Today we’ll look at the affordable Nikkor 28mm f2.8 E wide-angle lens. The Nikon E series lenses are a line of Nikkor lenses that are both easy on the wallet and compact, needless to say, all these lenses are manual operation and are made for Nikon film SLR cameras. They can also be used on your Nikon DSLRs and with the right adaptor, these vintage lenses are awesome with any lens interchangable mirrorless cameras. Through the years of trying different lenses and focal lengths, I found myself drawn to wide-angle lenses especially when it comes to street photography and as a daily carry. So after I got my first film SLR, my hunt for a wide-angle lens began. Did this lens live up to my expectations? Let’s find out!
What I really like about the Nikon E series lenses is the way they look. My Nikkor 28mm f2.8 E version has colorful markings and a silver ring accent which looks perfect on my Nikon FM SLR film camera. The image quality it produces is also superb producing sharp and contrasty images. The wide focal length is also perfect if you are looking to include more elements/context in your photos. The f2.8 aperture is not the fastest but fast enough especially on a 28mm lens because even in low light, you can get away with a slower shutter speed on a wide lens compared to a narrower focal length like a 50mm or an 85mm.
Using a 28mm lens on a full-frame camera also makes you get closer to your subjects which makes you feel you are part of the scene you are photographing instead of an observer when using a 50mm lens. Nothing wrong with being an observer and a lot of great photographs are made with a 50mm but I just find myself preferring the latter. Ironic because I am shy when shooting the streets, but at the same time, its compact size helps with being discreet. Once I get going and conversations start, the distance to my subject becomes a non-factor anyway. And like what the great Robert Capa once said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough”. Well, my photos aren’t good enough, but trying to be comfortable being close to my subjects might further improve my photography over time.
BTW, the photos on this set were taken with a Fujifilm 200 film rated at box speed. Overall, I was very happy with how the photos came out and 28mm felt natural to me. I wouldn’t go into detail about the image quality like corner sharpness, chromatic aberration, etc., because I am more into the experience and feeling I get with the gears I use, rather than the more technical stuff… Oh wait, I almost forgot, this lens is great for landscapes too!
Uhmm, I really don’t know what else to say so here are more photos! 😅
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King 