EOS-M : Another day, another lens to try... (PICS)



Canon EOS-M with the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L USM II lens.  Heavy around your neck... like a brick.

Today I attached the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L USM II lens to the EOS-M body and took it out for a spin.  The weather here is pretty wet so I had to deal with poor light and unattractive conditions outdoors.  You can see my first impressions with this camera here if it interests you:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50202849

This lens was slightly faster on the EOS-M than the 50MM f/1.2L USM and neither lens has Image Stabilization.  Nor are they as fast as the 18-55mm-M lens designed for this camera. The wider view coupled with a limited zoom was interesting on the EOS-M because it's cropped to 1.6x on this sensor.  Overall it was easy to snap images with good AF accuracy.  The delay was around a half second to lock focus on most scenes although some low-light shots took a second or even slightly more.  Essentially the same speed as the 60D when using Live Preview although from memory, that camera was actually slower in this mode.

I targeted the corner spike on this 1800s graveyard fence.  AF is extremely accurate.

Looking out from under a bridge in overcast conditions, this is the camera's processed JPEG image but I was pleased with the Dynamic Range available.  This image accurately reflects how the scene actually appeared... quite dark.

Hard to get handheld shots of moving plasma like this without a DSLR or without very high ISO settings.

Taken with Manual Focus using the 10x zoom-window on the LCD to determine the focus on my cat's eye.

Whilst the camera is generally still in default settings, I did switch the lens to Manual Focus and found that you get three options for zooming on on the subject via the LCD to assist in locking focus on the right area.  I found the process simple and very accurate because as I rotated the focus-ring on the lens, the magnified view on the LCD showed me in real time what part of the image was in clear focus.

This lens was a brick - and I found it easier to grip it around the neck of the lens rather than hang the strap over my shoulder or over my neck.  I'd prefer not to use this lens on this camera as a walkabout lens but of course, this is more of a specialty lens designed for professional applications rather than an everyday lens.

But my experience with the Manual Focus on the EOS-M today showed me just how useful this camera will be for getting tight and unforgiving macro shots with another lens in future.  Every lens you put on this camera makes it feel like a new machine.

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Regards,
Marco Nero.
www.pbase.com/nero_design