[Review] Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Reviewed By Photozone (Yet Another Pancake Review – Update)

UPDATE: Cameta Camera on Amazon has some cool pancake bundles (15 items available for each kit – act quickly):

  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + 3 (UV/FLD/CPL) Filters + Hood + Cleaning Kit for EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs $214.95 (click here)
  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + 3 (UV/FLD/CPL) Filters + Hood + Tripod + Accessory Kit for  EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs for $224.95 (click here)
  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + Canon 62″ Tripod + 3 (UV/FLD/CPL) Filters + Hood + Accessory Kit for  EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs for $259.95 (click here)
  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + UV Filter + Hood + Cleaning Kit for EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs for $209.95 (click here)
  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + 3 (UV/FLD/CPL) Filters + Hood + Backpack + Accessory Kit for EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs for $249.95 (click here)
  • EF 40mm f/2.8 STM + Canon 2400 Case + 3 (UV/FLD/CPL) Filters + Hood + Tripod + Accessory Kit for EOS 60D, 7D, 5D Mark II III, Rebel T3, T3i, T4i DSLRs for $259.95 (click here)

Another review of what seems to be Canon’s most exciting new gear of the year (at least so far), the nifty EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake ($199, click here). This is not the first pancake review I feature here on CanonWatch, but it is one more (professional made) review that points out how much high quality glass you get for $199. This time photozone.de had the pancake under its finger and provides a comprehensive review of the lens. If you are still wondering if you should get the 40mm pancake, then this may be the definitive review for you. I am always a little bit surprised that all the reviews are praising the good build quality (“on a very high level” – don’t forget it’s a $199 lens). From the conclusion:

[the 40mm] is just too cute […]. Other than that it has also several hard arguments on its side. The optical performance is certainly very impressive. […] bitingly sharp center but even the border and corner quality is on a very high level straight from f/2.8. The very low amount of lateral CAs contributes to the very high sharpness perception and the barrel distortion is nothing to worry about either. The lens produces some light falloff at max. aperture but this is nothing unheard of on full format cameras anyway and stopping down helps[…] Bokeh fringing is generally a non-issue. The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM suffers a bit from a focus shift when stopping down (residual spherical aberration). In very shallow depth-of-field situation (thus at close focus distances) this may be noticeable because DSLRs take AF readings at max. aperture only so the guidance for the other aperture settings can be very slightly off.

EF 40mm f/2.8 STM availability and price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[Review] Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM vs Voigtländer 40mm f/2 SL-II

The new Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM ($199, click here) is getting very good reviews, so it’s time to compare it to other lenses, in our case to the Voigtländer 40mm f/2 SL-II ($499, click here) lens. The comparison was done by Photo Pensieve.The Voigtlander is a manual focus lens, has faster aperture, better build quality and costs $300 more. Nevertheless, I think the comparison is interesting. The little Canon pancake doesn’t fall short when it comes to positive surprises (as seen in previous reviews, here and here). The review/comparison is fairly exhaustive, with lots of sample images and technical details. From the conclusion:

 […] I did not expect that it beats the sharpness of already excellent Voigtlander 40mm F2.0, but it did. It is also showed more resistance to flare. […]The canon is much cheaper than the Voigtlander, but its built quality is not in the same league as the Voigtlander’s. Although the Canon is built very well, and at least considerably better than the 50mm F1.8 and 35mm F2.0. The only shortcoming that I can see with the Canon is that it does not focus fast, like the Canon 85mm f1.8, for example. But if you compare the autofocus speed on the Canon with “your” manual focus speed with the Voigtlander, it’s a no-brainer.[…]
So all in all, if you need f2.0, shallower depth of field, love the metallic lenses, and are ok with focusing manually, the Voigtlander is the choice. Otherwise, the Canon is a tiny bit Sharper (specifically in the corner, wide open), more resistant to flare, punchier, slightly wider, considerably cheaper and lighter, and it does AUTOFOCUS.[…]
Sounds good, doesn’t it? No wonder the little Canon pancake is selling that good.
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM availability and price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Voigtlander 40mm f/2 SL-II availability and price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[Review] An Excellent Lens: The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake

Roger Cicala at lensrental.com tested the brand new EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens (he tested eight copies of the lens.) The impressions are more than positive, and in the title of the post, Roger is asking “how did they do that?“. Imatest MTF 50 was used to test the lens.

My first impression was the build quality was better than I expected. It has a metal mount, not plastic. The aperture blades appear more curved than most of the Canon 7 blade aperture rings, making a more circular opening. The little STM motor is not silent, but it’s pretty quiet.

The (very good) results were consistent over all tested copies, showing that Canon is able to produce such a high quality yet affordable lens in batch. The conclusion of the test says it all:

Overall, though, I’m extremely impressed. I’d be impressed if a lens this size and price was just decent, but this one is excellent. I might as well go ahead and get in trouble with the business manager: if you think you want this lens, just go ahead and buy it. At this price, unless some of the more thorough reviewers find something I missed on this quick overview, you can’t go wrong.

The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake can be bought for $199, and it is in stock at Adorama (click here), B&H (click here) and Amazon US (click here). DigitalRev (click here) also has the pancake in stock. Note: due to high request there may be shipping delays, and the lens may soon be temporary out of stock.

[via dpreview]

World-wide EF 40mm f/2.8 STM availability and price check:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

[In-Stock] Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM And BG-E11 (5D3 Battery Grip) Ready To Ship

Both the brand new EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens and the BG-E11 (the battery grip for the EOS 5d Mark III) are available for order and ready to ship. The BG-E11 is already in stock at B&H ($349, click here) and at DigitalRev ($365/£249.99, click here). The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake is expected to arrive in stock tomorrow, Friday June 22. You can order it at B&H ($199, click here) and at Adorama ($199, click here).

[Review] EF 40mm f/2.8 STM

The cute little pancake by Canon is starting to get reviews. It got f/2.8, it’s light (both in your pocket and on your wallet) and it has very good performance – all for $199. ephotozine got its hands on the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake for a review. Results are pretty good. “Autofocus is very swift and precise“, or “At maximum aperture, sharpness in the centre of the frame is already excellent” and “chromatic aberrations are virtually non-existent, remaining under half a pixel width in size at all apertures” are some of the comments you can read in the review. From the final verdict:

Pros

  • Excellent sharpness
  • Low distortion
  • Compact and lightweight
  • Fast focusing

Cons

  • No full time manual focus override
  • Strong vignetting
  • More than double the price of the 50mm f/1.8 (although performance and build probably justify this)

EF 40mm f/2.8 STM availability and price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA. If these do not have the 40mm pancake, you may be able to pre-order it at Adorama (click here) and  B&H (click here).