Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Reviews Roundup (Update)

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Reviews Roundup

Update: Adorama also has the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM for $149 (click here)

A Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM reviews roundup. The small and super sharp Canon [shoplink 5686]EF 40mm f/2.8 STM ($149 on Amazon)[/shoplink] pancake gets absolutely positive reviews. Keep in mind that this is a sub $199 lens! I really would like Canon was giving us more high quality gear at an affordable price.

Let’s start with The Digital Picture’s comprehensive review. Some excerpts from their review:

  • Small size and small price are great, but … image quality is a sacrifice one would expect to make to gain these attributes. Amazingly, the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens delivers impressively in this regard.
  • The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens is very usably sharp at f/2.8 with a modest increase in softness as the outer portion of the image circle is reached. Stopping down to f/4 results in a sharp image across the frame save the extreme full frame corners. At f/5.6, even the extreme full frame corners are very sharp – allowing this lens to compete with lenses at far higher prices.
  • CA (Chromatic Aberration) is very well controlled – nearly absent. Same with flare. Even with the sun in the full frame corner, flare is hard to notice. Flare performance is certainly advantaged by the use of only 6 lenses in 4 groups.

Next, The Phoblographer:

The compact size of this lens was the main reason for my purchasing this lens. Moreso than focal length or lens speed, I was dying to have a compact lens that would allow me to take my 5DmkII with me daily and not have to carry a bulky setup. This is because I no longer have a compact camera system and my 5D remains as my main digital camera. Right out of the box I was really impressed with the level of build quality for a lens of this size and price. By comparison, the EF 50mm f/1.8II is pretty much entirely plastic, right down to the lens mount. Does this make it a bad lens? No, certainly not, I just tend to prefer things with a more solid construction. Because, even though I am careful with my equipment, it does get used hard and I expect it to hold up for more than a year.

Scott Bourne at Photofocus:

It’s fast – f/2.8. It’s light and small, less than one inch long – it uses a high-quality aspherical element and is coated to reduce flare. The detail this lens produces is nothing short of a miracle given its price point.

One of my favorite features about this lens is it’s close focusing distance of just under one foot. This means that those of you who want to use this for street photography and who understand how to use hyper-focal distance will never have to worry about focus – AF or not. You’ll be able to shoot thing anywhere from one foot to about forever.

Finally, EOSHD thoughts about Canon’s pancake

Canon have produced a decent lens here for the price. It does make your Canon DSLR more stealthy like a mirrorless camera. Well – 50% of the way there. It has advantages with an anamorphic as outlined above although that is a very niche use for it, it is the main reason I bought one. AF on the lens although not silent is fast, and the aperture seems to have the ability to be continuously variable rather than stepped in movie and live view mode on cameras that support it.

Close focus is excellent, right down to 0.3m or just less than 1ft. By comparison the already quite nifty Olympus 45mm F1.8 gets to around 0.5m and the Lumix 20mm to 0.2mm although that has a considerably shorter focal length. Vignetting is fair on full frame, no disaster and certainly not an issue on a crop sensor. Corner sharpness wide open isn’t great on full frame but again this is fine on a crop sensor. Centre sharpness wide open is pretty good, I’d say above average here as is suppression of lens flair although there’s some purple fringing when not removed in-camera or in post. Distortion I’d say it was average. Nothing to get too excited about here. Build quality though is definitely above average for the price range.

I want one! :-)

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM price check: [shopcountry 5686]

 

Next EOS M And EOS 7D Mark II Rumors (Canon 2013 Roadmap Update)

New tidbits about Canon's 2013 announcements showed up, both here and at Canon Rumors. But not exactly the same tidbits.

Let's start with the EOS M. CR is reporting that

[…] one of the announcements will be to introduce a second EOS-M body. The body will be slightly bigger, and have a viewfinder. They will also introduce at least two new lenses with the body. I’d expect a telephoto zoom and a fast prime.

I have no information about a new EOS M mirrorless camera, my source told me that there will be new EOS-M lenses. Apparently Canon wants to see how well the EOS M is doing before releasing a more pro oriented body. I also got word (earlier) about two new EF-M lenses, but my source was referring to fast primes, a 35mm and a 50mm (f/2.8).

Next, the EOS 7D Mark II. Both here and at CR we got word that Canon will announce the EOS 7D Mark II before end of Q1. In addition I have been told that Canon will also announce the EOS 70D and a new Rebel (possibly the successor of the EOS 1100D). Three new DSLRs in Q1? Possible. No EOS 7D II specs.

Finally, the mighty big megapixel DSLR (~46 MB). While I have informations suggesting a Q3 announcement, CR is reporting a Q1 announcement, quoting:

The 40+ mp camera gets another mention and we should expect an announcement in Q1 of 2013. The camera will be physically bigger than the 5D Mark III, but will be smaller than the EOS-1D X. It’s noted that the sensor is currently in EOS-1D X styled bodies.

I am rather confident there will be new EF-M lenses, and also about the new DSLRs. And while I have been told Canon is testing the big megapixel DSLR, it could take some more time to get announced.

