EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

[Gary - Fulham]

Have pretty much convinced myself to buy this lens this weekend, as it looks like a win-win situation. Any last minute views / reviews?

Thanks in advance

Gary

[nickorando]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

For: light, compact, high IQ, decent build, pretty cheap
Against: slowish, 40mm a bit of an odd focal length on APS-C sensors

Fits in any available bit of space, makes a very compact kit with a body, thoroughly decent lens. Nothing like it for the money.

[S_J_P]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I want to love it, but can't bring myself to. It's just too "normal", and too small

[djguk47]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

Great for street photography as it is very unobtrusive but it is a bit slow on my 7D

[Sarawak]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I too have been looking to get one of these lenses. The size is ideal for carrying as a "spare" lens. My only concern is that there do seem to be a great number for sale second hand. It seems that you can pick up an excellent quality example for £85 or so. This has me wondering why so many are selling their nearly new copies if the lens is as good as everyone says!

[nickorando]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I too have been looking to get one of these lenses. The size is ideal for carrying as a "spare" lens. My only concern is that there do seem to be a great number for sale second hand. It seems that you can pick up an excellent quality example for £85 or so. This has me wondering why so many are selling their nearly new copies if the lens is as good as everyone says!

Two reasons - 40mm f2.8. It falls a bit into no-man's land on APS-C, and it's not that fast. For me, it's ideal on my 6D, where it makes perfect sense as (a) tiny, (b) close to a true standard focal length, and (c) high ISO deals with it being a bit slower. Less useful on APS-C, although I quite like it - with adapter - on the M.

[Wayne Els]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

The size is ideal for carrying as a "spare" lens. My only concern is that there do seem to be a great number for sale second hand. It seems that you can pick up an excellent quality example for £85 or so. This has me wondering why so many are selling their nearly new copies if the lens is as good as everyone says!

I nearly bought one and then thought "why"? I guess people get them as it has a good reputation and is cheap enough to have a try. But actually most people have a 50 which is faster so once the novelty wears off they sell them on as it doesn't get used.

[Nathaniel]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I think most people bought this lens out of curiosity and once the newness/curiosity of this lens disappeared,it is being sold off, many in almost mint condition. That being said, I would buy this lens as it is nice little prime lens to take with you on your travels. It is is best on a FF and ditto Nickorando's comments above.

[Gary - Fulham]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I think most people bought this lens out of curiosity and once the newness/curiosity of this lens disappeared,it is being sold off, many in almost mint condition. That being said, I would buy this lens as it is nice little prime lens to take with you on your travels. It is is best on a FF and ditto Nickorando's comments above.

Mine is now coming today, £120 from Amazon. I will be using mine with the 6D not my 7D or 70D.

[tesarver]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I bought mine when they 1st came out. It is a great little lens that use on my 5DMKII, on the EOS-M and the SL1. With the cropped sensor, it is almost equivalent to having a 50mm on a FF camera. And for travel it is very light and compact.

Tom

[DrJon]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

I bought mine as it's basically the equivalent to my 20/1.7 on m43. A small, light, fairly fast (optically) good quality lens that's handily a bit wider than a 50 but not so far as a 35. I will say my first one was a dud though... I thought "is this what you get for £150?" but the second one is great.

It means I can have a standard size lens in my bag when I'm humping a lot of weight in non-standard focal lengths and don't want to add a standard zoom to the load to cope with something interesting cropping up at a more "normal" distance.

I think the overall IQ is better at f2.8-f4 than any of the 50s, mainly as the edges are good for sharpness, there is low CA, low distortion and low flare - even the bokeh is okay. It does vignette though (plus older bodies won't be able to correct for it so need to shoot Raw).

Corner crops:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Comparisons/Canon-EF-40mm-f-2.8-STM-Pancake-Lens.aspx

I will agree it doesn't make so much sense on a crop sensor, being tight but not telephoto. It depends what you like though.

[Gary - Fulham]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

_MG_1588.jpg
Here's one of my first shots today when I went for a walk along the Thames. ISO 'L' @ f2.8. Ideal with 6D. Very happy with IQ. Focussing no great shakes but I am not going to use this lens for motorsports

_MG_1583.jpg

The Harrods building has come out well too, little sign of CA

[geejay]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

Loved it on my 5D MkII. I think it is best on a full frame camera where it is close to the 35mm I have always loved and also similar to my phone camera. I no longer have my 5D but am thinking of getting a 6D and it will be great with it. Even on a 1.6 cropped sensor it can make a nice little short tele for portraits. If you are used to zooming then using a prime may seem restrictive. I have taken it out as a lightweight, slightly wide lens I can carry in my pocket when I am out with a long tele. I bought mine with some gift tokens as I wanted to buy something I didn't have and would probably not have bought for myself. I have found it much more useful than I expected and it is well worth buying in my opinion.

[DrJon]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

An interesting point (well, to me anyway) is DXO measured the focal length at 43.1mm, which is almost exactly the diagonal of a FF sensor. Hence it could certainly claim to be a "normal" lens.

[hughbie]

Re: EF 40mm f2.8 STM pancake lens

More or less decided to buy one of these pancake things, then WEX started their 10% off offer on Friday - decision made. Look forward to it turning up.