Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Lens - Fixed

I got this lens to use with a canon 6D for a carrying around lens on my professional camera. It is a great focal length for a full frame camera and the 2.8 aperture is great for low light. My only complaint is that it is kinda of soft sometimes. I have used this for a portrait session and it worked fine! Very light and makes the camera easier to carry around.

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Once upon a time I had the Canon 50mm f1.8 plasticky nifty fifty. This lens provides a slightly wider (and to me preferable as general purpose lens) view, and absolutely spanks the nifty fifty in quality - both sharpness and surprisingly, the quality of out blurred out of focus areas. It focuses reasonably close, but is quite slow to focus on my 5DII as a result of the STM motor. I have worked professionally and used a number of L lenses over the years, and still use this as a regular go-to lens, especially when travelling or when theres risk of damage. Even at twice the price it would be a bargain, and its a lovely compact carry everywhere lens. If youre considering it, dont hesitate, you cant go wrong.

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If you want to travel light, or be less obtrusive than with a longer lens, this is perfect. Remember, some of the most famous photographers and photos utilized a Leica rangefinder camera. This lens returns you to that convenience, comfort, and versatility without sacrificing DSLR TTL benefits. This is an auto-focus lens but not an image stabilizing lens. That is of little consequence since the light weight and shorter length provide excellent balance and stability, The short length, while not being wide angle view, makes the camera less conspicuous and intimidating to others. This is the equivalent of a 64mm lens on a 35mm film camera. Therefore, it acts somewhat like a "Normal" lens with very slight flattening of perspective. It allows you to be intimate with your subject without unpleasant lens distortion.

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This is essentially a "normal" lens on a cropped-sensor camera. If youre an old film shooter, think of this as a 60mm lens. Its a prime lens, so no zooming. If you want to change the image, you have to move around. Occasionally Ill stick this lens on the camera and go out with nothing else because it forces me to think about the image and compose without the benefit of a zoom lens.

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This lens is very compact. The lens is sharp corner to corner and there is very little chromatic aberration. There is a loss of contrast when shooting against the sun, but this is not a problem intrinsic only to this lens. Using a lens hood would help. Only complaint: the lens lens wont retract after the power is turned off. I just give it a light push to retract the barrel; I dont think that hurts it. 100% crops from 20MP images attached. (Amazon apparently resized the images from 600 x 400 to 750 x 500)

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I have a number of lenses ranging from standard EF-S lenses through to Canons L lenses and yet this is still one of my favorite lenses to use. One of the first lenses I bought was the Canon 50/f1.8 ii lens (which for the price is unbelievable value, go get it) which I loved but I was looking for something a little wider whilst still having the ability to shoot in low light conditions, especially when paired with an APS-C camera. Whilst the 40/f2.8 isnt as sharp as the 24-70L lens, it does have some advantages over it. Its a tiny pancake lens but with a good metal build quality to it. The pictures it takes are sharp and it produces a fairly nice bokeh (blurred background). At f2.8 it is an excellent lens to use in low light conditions. The auto focus is fairly quick although I have seen it hunt a little, especially when taking it from manual focus back to auto. Two major advantages over the 24-70L however are weight and price. This weighs almost nothing compared to 24-70L. Infact you dont really notice it is even on your camera. Also this is roughly 10x less than the 24-70L. Amongst my cameras I own Canon APS-C models, so this lens is actually equivalent to a 64mm focal length. I also have a full frame Sony A7 with the metabones III adapter so that it will take my Canon glass. I found that the metabones adaptor doesnt like the 50/f1.8 lens and that lens will only work in manual focus, but there are no problems pairing it up with this 40/f2.8 lens. Infact, the A7 with this lens is a great combination. Should you buy this over the 50/1.8? That depends on what it is you are looking for. To be honest, given the price of each of the lenses, I would say both are must haves. I would have loved to have seen IS included in this lens however I realize that would add to its size, weight and price. The only slightly negative thing I can say about this lens is that it is fairly hard to adjust focus manually. The focus ring is tiny and added to the tiny size of this lens, when it is sitting on the front of your camera it does make it harder than manually adjusting larger lenses (even compared to the smallish 50/1.8 lens). Given the high quality output and the price of this lens there is absolutely no reason not to buy it immediately.

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Brilliant. Ive had major focus problems with my Canon 5D and the 85 1.8 I was using with it. I had my doubts but knew lenses and cameras had different tolerances. This lens matches very well and the crispness is amazing. I wish my 85 lined up that well! This lens really shows off what the 5D can do - it allows the full detail possible to come out. I highly recommend it for a walk-around or slightly wide angle. It has a very specific look to it, a very non-surreal look (can be hard to get artsy with this lens). Its quite different from what Im used to but its good in its own way. One of the main reasons I got it was to take pictures of my newborn son - its a great focal length and lets lots of light in but it warps a bit too much up close. However, a 50 might be a little too tight. Its a tough call but does the job pretty good!

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At first it was hard to adjust to using a prime type lens, but once I learned it, it has become my most used lens. It’s so compact and very solidly built. It’s the ideal lens to take traveling, and the minimum distance for shooting is 30 cm. This means you can easily use it in close quarters, like taking a shot in a restaurant with your friends without having to step away from your table or making a nuisance. I use it with my Canon SL1, which is smallest, lightest DSLR, a perfect combination for outings, and you have no excuse not to take the camera with you. This lens takes sharp pictures, and F/2.8 allows you to take pictures later in the evening in low light conditions. My best sunset pictures have been taken with this lens. My one main criticism is that autofocus is very slow, but I can work with that! I am very glad I bought it.

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This lens provides value unparalleled in Canons lineup! Forget the nifty fifty and its fanboys, this is the new ruler of Canons value lens lineup! The 40mm lens is light, fast, has almost no distortion and can be used for a variety of different shooting styles. Ive had success with this lens in remote places like Death Valley, shooting landscapes in unfavorable light conditions, with no flare whatsoever, even shooting directly into the sun! That makes for some truly memorable images. This lens is also extraordinarily sharp, has very little vignetting and does an excellent job at rendering portraits. Some lenses this wide arent known for having the best bokeh, but this lens excels, due to the macro ability that enables you to get close to your subject. For great bokeh, open this thing up to f/2.8 and get as close as you can to your subject. I love that this lens can alternately be used as both a quality portrait lens and wide landscape lens. The versatility, metal mount, light weight, value and image quality make this a no-brainer. Oh, and the STM motor also enables DSLR owners to venture into the world of video! What is not to love about this lens? Dont hesitate to make this purchase!

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I use this lens almost exclusively. Its quiet. Its 40mm so not too close and not too far. Its TINY so the thieves dont look at you like youre their shopping dream come true. Its tiny so its light-weight. Its tiny so your subjects dont freak out when you shove a 30-pound piece of glass in their faces. The low-light performance is great. The depth of field is awesome. Ive gotten SO MANY good pictures with this lens. And the videos arent filled with the loud screeching of the lens refocusing like the 50mm or the stock lens that comes with the various Canon kits. I cant recommend this lens highly enough. Cons: If you hand the camera to someone, they start spinning the focus ring to zoom in/out. Most humans holding an SLR assume you can zoom and dont grok prime lenses. It is a LITTLE close, so when you are backed up to get a full-body shot of your subject, most humans nearby wont put 2+2 together that you and the subject are related and will walk between you. Subject needs to be flambouyant and obvious that their pic is being taken.

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