32mm f/1.4 - Why it's so darned cool ...

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Super Spectra Coating on the new 32mm lens...
This is a beautiful looking lens for the EF-M lineup. Visibly it's unmistakable from the other lenses here. It takes the same small 43mm filters as the 22mm and 28mm lenses which is great. And Canon even decided to add their amazing Super Spectra Coating to this new lens. SSC (Super Spectra Coating) is a multi-layered coating created by Canon to reduce lens flare and to faithfully reproduce color balance. The coating redirects light from the edges of the curved lens elements and forces it to converge onto the same location. Super Spectra Coatings even reflect incidental light. It's a marvelous thing for us to get and if I'm not mistaken, even contrast is improved by this coating.
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"Light travels in waves – since each color travels at different wavelengths, multi layers coatings are required to effectively reduce reflection. Each layer works on different wave lengths of light. Canon's multi layer Super Spectra coating allows up to 99.9% of light through to the CMOS sensor, over a range that extends from ultra violet to near-infrared light. As well as minimizing ghosting and flare, Super Spectra Coating ensures a consistent color balance across all EF lenses and plays a key part in delivering the sharp, high-contrast results that Canon lenses are renowned for." - Canon Inc

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“The new EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens delivers great image quality in a compact and lightweight form factor, allowing photographers to capture the images they envision when they pick up their camera.” - Kazuto Ogawa, president and chief operating officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc.
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"The EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens is the second EF-M lens to feature a large-aperture, delivering stunning bokeh with a soft blurred background that helps photographers isolate their subjects. In addition, the 32mm focal length converts to approximately 51m in 35mm format, providing an angle-of-view close to the field-of-view of the human eye." - CANON inc
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For those interested, there's also a newly launched video below from Canon USA - and some samples taken with the new lens are shown...
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What to expect from this lens - visually...
We were talking about apertures yesterday in another thread and how many stops of light might be lost due to fitting the new lens to an APS-C EOS M camera. Adding a crop to apertures and calculating light transmission isn't going to be simple since the newer M-series has a more sensitive sensor than earlier DSLRs and the new lens has coatings that will affect the amount of light passing through. The original M had a sensor much like the 60D although I found that the 60D produced far more noise in the same environments. I think that a great way to demonstrate what to expect from this lens is to look at how much light is captured and how much bokeh is produced on any EOSM camera with the EF 24mm f/1.4 USM II lens. It's a lens I've often claimed was my absolute favorite lens on the EOSM if it weren't for the wight and size. The cost is also offputting for the EF lens. My experiences with the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM gave me something to compare with and I think the following images come VERY close to demonstrating the bokeh and color the new 32mm f/1.4 lens is going to give us.

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The Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens.

EOS M6 + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

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* The EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens equates to around 51.52mm on the M.
* The EF 24mm f/1.4L USM lens equates to around 38.64 mm on the M.
* Both lenses offer around the same amount of light transmission.
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The results are going to look quite similar although you might just get even more bokeh with the 32mm lens because of the longer focal length. The Minimum Focus Distance (MFD) is about 9 inches... it dawned on me that aside from being f/1.4, we can probably get a very accurate idea about the amount of defocus and light transmission involved if we view images taken with a very similar lens. Whilst there's about 12.88mm difference between the focal lengths, the added zoom on the 32mm f/1.4 STM lens might actually enhance Bokeh even further than these images here... (see below).
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32mm f/1.4 walkabout lens?
This new lens is going to be great for city shooting at any time of the day or night.  It's clearly a superb portrait lens since 50mm (equiv) has always been considered to be the ideal focal length for portraits.  It will be almost wide enough for some astro work in terms of field of view and it will certainly be suitable for indoor lowlight shots where there's only a candle or two for illumination.  Video will be interesting with this silent lens because my EF 24mm f/1.4L lens makes a hell of a racket when its constantly focusing... and while you can't hear it, the camera sure can if you're shooting video.
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I almost hate to say this, but I may end up with this new lens (EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM) on my camera as my main lens from now on instead of the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. It's going to produce a very fine image with plenty of subject isolation. Indoor video in low-light will be lovely. I anticipate that the bokeh will be quite appealing. It's going to be great for portraits... but at 9 inches (MFD) it's going to be more flexible than my EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens - which has an MFD of almost 20 inches. Again, this is going to produce more bokeh for closeup subjects. It won't be long until we see some early samples but here's what I'm getting on the M at the moment with the 24mm f/1.4L lens...
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EOS M + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

EOS M6 + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

EOS M + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

EOS M + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

EOS M + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

EOS M + 24mm f/1.4L USM II lens

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I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length).  Next up maybe??? 

R2

R2D2 wrote:

I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length). Next up maybe???

R2

Soon...

