it´s cheap, solid, sharp and a useful focal length for a general walk-about lens.

this lens is old - when they do go wrong, as mine has done, parts are rare.. repair was not possible.
If the focus motor goes then the lens becomes a paper-weight.. manual focus will not work without the motor, unlike newer lenses.
with mine, after years of use, the aperture blades became sticky and randomly jammed at f5.6 and smaller.. same result.. paper-weight. I could not find anyone prepared, or equipped with parts, to repair.
when the rubber focus ring grip needed replacing it was not even possible to find one of these.

it was a great lens when backed with service possibilities.. and is a cheap lens..
yet, if it begins to fail it suddenly becomes an expensive paperweight.
The results are expected to be good for what was a premier lens, however if photographing heavily it is much better to save the extra and get something newer, with the benefit of weather sealing and easily sourced parts.

Sharpness, with all apertures producing quality that no customer has ever complained about. Zoom range includes the possibility to 'snap' a portrait without changing lenses or bodies. Build quality is excellent: I've been using mine for years without a problem.

It does suffer from a bit of distortion, which is probably an issue if you shoot architecture. Otherwise: you hardly notice it. Slow-ish autofocus, especially if it starts to 'hunt' in low-light situations. Inertia may play a role in this. Weight may be an issue for some users: it's almost a kilo. Then again, the competition is no lighter either.

I thought I'd write my first review on this site about the best investment I ever did as far as lenses go. At the time (the end of the 1990s), I was getting a lot of requests to shoot people and events and looking for a good standard zoom that would allow me to respond quickly to changing circumstances. Money was tight so I couldn't splash out for the latest (then) Canon 28-70/2.8L. When the opportunity arose to pick up the 28-80/2.8-4L cheaply, I didn't hesitate for a second, having read reviews of it in the press. Okay, what's so great about it then? Well, it is very very sharp, sharper than all other lenses I've used, right from the largest aperture and delivers very good colors. In the past I've come across various lenses that produced a certain color bias (a Canon FD 35/2.0 that had a distinct preference for yellow comes to mind), but this one's pretty much neutral, yet saturated. The zoom range is also very nice on a 35mm film or full-frame digital camera, allowing bith true wide angles and an 80mm (just) portrait. I have used it for portraiture because at f/4 the bokeh is pretty nice, but it's not a true portrait lense like the 85/1.8 I used to have. That one's bokeh is much nicer still, but it is also a lot softer. The 28-80 is a first-generation USM lens, which means you hardly hear it focus. The amount of glass that has to be moved and/or the torque of the motor can definitely be felt as it focuses though! And it's also a lot slower than newer USM lenses in the same class. Oh, in case you're wondering, I've used it on most of the EOS film bodies except 1V and 3, and the Eos 10D.
Light falloff is just noticeable on slides at 2.8, but not at f/4. Maybe age shows in just one respect with this lense though: distortion. At 35mm it's almost perfect, but otherwise the distortion is quite noticeable if you have straight lines near the edge of your frame. If you're looking for a standard zoom to do architecture with (and are using a fullframe sensor or film), you may want to look at the latest Canon L lenses instead and save yourself from some Photoshop time. One obvious drawback is its focal range if you mount it on bodies that have a crop factor of 1.6 (like the 10D-30D): it becomes a 45-128. Gone's the wideangle, which means it's no good as a standard zoom anymore. I may face that problem in the near future when I go digital, but I'll never sell this lense :)

Customer Service

Canon Netherlands for another lense (300/4L IS): very good. They rang me on the phone when they couldn't find the fault I was having it repaired for, and we sorted it out over the phone. Had the lense back in no time at all.

Similar Products Used:

No standard zooms, but as far as EOS lenses go:
EF 20/2.8
EF 28/2.8
EF 50/1.8
EF 50/2.5 Marco
EF 85/1.8
EF 200/2.8L
EF 300/4.0L IS
EF 100-300/4.5-5.6 USM
EF 70-200/2.8L USM

Otherwise: Canon FD gear, Pentax 67 for weddings and landscapes, and lately a Contax Aria: oldskool baby!

Very sharp Nice color well built

At weddings, I wish I had the 2.8/F when I zoomed.