 

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 L USM II Review By The Phoblographer

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 L USM II Review By The Phoblographer
Image credit: The Phoblographer

The Phoblographer posted an interesting review of Canon’s much discussed [shoplink 2160]EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM[/shoplink] lens. A great, sharp lens with no IS (why?) and a rather hefty price tag ($2,299). They had two copies of the lens and found some inconsistencies (one sharper than the other). This is was known (unfortunately). There have been other reviews (Lensrentals and The Digital Picture) that reported variations in optical performance among copies if this lens. That’s a pity, given the price tag. And they clearly recommend the [shoplink 5013]Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 SP VC[/shoplink] over the EF 24-70mm f2.8 L USM II. Don’t get it wrong: the EF 24-70mm f2.8 L USM II is a great lens, maybe a must for professional photographers, but the Tamron costs less and still delivers outstanding performance.

If the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II is in your mind you should have a look at The Phoblographer’s informative review. Sample images are provided. Quoting the verdict:

What’s Awesome: Extremely versatile lens with excellent performance overall for a photographer that needs it versatility.

What’s Not So Awesome: Prime lenses are still sharper, more reliable, and faster to focus. Copies of the lens vary; we tested three different ones. Lack of image stabilization shows that Canon’s corporate philosophy still hasn’t changed and does not realize that sometimes they need to cannibalize their own work to improve.

Verdict: This lens is quite expensive. Tamron’s 24-70mm f2.8 with VC is a better choice for the money.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM price check: [shopcountry 2160]

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 L USM II Review By The Phoblographer

 

Canon’s 2012 Awards

Canon's press release:

Canon U.S.A. Closes Out 2012 In Award-Winning Fashion

Company Receives Numerous Awards in 2012 Including a Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., November 15, 2012 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is proud to mark 2012 as another award-winning year. Customers and publications are praising Canon across various product segments for quality, innovation and customer support. The business world has taken note of Canon's dedication to environmental issues and industry-leading practices. This year, Canon was selected as one of Interbrand's 50 Best Global Green Brands 2012 (ranking number 29) while also placing among the top five companies in the computer industry on Fortune magazine's 2012 World's Most Admired Companies list.

Additional key awards and industry recognitions received by Canon include the PCMag.com Readers' Choice Award for Service and Reliability in the digital camera and printer categories for the ninth consecutive year, and for camcorders for the past two years; placement in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2012 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services Worldwide1 report; and for the fourth consecutive year, BenchmarkPortal's2 Center of Excellence certification, demonstrating Canon's dedication to providing comprehensive service and support to customers.

“We are extremely pleased to have received so many awards and industry recognitions from various industry organizations spanning product review, customer service and corporate initiatives,” said Bunji Yano, senior director and general manager, Corporate Communications, Canon U.S.A. “These awards and recognitions exemplify our commitment to not only providing high-quality products and services, but also our dedication to our customers and the environment as well.”

Maintaining status as an industry leader and continuing to earn accolades from the top industry publications continued throughout 2012 across all Canon product lines. As in years past, 2012 was no different for Canon cameras and lenses as honors were earned by entry-level point-and-shoot cameras up to professional DSLR and video cameras.

New for this year, Canon is extremely proud to announce that the Company will receive a 2012 Technology & Engineering Emmy® award in the category “Improvements to Large Format CMOS Imagers for Use in High Definition Broadcast Video Cameras.” The CMOS image sensor debuted in the Cinema EOS system line in November 2011 and has helped bring digital cinema closer to the superb aesthetics associated with 35 mm motion picture film. The Cinema EOS line took home numerous honors including the Digital Video Black Diamond award from Digital Video Magazine and the EOS C500 4K Digital Cinema Camera won the Pick Hit award from Broadcast Engineering.

Canon's input-to-output capabilities were highlighted with awards granted to several cameras. The PowerShot G1 X digital camera won Outside magazine's Gear of the Year award and PCMag.com named the EOS Rebel T3 and T3i to their best digital cameras list. Reviewed.com, a division of USA TODAY, named the EOS-1D X DSLR camera Best Ultra High-End and Best Overall Camera and presented the Best Value System for Video award to the EOS Rebel T4i DSLR camera. Additionally, numerous Canon printers were the recipients of awards throughout 2012 including the PIXMA PRO-1 that won the Gold Award from DP Review and the PIXMA MG6220 that CNET named to their best all-in-one printers list.

Canon's line of scanners, Multifunction Printers (MFP) and Large Format Printers received awards for various products. The imageFORMULA P-215 Personal Document Scanner was the PCMag.com 2012 Editors' Choice and received the title of “best scanner” along with the CanonScan LiDE110 Color Image Scanner. The 2012 Top Products Awards from My Print Resource named 17 imagePROGRAF printers to their list including the imagePROGRAF iPF760, iPF6300S, and the iPF825 MFP, and BERTL named the Canon FAXPHONE L100 to its Best Spring Awards list. Continuing to offer consumers efficient products, the Canon imageCLASS MF5950dw (as tested with its wired interface), MF5960dn, MF8380Cdw (as tested with its wired interface) and imageRUNNER 1750 MFP were all awarded the Summer 2012 Buyers Laboratory “Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency” award.