Welcome to the M family! Like all families, we squabble quite a bit, but also have a lot of affection for each other! I’m late to this discussion, so I’ll just say that you have been given lots of great suggestions already, so I won’t give you my whole list. I’ve been shooting with M cameras since the first one (got it a year after it came out when it was on fire sale), and have loved the system all along. I also have the M6 and M6II (both silver versions). I particularly like the M system for travel, which I haven’t done since before the pandemic, but hope to get back to soon. The last international trip I took was to Rome in 2019, before I got my M6II. For that, I took my M6 with 22, 32, 11-22, and 18-150. I used the 22 for over two thirds of my shots, and the 11-22 for most of the others. I spent quite a bit of time walking around with just the M6 and 22 mounted. Although my camera bag with the other lenses isn’t very big, I really enjoy the freedom of just taking the camera with that tiny lens mounted on it. Now, with the M6II, I still use the 22 a lot of the time, perhaps more than any other lens. It was the first EF-M lens I ever got (along with the 18-55, that came in the two lens kit I bought the original M with), and is still my most used. If you like the 35mm (FF equivalent) field of view, and you like small and light with really good quality, the 22 is pretty much a must-have. I know that a couple of other posters have also mentioned it, but more in passing. I just want to emphasize what a great combo the M6II and 22 is. It’s small enough to put in a large pocket, so you can take it anywhere. When I go to work, I always have my M6II with 22, usually in a small bag which also contains the Sigma 56, which is great for people shots. Another thing about the 22 is that it is pretty cheap. So get it, and try just taking the M6II with the 22 mounted. There’s a reason a lot of rangefinder shooters would just have a 35mm lens mounted. There’s also a reason why the Fuji X100 line of fixed lens cameras is popular. They all have a 23mm F2 lens, which is pretty much the same FOV as the 22 on the M6II (the Fuji crop is slightly different from the Canon crop). I’ve always thought that my M, whether M, M6, or M6II, with the 22 mounted, gives me almost all the features of one of those Fuji cameras, without the disadvantage of never being able to put a different lens on.
Anyway, enjoy your M experience, and post some pictures here.
Was a little surprised it took the thread to reach Page 3 for someone to really propose the 22mm. Mainly because...
I am a recent owner so cannot comment too much on capabilities however when I was considering the M6II just 2 months ago, the overwhelming response (and feedback on these forums via searching) was that the 22mm was the 'must have' for the M6II and constantly topped the 'if you can only have one lens for the body what would it be' polling.
As a recent owner I can say the form factor is fantastic, image quality so far can be considered satisfactory but not spectacular - and in some cases quite comparable to what my iPhone 12 Mini produces?! This may however be because I have some learning to do
I have the iPhone 12 Mini too. It’s an excellent phone camera, which produces very nice results in good lighting, and pretty decent results in low light. If you’re shooting wide angle shots with large depth of field and viewing them on your phone or tablet, the phone shots will look as good as the corresponding shots on the M6II or pretty much any other large sensor (including full frame) camera. The phone shots won’t hold up as well to intensive processing, but for basic corrections they’ll be fine. Where the M6II, and other dedicated cameras, pull away from phone cameras is once you start shooting with longer lenses and using wider apertures to get shallower depth of field. The phones do have the computational simulation of background separation, which is fine at small viewing sizes, but doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. Which lenses do you have on your M6II, and what are your main subjects? If you’re into portraits, the Sigma 56 F1.4 will give you results that no phone can touch. And are you shooting RAW, and if so, which processor are you using?
Thanks for your comments. I only have the 22mm at the moment, with the intention it would 'cover most bases' for my needs; mainly street and family photography (not neccesasrily portraits) with a little automotive (no action shots) and landscape. Shooting RAW and Lightroom for processing. I appreciate there is a high degree of recovery and fine tuning with the shots out of the M6II. Left field question: would the 11-22mm lens be better or worse at 22mm, than the 22m f2.0 lens? If similarish, then the former would offer a bit more flexibility.
The Sigma 56mm f1.4 you refer to I feel would be restrictive too much towards 'just' portraits which would be lost on me. I found this video interesting and feel the conclusions align well to your statements above:
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