Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Review

Name: Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM
Brand: canon

August 23, 2013 | Mark Goldstein |

Introduction

The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM is a fast standard lens for Canon compact system cameras (currently just the EOS M model). Featuring an equivalent focal length of 35mm, the Canon EF-M 22mm offers a fast constant aperture of f/2, stepping motor for smooth and quiet continuous AF while capturing video and in live view mode, short minimum focusing distance of only 15cm, circular seven-blade aperture, and a non-rotating front element. The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM is available either as a kit lens or seperately for £229.99 / $249.99.

Ease of Use

The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

Weighing a mere 105g and measuring 23.7cm in length, the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM is one of the smallest and lightest standard lenses that Canon offers. Being an EF-M lens, you can only use it on a Canon compact system camera body like the EOS M that we tested it with, for a classic 35mm equivalent angle of view.

Side of the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

Front of the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

Rear of the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

Despite this being a relatively inexpensive, lightweight lens, build quality is very good. The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM feels solid in your hand, thanks to the mostly metal construction, and the metal lens mount is good to see. The focusing ring is quite wide given the size of the lens, but only has a very narrow ridged grip to assist with finger-tip operation.

Front of the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

Rear of the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens

The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens in-hand

The lens doesn't ship with either a lens hood or a protective bag. It accepts 43mm filters.

Focal Range

At the 22mm focal length the angle of view is 63º 30'.

Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Field of view at 22mm

Focusing

The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens has a narrow focusing ring that doesn't really encourage you to use it - perhaps Canon thinks that most users of this lens will never manually focus. There are no hard stops at either ends of the range, making it more difficult to set focus at infinity. Manual override of the autofocusing system is available at any time. Polariser users should be pleased that the 43mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM zoom is a fairly quick performer on the EOS M with the latest firmware installed (version 2.02), taking about 0.5 seconds to lock onto the subject. We didn't experience too much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time. It's also a virtually silent performer too, thanks to the built-in STM (Stepping Motor), which makes this lens well-suited to video recording and more candid photography.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are not particularly well controlled with this lens, appearing in quite a lot of our test shots. The examples below show the worst-case scenario.

Light Fall-off

With the lens wide open at f/2 at 22mm, you can see some light fall-off in the corners, although the Canon EOS M can automatically correct for it when shooting JPEGs. There's also some mild barrel distortion.

Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Vignetting at 22mm

Macro

The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM is not really a macro lens, but the close-focus point is a useful 15cm from the film/sensor plane, and Canon quotes a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.21x. The following example illustrates how close you can get to the subject, in this case a CompactFlash card.

Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Close-up performance

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. The Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM has an iris diaphragm with 7 rounded blades for a pleasing rendering of the out-of-focus highlights. Below you'll find some examples, but you are also encouraged to check out our sample images.