The Canon EF-M 28mm f3.5 IS STM a unique lens on the market - exclusively for EOS-M!What makes this lens unique?The Canon EOS-M System was in a kind of try and error phase for a pretty long time. No competitive bodies and very little amount of glass. The situation had completely changed for the bodies with the wonderful EOS M5 which I reviewed a couple of month ago My EOS M5 review. But what´s about the glass? So far just 2 prime lenses from Canon. There is one very interesting lens out which I got with the camera (ok, 2 or 3 days later...) And this is the EF-M 28mm f 3.5 IS USM...
Mainly there are 2 features:
The lens is pretty new - released in May 2016. There is no other comparable lens with build in illumination on the market (not for general photography - it is a feature which is common in microscopy...). The only one which comes close it the EF-S 35mm f2.8 Macro IS STM - but this is a 35mm and has a maximum magnification of 1.... Even if the step up from 1 to 1.2 isn´t the biggest deal the EF-S size is much larger so it might be tricky to photograph little things....
The focal length represents a 44.8mm full frame equivalent which means it is useable as an pretty much universal focal length. But with f 3.5 the lens is pretty slow - I prefer the EF-M 22 f2.0 lens as my general purpose lens on this camera... For this review I decided to walk around for shooting some street photography. Pretty much unfair: I did have my 5DMkIV with me - and the EF 35mm f1.4 II USM- definitely another kind of animal. The review of this lens will come in the near future, too.... Build Quality / Operating the lensWell - if there is a complain against this lens: It is the build. Especially the plastic bayonet is just ridiculous! It is a 300 € lens and even the Nifty-Fifty comes with a metal bayonet... I do hope that canon will offer a replacement set in the future.
The rest is according the the standards of the EOS-M system: engineered plastic, the feel is ok - and it is light weight, just 130g. To use the lens you have to use a button to extend the lens to make it working. Typically I run into the "Super Macro"-Mode which does not allow to focus until infinity.... Only the "normal" mode goes from infinity to a magnification of 1.
Optional exists a little lens hoot which covers the illumination as well. It has it pro´s and con´s. The main thin is that it protects the front face of the lens itself nicely. But the downside is that you will have to unmount the lens hood to use the illumination...
Image qualitySharpnessThe image quality is just outstanding. Even with fully open aperture. As first example I want to discuss the sharpness of the lens
This is a 100% crop out of the image above. But it is in the Center. But also the corner sharpness is not bad as you can see in the following 2 samples...
Below you find the lower left corner
Out of this image you see below the upper right side...
For a wide open shot this level of corner sharpness is pretty impressive... VignetteIt is showing a strong vignette wide open which disapears around f 5.6...
Super-Macro vs MacroTo use the Super-Macro range you have to move the lens into the "Super-Macro" Position.
Ok.. this photos are not exciting - but the show the difference between this both ranges. And yes: the Super Macro range has some benefits.... IlluminationThe lens has a build in illumination. this can be used in different setting, mainly in 2 power settings...
The upper left image shows full power while the right images shows "half" power. The Av Mode corrected that therefore the contrast to the background becomes less pronounced.... The lowest image shows the illumination off. For many situations the build in LED is really helpful - and also impressive. But it is another parameter where you have to learn to work with... BokehThis lens is not a Bokeh-Monster. Definitely not. But the bogeh produced is not busy but nice and pleasant. And please do never forget: the magnification produces bokeh - and a lot of it....
Lens Flare
The left images are showing the lenses wide open, the right images stopped down to f 11.... The images where all processed in Lightroom in the same way: Exposure: + 0.65; Lights-27, shadows+41, Clarity +65, Dynamic +20, saturation+20 and the lens correction... These parameters enhance the lens flare quite intensively. With out this treatment the lans flare is well controlled. But the contrast in this situation is also remarkable. Image SamplesMacro ShotsThe core application for me are flowers. And here the lens delivers amazing images...
I do like the image from the inner side of a cherry blossom...
For me the images of rain drops are pretty amazing...
Street PhotographyI do have the lens always with me. But I use it for macro stuff mainly. Therefore I had to make a little session taking the lens and use it just for that purpose.... And it delivers much more than expected... Here are some samples of this: |
