Nikon 28mm f2.8 standard lens

Until recently, I have been using a telephoto lens on my DSLR camera (Nikon 18-200 mm mostly). Inspired by a talk given by Monica Weller about using an Olympus trip 35mm camera which has a fixed 40mm lens, I have bought a Nikon 28mm f2.8 lens. On my Nikon D200 28mm is equivalent to roughly 40mm on a full frame 35mm camera.

I have been experimenting with using this lens for a couple of months, and it was the lens I used most of the time during a recent holiday in Northern Spain. In particular, I have been interested to discover how to adapt my photography to this different "regime".

For landscapes, it has made me more conscious of the scene before me as a whole, for example the photograph of a chapel amongst the trees.

Chapelle St Antoigne

Nikon 28mm: Iso 100 f2.8 1/500th second

I have photographed the chapel in dappled light from close to on several occasions. On my recent visit standing away from the chapel, I noticed the magnificent trees surrounding the chapel through the viewfinder. This photograph captured something of the scale of the scene that I had not consciously appreciated on previous visits.

In other situations, I have been trying to use the surroundings to form a frame around the intended point of visual interest, for example, this photograph of a village church at sunset.

St Ouen church spire

Nikon 28mm: Iso 200 f8 for 1/100th seconds

On this evening, I took a sequence of photographs of the silhouette of the church, starting from close by and walking further away. I tried using buildings, trees and overhead lines to fill the frame around the church spire. I was surprised to find that this was the most interesting of the photographs, where the sky was largely obscured by trees, and the church spire is relatively small in the frame.

For photos of people out and about, this lens make it a little easier to grab a quick photograph, for example, this photograph of people on Deauville promenade.

Where is he?

Nikon 28mm: Iso 200 f8 1/90th seconds

The angle of view is good for groups, and it is also fine for full length or head and torso portraits. At wide aperture, the shallow depth of field blurs the background rather more strongly than the f3.5 - f4 telephoto.

For smaller subjects such as flowers, it is more difficult to find a background that is not distracting.

Rose in afternoon sun

Nikon 28mm: Iso 100 f2.8 1/1000th seconds

In full daylight the background was too prominent, even at f2.8 for this type of subject. It was better to wait until the background was in shade. Some ingenuity and luck is needed to keep the point of visual interest on the subject.

Conclusions

Using the lens is good experience as it demands more anticipation of subjects, backgrounds and viewpoints.