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Canon EF-M 32mm f1.4 STM lens. User review 9 September 2020

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Telopea speciosissima (Waratah) the floral emblem of New South Wales
All photos in this post taken hand held on a walk through the bush north of Sydney


Canon introduced the EOS-M series cameras and the first two dedicated EF-M lenses in 2012.

I think it is fair to say that since then Canon’s intentions with the EOS-M project have been unclear to us consumers.

I would also hazard a guess that this lack of clarity likely has its origins in ongoing uncertainty in Canon’s product development department about EOS-M.

There have only been 8 native EF-M lenses introduced in 8 years, most of them zooms of decent but not outstanding capability.

There has been considerable activity among the Youtube  chatterati  recently about the future of EOS-M with unsubstantiated rumors being repeated over and over like political slogans until they become  factoids.

One line of speculation is that Canon might opt to phase out the EOS-M crop sensor system altogether in favour of a line of compact full frame RF mount bodies and lenses to complement standard size models. 

I hope that Canon stays the course with EOS-M because it offers a range of bodies and lenses which are smaller and lighter than full frame EOS-R gear, even of the compact variety.

This provides the EOS-M owner with a different kind of user experience which is very appealing to some people, like me for instance, age 77 and recovering from spinal surgery.

Anyway, whatever their intentions for the format, Canon released the EF-M 32mm f1.4 lens in 2018, demonstrating that Canon can when it decides to do so, make lenses of very high optical capability.

On my tests the 32mm goes straight to the top of the EF-M class for optical excellence.




Many years ago, way back in the days of 35mm film photography I owned a series of Canon DSLRs and several lenses, one of which was the EF 50mm f1.4, introduced in 1993. By the way this lens is still in Canon’s EF lens catalogue and available new.

I found this lens to be almost useless at f1.4 with reasonable center sharpness but soft edges which did not clean up significantly until around f4 with good sharpness across the frame not achieved until f8.

Fast forward 27 years and we come to the subject of this post, the EF-M 32mm f1.4 for EOS-M crop sensor cameras which is very sharp right across the frame and into the corners right from f1.4.

32mm f1.4 on the Canon APSC crop sensor is equivalent to 51.2mm f2.2 in full frame equivalents, so is closer in specifications to one of the full frame 50mm f1.8 “nifty fifty” models although the EF-M lens is much better than these optically.




Description

The 32mm f1.4 has the same minimalist styling as the other  EF-M lenses with a sleek, smooth appearance in gunmetal grey.  There is a focus ring and a focus limiter switch on the side of the barrel. Presumably the purpose of this is to speed up focussing in normal use when the lens not very close to the subject.

And the reason that is desirable is that the lens focusses rather slowly compared to the zooms or even the 22mm f2 prime.

As far as I can tell from peering into the lens, the whole 14 element optical construction appears to move back and forth while focussing. 

This contrasts with the zooms which generally focus by moving just one inner element or group.

The mount is metal.

Length with both caps 75mm

Diameter 61mm

Filter thread 43mm

Mass 239 grams with caps

In the EF  days lenses like this had a large front element and a smaller rear element.

But several of the mirrorless RF and EF-M models reverse this, utilising a flat or concave small front element and a considerably larger convex rear element, together with front group or whole optical system focussing movement.

The RF35mm f1.8, EF-M 22mm f2 and EF-M 32mm f1.4 show this general pattern.




Who’s it for ?

The Canon EOS-M owner who:

a) Prefers to work with prime lenses. Working with primes requires a different mental approach than working with zooms. There is a discipline and yet freedom to always knowing what one’s angle of view will be without having to look through the viewfinder.

Compositions can be visualised before the camera is deployed making the capture process vary fast.

b) Wants the best possible image quality which any EOS-M camera can deliver.

c) Has an EOS-M6.2, prefers to use the mechanical shutter and does not want to use zooms because all of them pose some level of risk for shutter shock at some focal lengths and shutter speeds.




What’s it for ?

Almost any photographic purpose requiring a “normal” focal length lens.

Around 50mm equivalent is just wide enough for scenics and just long enough for people, singly or in small groups.

50 years ago I used a Pentax Spotmatic and just one lens, a Takumar 50mm f1.8. I found this worked just fine for a wide range of purposes with judicious use of the two foot zoom.

The fashion these days is for wide angle lenses but the standard prime allows one to compose tight frames without having to get inside  the subject’s personal space.

Optics

My tests on charts and out in the great complex world show the EF-M 32mm f1.4 can deliver a very high level of sharpness, resolution, acutance and contrast right across the frame into the corners, right from f1.4.

There is some slight improvement to f2.8 but really the lens can be used at any aperture although some softening due to diffraction at the iris diaphragm starts to creep in from about f10.

Distortion and color fringing are minimal and easily corrected.

Peripheral shading is present at the widest apertures but is easily corrected.

At the minimum focus distance the horizontal field of view is 90mm.




Usage

When used on the M6.2 the 32mm f1.4 is not prone to shutter shock with the mechanical shutter.

All the other EOS-M bodies have EFCS so shutter shock is not a problem with them.

My tests both indoors and outdoors show that with thoughtful use the combination of the M6.2 with the 32mm f1.4 can produce very impressive results which match many full frame body/lens combinations for resolution, sharpness, overall image quality and dynamic range.

Downsides

In several respects the lens comes close to being almost perfect. However there are three things which prevent it from scoring 10 out of 10.

1. There is no stabiliser, and none in any EOS-M body to date. This means care must be taken with shutter speed selection. Due to the very high pixel density of the latest EOS-M bodies, the slightest camera movement can detract from optimal sharpness.

If the pixel density of the EOS-M6.2 were replicated in a full frame camera it would have about 83 Megapixels. 

This means the old standard “one over focal length” rule for shutter speed is no longer useful and a faster shutter speed is generally required.

I like to use a minimum of 1/125 second if I can relax and hold the camera carefully or 1/250 for street and quick fire work.

2. The lens is not only somewhat slow to focus on either the M50 or M6.2 but focussing often proceeds by a series of little stuttering jumps as the lens and camera work together to decide when focus has been achieved.

However the accuracy rate is extremely high with almost no missed focus shots at all.

3. Flare. I found the lens to be quite prone to contrast loss, veiling flare and to various colored  artefacts with the sun near the edge of the frame, inside or outside.

I  suggest keeping the sun off the front element if possible.  One might think a lens hood (not supplied) would be useful but I find that using one hand to hold the camera and the other to shade the lens is less trouble and more effective.

Summary

The EF-M 32mm f1.4 is a very sharp lens which should probably find a place in every enthusiast EOS-M owner’s camera bag.

When used to minimise issues resulting from the downsides described above it can make some very impressive images.

In my review of the EF-M 55-200mm zoom, I wrote that this is the lens to use when getting the shot is more important than getting the perfect shot.

The 32mm f1.4 represents the flip side of that coin. It is the one to use when you do want the perfect shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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