Macro Lighting Overkill? Perhaps...

Recently I had the idea to attach 2 Metz 58 AF-2 flashes to the adapter for the MT-24Ex. Although it is probably overkill for the 100mm macro lens, it could work well at greater distances with the 180mm macro lens.

It also works well for long distance portraits with the 135mm f/2 or 200mm f/2.8, on which the larger 72mm adapter ring fits.

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens - Initial Impressions

This morning, I received my new 40mm pancake lens from Adorama in the USA (not bad considering I only ordered late Friday night). Although I haven't given it a full workout, I thought I'd put down a few of my initial thoughts.

Build

I am very well impressed by the build of this lens for a non-L lens. For its size, it feels very solid and well made, with no rattling or looseness of the focus ring. It definitely feels better made than the 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 that I use regularly (this is not to say that there are any issues with the build quality of the 50 and 85).

Size

The size of the lens actually surprised me. I was actually expecting it to be a little smaller than it is. Although it is small, it is still seems a bit bigger than the other pancake lens I have had experience with, namely the venerable Pentax 40mm f2.8 DA SMC Limited. I will say though that it has been a long time since I have used the Pentax, so I haven't had the opportunity to compare them side-by-side. Nevertheless, the new lens is certainly very compact. It is dwarfed by the nightly 1D MkIV and almost succeeds in turning the 5D MkII a pocketable full frame DSLR, albeit only when wearing a pair of oversized over-pocketed cargo pants.

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens on the 1D MkIV

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens on 5D MkII

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens on 5D MkII

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens on 5D MkII

Cutie Combo - The 40mm on an EOS 500D/Digital Rebel T1i/Kiss X3 Digital

Image Quality and Performance

Although I haven't really had much of a chance to put the lens through its paces I managed to take a short walk around North Sydney during my lunch break and after work. Thus far, the image quality is looking promising. Initial impressions are:

• Images seem very sharp even wide open at f/2.8
• Images are contrasty
• Colours are crisp and striking.
• Focus seems fast and relatively silent although not quite as silent as the SDM lenses.
• Distortion seems fairly minimal for a lens of this focal length.
• I really like the field of view on the 1.3 crop factor of the 1D MkIV. It equates to roughly normal at 52mm equivalent.
• I haven't really used the manual (focus-by-wire) focus, so can't really comment.

Samples

A few more samples can be viewed on my Facebook page. Feel free to click like if you found this useful.

Cheers

Craig


Craig Jewell Photography | Promote your Page too

DSLR: David versus Goliath

I thought this would make an interesting comparison of the two extremes of DSLR. On the left is the Pentax Kx DSLR that we bought for my girlfriend's mother. On the right is my Canon 1D MkIV. 

I really like the little Kx even though it is dwarfed by my large hands. It certainly has its purpose as a travel camera with some pancake primes, although the lack of focus indicators in the viewfinder is a pain. In case you are wondering the lenses are the smallest pentax and canon lenses I have. The Tokina EL 28mm f/2.8 on the Kx and the EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye on the 1D