Well, first off, apologies for being two days late. To make a long story short, I have had some crazy work hours the past 5 days. Each day essentially went eat–>work–>eat–>sleep–>repeat, with no free time in-between. I’ll make up for the wait with some great photographs at the end. 🙂
Regardless, I’m back now, and ready to continue my exploration of the Series-E lenses. What you see above is the final prime in the “consumer-rated” series Nikon made accompanying their much more expensive AI-s counterparts. With a semi-wide (more like a short normal) field of view and not-so-fast maximum aperture on APS-C cameras, the 28mm E doesn’t seem to be a lens to write home about. Its close focus is about the same as the 35mm E, but with the wider angle, this lens doesn’t make as good as a “poor-man’s macro”. Unfortunately it also isn’t a very cheap lens either, most copies on eBay go for $100/€82 or more (though, the AI-s version usually sells for at least $250/€204).
What the 28mm E does do, is take pictures with a wider field of view than I’m used to. My previous widest lens was the aforementioned 35mm E, but this new personal record-holder gives photographs a completely different perspective. As some may know, shallow depth of field photography is something I love, but with this lens, getting that shallowness is only possible at, or near, close-focus. As such, framing is crucial. Any objects in normal distances better be appealing, I can’t blur them out even wide open!
There are some issues with this lens I’ll discuss in more detail in the review, notably the flare and distortion (both of which can be seen in one of the photographs below), but hey, I can’t just review perfect lenses like my 300mm f/2.8 all the time. 😀
So…without further adieu, here’s a set of photographs all taken on July 4th near sundown at a local park. I seemed to be drawn to all the long shadows, leading lines, and interesting symmetry I could find. It made for a fun walk-around before I got situated for the main show!
Abandoned Tires
28mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60
Cracked
28mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/640
Alien Surface?
28mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/125
Barber Shop Wannabe
28mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/640
Split
28mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60
Stretched-Out
28mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/15
Symmetry
28mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/25
(This is the shot where you can see some distortion and flare)
Leading
28mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/25
And with that, I’m out. Hope you guys and gals enjoyed these (late) impressions. Instead of promising a time I might not be able to meet, I’ll just say the full review will be ready sooner rather than later. 🙂
As always, have a great one!
Matthew Durr Photography 