I almost hate to say this, but I may end up with this new lens (EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM) on my camera as my main lens from now on instead of the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. It's going to produce a very fine image with plenty of subject isolation.

So far the EF-M 22mm f/2 has the best IQ  from the all EF-M lenses. How do you know that the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 will have a decent IQ to replace completely the 22mm?

Persizi wrote:

I almost hate to say this, but I may end up with this new lens (EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM) on my camera as my main lens from now on instead of the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. It's going to produce a very fine image with plenty of subject isolation.

So far the EF-M 22mm f/2 has the best IQ from the all EF-M lenses. How do you know that the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 will have a decent IQ to replace completely the 22mm?

Gut feeling, but I think Marco is right.

It could never supplant my own 22/2 due to the different F/L, but it sounds like a very nice lens.

R2

R2D2 wrote:

Persizi wrote:

I almost hate to say this, but I may end up with this new lens (EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM) on my camera as my main lens from now on instead of the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. It's going to produce a very fine image with plenty of subject isolation.

So far the EF-M 22mm f/2 has the best IQ from the all EF-M lenses. How do you know that the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 will have a decent IQ to replace completely the 22mm?

Although a few members here speak highly of the EF-M 22mm f.2 STM, and although I tend to agree that it is very decent with JPEG in-camera shots... it's not as sharp as the EF-M 28mm or the EF 11-22mm lenses. But together, all three perform very well. They are all sharp and they all produce decent images.
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I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Canon have pulled a rabbit out of their hat with this lens. It's going to turn heads with the shots it takes. Already it looks visibly pleasant. And I am VERY happy to see another alloy mount on the rear end of the lens.
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This is one of those things where if you haven't carried an f/1.4 lens about with you on a 50mm (equiv) mount, you couldn't really appreciate how much impact your images will have. And the lens coatings should enhance color and clarity further.

It could never supplant my own 22/2 due to the different F/L, but it sounds like a very nice lens.

I'm actually taking money from my EOS R "fund" to justify paying for this lens. This is the sort of lens I want on my EOS M cameras when I see something I like on the street, in a shop window, on the road, in a restaurant, in a park or sitting at home. the field of view is still acceptable to me since I used the 24mmL and found it to be acceptable with focal length. But the ease of use for capturing really "punchy" shots is going to be in your hands. This forum will have so many incredible shots from members adopting it that I might suggest that it will drive more newcomers into buying an EOS M camera just to use with this lens. The nearest lens Sony seems to have on offer is an E 35mm f/1.8 OSS lens.

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El Matadurr posted these samples here on DPreview with the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS lens. it has an internal lens based stabilizer but the speed of this lens is much slower at f/1.8. I've never needed one at f/1.4. Take a look at the level of "busy" but still fairly bold bokeh behind the cat and then think about how much stronger f/1.4 will be from the Canon 32mm lens. He noted corner softness which is likely to be more of a Sony issue that a Canon one. Worth noting is that this lens has a minimum focus distance (MFD) of 11.81" (inches) compared to the Canon 32mm which has an MFD of just 9.05 inches... which ought to result in bolder bokeh from the closer distance to small objects... plus more from the much wider aperture. The Canon is going to be VERY interesting. Just set your shutter speed to around 1/60th second and you'll have all the light and stabilization you'll need. With my 22mm f/2 lens, thats what I've set my shutter speed to for indoor lowlight use. But on rare occasions I'll shoot even much slower hand held since you can usually hold at 1/13sec without grief and no stabilizer. Man, this is going to be fun to play with.
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Visually, I suspect the structure and shape of this lens is similar to what we're getting with the 32mm f/1.4 He wrote a review of this lens which can be seen HERE

Farm Cat - Sony 35mm, ISO 100, f/2.2, 1/320

Sony 35mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/4000

Marco Nero wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length). Next up maybe???

R2

Soon...

IMO, most of us hope to see EF-M 52/1.8 IS STM as the next one.

and I am wondering if Canon is going to maintain the lens diameter of 61mm. So far all EFM lenses have the same diameter.

Persizi wrote:

I almost hate to say this, but I may end up with this new lens (EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM) on my camera as my main lens from now on instead of the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens. It's going to produce a very fine image with plenty of subject isolation.

So far the EF-M 22mm f/2 has the best IQ from the all EF-M lenses. How do you know that the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 will have a decent IQ to replace completely the 22mm?

We need 22mm, 32mm and 52mm lens line, all at f/1.4.

R2D2 wrote:

I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length). Next up maybe???

R2

That would be good, but it's the EF-M I'm least anxious to see. The 50 F1.8 STM on the adapter is about the same size as the new EF-M 32, and even looks a bit like a native lens. I find that it performs so well that I'm not sure that I would buy an EF-M 50, unless it was either wider, say F1.4, had IS, or both. For now, I have an adapter permanently attached to my 50 STM in my M6 bag. I really like the results I get from this lens, especially close portraits shot close to wide open.