This lens is a great poor man's "L" series lens at a fraction of the price. It is not as nice as the 24-70L, but is very sharp with excellent color. Actually I like the colors better on this lens to the 24-70L. In terms of sharpness, the 24-70L has this lens beat! Prefer to my 28-135IS. I use it with my 10D and am quite pleased with the results. Recommend.

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

24-70L (the best, but too expensive) 28-135IS 80-200L (awesome lens) 20-35L 75-300IS 50 Mk1

Very sharp lens, excellent color rendering, high contrast, very smooth USM operation, a masterpiece of engineering and I agree that the 10 mm extra is a big plus in certain situations. A must have.

I don't see any yet... but I'm watching. Will say so if any.

I bought this lens from a Canon dealer here in Malaysia second hand for the equivalent of US$ 630. It is clear to me that this is an exceptional lens, one of the best in the L series. Quite heavy though.

Customer Service

Yes there is but parts are only found at Canon Japan.

Similar Products Used:

None in fact.

Sharp, very sharp from 2.8. The contrast is so good. Smooth manual focusing. built like a tank: It will last forever (I hope)

A bit heavy (almost 1 kg).

I had two of this lenses, and both were exceptional. It's built like a tank; the electronic focusing is very smooth. Actually I use it with my 1D and the results are very good: sharp and contrasty. I' ve had also a canon 28-70 L and there's no difference in image quality. For me the extra 10mm in the long side are very useful. Second hand this lens is an incredible value.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-70 2.8 L ; Tokina 28-70 2.8

Optical quality Built to last Very quiet USM

Rotating front element requires messing with a polarizer more often than I would want. Clip-on hood is not the best invention Canon came up with.

This is an outstanding lens in terms of optical quality. It is very sharp at all apertures and focal lengths, contrasty an faithful in colour rendition. It is almost as sharp as Minolta 28-70 (which is simply outstanding), but no match, obviously, to Carl Zeiss new 24-85 zoom. It is built to withstand any surprizes that professional use may deliver. I am shooting reversal film mostly, and, contrary to some people's experience, have never had problems with light fall-off even at 28mm. I also think that extra 10mm on a longer end is more important than weight and one stop loss in maximum aperture.

Customer Service

Canon pro support rocks!

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 28-70/2.8 G Carl Zeiss VS 28-85 MM Carl Zeiss VS 24-85 AF

Sharp, contrasty and flare free. Very robust; been dropped 3 feet onto hard floor, absolutely no damage. Very fast, silent autofocus with USM. Close focus range useful for pseudo-macro shots.

Very big, very heavy. Would like constant aperture, would like manual focus capability without having to turn the camera on.

One of the best lenses I''ve ever owned. USM runs like silk. Very sharp and contrasty Photodo.com rating 3.7! Have experienced NO vignetting as mentioned by other poster. Have shot over 100 weddings primarily with this lens. Extra 10mm of zoom makes it more useful than (newer) 28-70mm L zoom.

Customer Service

none for this lens

Similar Products Used:

14mm, 17-35mm L, 20-35mm L, 80-200mm L, 100mm Macro,

high resolution + contrastly. 28-80mm is a better range than the 28-70mm.

weight

I have had this lens for quite a while and have taken many rolls with it. It is rather puzzling to hear others have had problems with vignetting. Mine is absolutely perfect even wide open. Very contrasty and sharp lense. I did check with Canon UK and they expect the 28-80 & 28-70 to have similar performance

Customer Service

Very good

Similar Products Used:

70-200L, 135SF, 17-35L

Sharp, great color and contrast, excellent build quality.

Heavy distortion at both ends, strong light fall off wide open, clunky early USM with electronic manual focus, weight.

I sold the 28-80/2-8/4L after three months.

The light fall off wide open was unacceptable. This made it for me an F5.6-8 lens, which distorted too much to justify the weight. A bridal couple in an obviously bent doorway was it's final straw.

A shame as the sharpness, color, contrast, and build quality were all outstanding. I replaced it with a 28/1.8 85/1.8 and (28-105/3.5-4.5 for snapshots)

Customer Service

Never used

Similar Products Used:

EF28.105/3.5-4.5, EF85/1.8, EF 28/1.8 Summicron 50/2, FD 28/2 & 2.8, FD 50/1.4, FD 100/2 & 2.8