Canon EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM

I ordered the lens a few days ago because of the lack of some reviews but there are a lot
of hints that it is a very capable one. Just some remarks about a weekend with this lens:
  • Clarity (sharpness / contrast / resolution) of the images is great from f/1.4 on. The lens is very usable wide open. Some LOCA occurs but there are also compromises.
  • Close focus/MFD is very helpful to make it a walkaround lens and IQ with f/1.4 is very satisfying
  • Out of focus regions and transitions are very natural / unobtrusive.
  • Flares/ghosts are possible with the sun in the frame but - and that is great - they are not mirrored around the center point - if the sun is closer to the borders the ghost image is out of the APS-C rectangle and not visible
  • Contrast with sun on the outermost lens element is diminished but without strange patterns - just some haziness. I shaded the lens with my hand but a lens hood or some other shading system is a good option
  • AF is on the very fast for standard distances but slows down a lot near MFD which doesn't surprise - the precision needed for f/1.4-typical shallow DoF needs a fine stepping (of the STMotor) but a short MFD need a lot of steps!
  • The limiter switch (and its functional implementation) is therefore a very good idea. The switch is flat and need some force to be changed but that's good news because switching it accidentally is nearly impossible.
  • I haven't observed strong distortions but I haven't done architecture until now.
  • Harmonizes well with M50 in terms of (1) size, (2) weight, (3) weight distribution and (4) operation
This a matter of personal preference: I was searching for a 50 mm eqiuv lens for a longer time but was not fine with the offerings for EF mount. I checked all 50mm offerings for my 5D but they are to large / to expensive / IQ isn't what I wanted.
In this case I like the 32mm / 50mm equiv a lot for situations where I want to bring a little bit more onto the photo while usually being tele addicted (the 70-200 aka 112-320 f/4 L IS USM i works very well for me).

BOOTOM LINE:
For me it is a spectacular lens which has premium IQ - a good 50mm equiv allround lens and a great walkaround lens too because of (1) very good IQ from f/1.4 on (what counts on a f/1.4 max. aperture lens), (2) 1:4 max. reproduction ratio fore real close up, (3) compact size / unsuspicous shape, (4) reliable and usually fast AF. The tool I searched for for a long time to replace my FD 1.4 50 S.S.C. :)
_______

I am too looking forward to a more systematic review by Neuro!

Now some samples:
DPP / Sharpness 3 / no DLO for EF-M 32 used (not yet found / released) / JPEG @ 75% below
Strips were made to reduce file size do show 25% images due to restrictions for upload file or image size
Camera always M50 with RAW

Some more samples and the 100%-Stripes are available under the URL:
http://www.michaelbockhorst.de/2018/10/canon-ef-m-32-1-4-stm-sample-photos/nggallery/thumbnails
The images in the gallery marked "100%" can be opened as usual by right-clicking the image and do something like "Grafik anzeigen" or "View image" ...

Landscape / IMG_6090 @ f/5.6
IMG_6090_ef-m_32_14_stm_C-bockhorst.JPGIMG_6090_center-strip.JPGIMG_6090_lower-strip.JPG

Stars / IMG_6194 @ f/1.4
IMG_6194_top-strip.JPG

Forest scene / IMG_6249 @ f/1.4
IMG_6249_ef-m_32_14_stm_C-bockhorst.JPG
IMG_6249_lower-strip.JPG
 
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Some more examples to help those who are in the decision. Generally I am a little bit confused that there
seem to be some very satisfied owners and a lot of 5 star ratings but otherwise there is no stronger echo to
such an interesting lens. O.k., not fullframe, moderately high price, small and unobtrusive ... but photographically a lens which stands out IMO.

About the Digital lens optimizer: If you have normal textures it doesn't make a large difference. In the case of the fibrous outer shell of the mushrooms stem it makes a big difference: from "it has fibrous texture" to "there are a lot of fine fibres".


@f/1.4 / DPP: sharpness 3 / Digital lens optimizer
Full image scaled down:
2018-10-21-10-37-53_M50_IMG_6469.JPG
100%-crop detail right mushroom2018-10-21-10-37-53_M50_IMG_6469_right-mushroom.JPG

@5.6 / same processing like above image maybe not everything in focal plane / range
2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639.JPG

100% crops (clockwise from upper left):
2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639_upperleft.JPG2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639_upperright.JPG
2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639_lowerright.JPG
2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639_lowerleft.JPG
finally 100% center:
2018-11-03-10-44-16_M50_IMG_6639_nearcenter.JPG
 
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I love this lens! It's sharp wide open, has an accurate autofocus and is very well balanced on my M5. And it looks nice, too. I did some comparisons with my 50mm 1.2 on my 5DIII and was shocked on how much sharper the 32mm most of the time is.
With this lens in my kit, I grew to love my M5 more. Together with the great 11-22mm, the handy 22mm and the (more rarely used) 55-200mm I'm almost perfectly happy. Maybe a 53mm f/1.4 would do the trick.

IMG_6296.jpg
 
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