot of thought was involved in what lens I should have next, I was pretty much set on getting something prime (fixed focal length, meaning you can’t zoom in or out) because they produce amazingly sharp pictors as well as it being substantially cheaper. The question is whether I should go wide or tele. The easiest way to answer that is to look at what venues I tend to goto, most of them are quite small venues in which I can take pretty damn decent portrait shots. This means a tele lens is probably not the best option to go to for now. They are useful mind, but just for festivals and larger venues where a longer focal length is required (sorry non photography folks, I must be boring you with camera geek talk!).

So the next question is what wide prime lens am I going to buy? The two contenders were the 24mm f2.8 lens and the 28mm f1.8 usm. I would definitely appreciate the 7mm focal length but I definitely prefer shooting in f1.8 (sharp sharp), the USM was also another factor which eventually steered me towards choosing my lovely Canon 28mm f1.8 USM lens. A coworker from work was heading to New York so I told him to buy me that lens whilst he’s camera shopping, the prices were substantially cheaper (I’m saving about £80 odd) which makes purchasing the lens a much more in my budget (I already spent a lot of my dear Eve, she’s got me crippled for the month already! So yeah, no more spending for quite some time). He bought the lens last Sunday but was in NYC for the entire week.

Today was when my coworker came back from NYC so even before he got seated in his desk I was there asking him for my lens, he took it out and I was in instant gleee! I took it out and and tried it immediately, first thing comparing the difference between my current love, the 50mm f1.8. It felt wider! The lens itself was solid and heavy, the thing I instantly fell in love with was the USM (Ultrasonic Motor) which meant a smooth and fast focusing action. It felt nice whenever you focused; gentle and tender unlike the rough and mechanic movements of the 50mm f1.8, that pretty got me thinking of my next lens (ie it had to have usm!).

So yeah, to conclude, the lens is all kinds of epic, it’s quite expensive but very useful for the type of photography I do, it feels more versitile than the 50mm as it’s the same focal length as the human eye meaning I can even take pretty neat portrait shots with it as well as landscape shots. I just need to get used to the weight and the slightly ridgid mount (theres a bit of resistance at first but I’m sure i’ll get used to it). It’s all about mastering the lens changing like it’s a revolver. So yeah, expect more wider shots :). I’ll do some more reviewing if there’s any changes or whatnot with my new lens, but right now it feels like a winner.