Very excited for this lens and anxious to see what kind of results it can produce. Looking forward to the reviews and your samples, Marco.

interesting that it’s the only EF-M lens to date to have a focus limit switch. I wonder why this is? Also, is there really that much benefit to limiting focus from 0.5m to infinity as opposed to using the entire range?

OptimisticCynic wrote:

Very excited for this lens and anxious to see what kind of results it can produce. Looking forward to the reviews and your samples, Marco.

interesting that it’s the only EF-M lens to date to have a focus limit switch. I wonder why this is? Also, is there really that much benefit to limiting focus from 0.5m to infinity as opposed to using the entire range?

I'm surprised to see it on a Prime like this.  The EF 135mm f/2L and the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lenses have this feature.  So to the larger Zoom lenses.  It cuts down focus travel times when shooting on subjects that are super close... so the lens isn't shifting constantly towards infinity focus.  It certainly speeds up the process when dealing with closeup subjects to push for bolder bokeh.  Examples of where it would be handing is if you are shooting pictures of pets with a distant background and you don't want to lens to wander towards the distant horizon. Probably not a bad idea but it's surprising to see on this particular lens.  The switch has an Zero to INFINITY and a  Zero to HALF METER option.  So this switch is clearly designed to allow some very tight 9" closeups of flowers and close subjects.  The Canon video claims it can fill the entire frame with a business card and that's something I simply CAN'T do with many lenses, including (and especially) the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens.
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My EF 50mm f/1.2L and EF 85mm f/1.2L lenses don't have a focus limiter switch... nor does the EF 24mm f/1.4L lens.  That's why it puzzles me.  Either way, it's not something you may need to engage since there's an infinity symbol on the switch.  But if you're doing creative work, it's nice to have the switch there to speed up the process and limit the focus to a closer range for those shots.
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A 52mm lens (equiv) that can shoot just 9.2 inches from any subject at f/1.4 is going to be something to behold on the EOSM.  I'm very excited to see some actual samples.    Just WOW.

Alastair Norcross wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length). Next up maybe???

R2

That would be good, but it's the EF-M I'm least anxious to see. The 50 F1.8 STM on the adapter is about the same size as the new EF-M 32, and even looks a bit like a native lens. I find that it performs so well that I'm not sure that I would buy an EF-M 50, unless it was either wider, say F1.4, had IS, or both. For now, I have an adapter permanently attached to my 50 STM in my M6 bag. I really like the results I get from this lens, especially close portraits shot close to wide open.

I too have been shooting with the 50 STM since it was released (and now on the M5 adapted). And while it’s miles better than the lens it replaced (of which I had 2 copies), I’d really like to see an upgraded M version that was f/1.4, stabilized, and much sharper than even the STM wide open!).

R2

R2D2 wrote:

Alastair Norcross wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

I'm still waiting for a new EF-M 50mm (closer to my own perfect portrait focal length). Next up maybe???

R2

That would be good, but it's the EF-M I'm least anxious to see. The 50 F1.8 STM on the adapter is about the same size as the new EF-M 32, and even looks a bit like a native lens. I find that it performs so well that I'm not sure that I would buy an EF-M 50, unless it was either wider, say F1.4, had IS, or both. For now, I have an adapter permanently attached to my 50 STM in my M6 bag. I really like the results I get from this lens, especially close portraits shot close to wide open.

I too have been shooting with the 50 STM since it was released (and now on the M5 adapted). And while it’s miles better than the lens it replaced (of which I had 2 copies), I’d really like to see an upgraded M version that was f/1.4, stabilized, and much sharper than even the STM wide open!).

R2

Indeed. F1.4 with IS would get my attention right away.

Marco Nero wrote:

The switch has an Zero to INFINITY and a Zero to HALF METER option.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the photos of the lens switch look like it has Zero to Infinity and Half Meter to Infinity options. So would this be for situations where you don’t want the lens locking on to very close subjects?

OptimisticCynic wrote:

Marco Nero wrote:

The switch has an Zero to INFINITY and a Zero to HALF METER option.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the photos of the lens switch look like it has Zero to Infinity and Half Meter to Infinity options. So would this be for situations where you don’t want the lens locking on to very close subjects?

Yeah, you get a thumbs up for spotting that... it's a 'FULL' Vs '0.5m-INFINITY' Focus Limiter switch.. which seems vaguely wrong now that I think about it.  Normally the wide lenses often try to target the background.  I think they should have either left the switch off altogether or set it with the option to keep the focus in the range close.  Surely Canon know what they're doing... I hope...