Canon's 28-105mm f4-5.6 has a nice focal range, but many limitations.

Introduction

Although I work with professional Nikon equipment, I have a Canon EOS Elan IIe that I still love to shoot with. I credit the Elan IIe with inspiring me to work harder in photography because I had finally found a well-designed, inexpensive tool to help me. I sold my 28-105mm USM f3.5-4.5 several years ago, and now I wish I hadn't. So, I've been searching for something with a similar zoom range and decent optical properties (not professional quality, however). I also don't want to spend a lot of money since I'm just looking for a general travel lens. I decided to give the 28-105mm f4-5.6 a shot, and it has proven to be a disappointment.

Features

- Focal Length and Maximum Aperture: 28-105mm 1:4-5.6
- Lens Construction: 10 elements in 9 groups
- Diagonal Angle of View: 75° - 23° 20'
- Focus Adjustment: Inner focusing system with USM
- Closest Focusing Distance: 0.48m / 1.57 ft.
- Zoom System: Rotating Type
- Filter Size: 58mm
- Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: 2.6" x 2.7", 7.4 oz. / 67mm x 68mm; 210g

Included in the box is the lens, front and rear lens caps, warranty information, and a brief instruction manual.

Online, this lens can be purchased for around $115 with a USA warranty (as of late 2005). I've seen local camera dealers charging $200 for it.

Performance

Out of the box, this lens mounts quickly and easily to my Elan IIe. No instructions needed, everything is very straight forward. I've always liked Canon's big red dot for lining up the lens to the lens mount. The zoom ring is clearly marked, as is the autofocus/manual focus selector on the side. There is no aperture ring - aperture settings are controlled internally via the camera body controls.

Canon is proud to note that this is the smallest and lightest lens in its class (as of late 2005). This is true, and there's a big price to pay for it. With camera lenses, small and light tend to have an inverse relationship with strong and bright. That is, smaller and lighter lenses tend to have poorer build quality and optical quality than larger lenses. This isn't always the case, but I've found it to be true for the vast majority of the lenses that I've used. The Canon 28-105mm f4-5.6 is no exception. There is a lot of plastic here, none of which inspires confidence. Canon uses some of the best polycarbonate materials available, but this lens does not seem to live up to the build quality of its big brother, the 28-105mm f3.5-4.5, which itself is not up to the build quality of Canon's professional lenses. So, plan on babying this one if you want to keep it in good working order.

The small elements in this lens (only one of which is aspherical), in combination with lower quality optical glass, give the 28-105mm f4-5.6 below average optical properties. This means you'll sometimes find unsharp edges, darkened corners (vignetting), and below average color rendition. Compared to even a middle-of-the-line lens from Canon, resolution is noticeably less. Don't just take my word for it - Canon's MTF chart on their USA website confirms this. If you take a few minutes to learn how to read these charts, you'll understand just how little light actually makes it through this lens to the film. Compare that MTF chart to the 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 chart and you'll see just how much better the f3.5-4.5 can be. That being said, the f3.5-4.5 is still near the bottom of what I consider acceptable.

The micro USM focusing system is very fast. Not quite as fast in this lens as it is in some of Canon's professional lenses, but still very fast. Canon has always been a leader in ultrasonic focusing technology and I continue to be impressed by their USM motors after many years. Mounted on my Elan IIe, focus accuracy was also good, even in low light conditions. Of course, the internal focusing of this lens is nice as well. No rotating front lens element makes it much easier to use with filters. Utilizing the common 58mm filter size means filters are easy to find and usually not expensive.

The zoom ring rotates fairly smoothly, at least when it's new, but lacks the better dampening properties of the 28-105mm f3.5-4.5. It is well texturized and easy to grip, but could be a little bit wider for my slightly larger than average hands. The manual focus ring is way too small and very under-dampened. If you like to take the controls every now and then and focus yourself, this lens is definitely not for you. For those times when autofocusing doesn't work, it is difficult to achieve accurate focus with confidence.

With a maximum aperture of f4.0 at 28mm and f5.6 at 105mm, don't plan on using 100 ISO film in all but the brightest conditions. Shadows in early morning and late afternoon will require 400 ISO film if you want details without a tripod with this lens. If you're new to photography, what's the disadvantage of 400 ISO film? You get much more grain (less resolution) and it's more expensive. Unfortunately, you'll find that f4.0 is really only the maximum aperture for the wide angles of this lens, after which you get stuck with f5.6. The extra stops of the 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 make it a much more useful lens than the 28-105mm f4-5.6.

Conclusions

Given its construction and optical problems, I can't recommend this lens, even as a general travel lens to amateur photographers. If you take photos in low light environments, have any desire to improve the quality of your photographs, or want to become a better photographer, look elsewhere. What are the alternatives? Canon's 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 has proven to be a good lens for travel and general photography. For just $125 more, you get a lot more lens.