EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM is a Five Star-lens!

Great review : ) The 32mm looks like a great substitute for the pentax 31mm that I miss from my pentax days.

I was about to pull the trigger on the EF-M 32mm f/1.4. As I was doing researched on the 32mm lens, I came across a lot of information about a speed booster from Viltrox being paired with the EF 50mm f/1.8 lens. On paper, it sounds like the speed booster/50mm combo should yield the same results as the native EF-M 32mm f/1.4. Is that actually the case or is this a prime example (pun intended) of "you get what you pay for"? The speed booster/EF lens combo is currently priced out at $281 vs the $480 price tag of the 32mm.

Apologies if the above questions come off as amateur hour. For background, I received the M50 as a gift over the holidays, and it is my first interchangeable lens camera. I have both the 14-45 kit lens and EF-M 22mm f/2 lens.

CropFactor wrote:

I was about to pull the trigger on the EF-M 32mm f/1.4. As I was doing researched on the 32mm lens, I came across a lot of information about a speed booster from Viltrox being paired with the EF 50mm f/1.8 lens. On paper, it sounds like the speed booster/50mm combo should yield the same results as the native EF-M 32mm f/1.4. Is that actually the case or is this a prime example (pun intended) of "you get what you pay for"? The speed booster/EF lens combo is currently priced out at $281 vs the $480 price tag of the 32mm.

The Speedbooster has poor optical qualities and other technical issues in relation to vignetting/falloff and noticable image softening.  Sticking one on your EOS M50 will likely prove problematic and the image quality with be affected dramatically in a negative way.  Viltrox make some really cheap products and there's a reason why they're so affordable. I bought a couple of their tele-extender tubes and the build quality was/is rubbish.  Some members have already tried a speedbooster (I think it was a Viltrox) and were very unimpressed with the resulting images.
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Canon recently lodged a patent for their own speed-booster so it's possible we may possibly see one in the near future.  But it will probably be for EF lenses to enable them a native view on the smaller APS-C sensor.  Using one with an EF-M lens would likely produce strong aberration and extreme vignetting.
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You can search for past subjects (ie Speedboosters) on the forums or feel free to start a thread and ask members who have used a Speedbooster what their experiences were.  The EOS M forum is a great place to start.

Godiwa wrote:

nice review but 7000+ photos in 24 hours? that's 1 picture every 12,34 seconds for 24 hours straight or did you just record highspeed video and count that as "photos" for each frame?

This has been addressed previously.
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On January 20, 2018, I took just over 3,000 photographs between 2:30pm and 7:14pm using the EOS M6 with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens with extenders as part of a test to see if the extenders worked on the camera. This included time for me to drive to several different locations and to walk to where I was going to shoot from ... and to change lenses, drink beverages etc. That's a period of just under 5 hours for 3,000 photographs. And I started after lunch and finished before dinner. Many were of birds, swimmers, stationary landscapes and the moon. Others were of surfers or were for testing the results over water and warm surfaces to demonstrate thermal fluctuations and how longer focal lengths are subject to them. I don't waste shots if I'm taking them because every actuation of the shutter reduces the life of any camera. Less than a handful were useless or out of focus. I think there were just two shots that I couldn't justify from that session. Most of the images were keepers. I just had to decide which ones to keep. With Continuous Drive active, the M6 camera takes 9 shots per second. Obviously this changes with different settings but that's the standard. I seem to get around 6 or 7 fps myself.
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This was not the first time I've taken 3K shots in a day (let alone in 5 hours). But it is the limitation for my camera batteries ...amusing because they have an CIPA rating of just 295 shots. I've recorded similar on three other occasions, not including the 32mm test days. A single battery on the EOS M6 using AI Servo tracking and/or burst mode) in JPEG mode is easily capable of this and I've often shot 3K worth of images at busy conventions of public fairground events.. In burst mode I can shoot clusters of shots in a single second. It's ideal for sporting, and moving objects. Sometimes I'll even use it for Macro to ensure I capture a precise area as I move the lens. My M6 is always set to Hi-Burst so I never miss a subject. I also ONLY SHOOT IN JPEG. So thirty shots in a few seconds isn't unusual. Many of my shots are singular because not all images require a Hi-Speed Burst. Shots taken in the museum need only be singular and more carefully composed. Shots of seagulls and people were usually in bursts. A measly 11.1 seconds of shooting at 9 fps results in 100 photographs. Do that 30 times and you have 3,000 photographs. Obviously I'm not shooting in burst mode all day long but it's easy to shoot a few thousand images over a single day, let alone in a weekend devoted especially to testing a new lens.  I walked around 14 kilometers through and about the city over those two days and was tired for it.  I only stopped to speak with people I knew who bumped into me on the street.
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With the test on this particular lens, I shot for 2 solid days (48 hours) with just a few hours to sleep and recharge batteries. I even had my wife drive the car to and from the city so I could shoot out the window at vehicles and architecture & sunsets etc. I shot pictures of meals and at night as well. Then I went to the mountains a few days later and did it all over again.

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

I may need to buy a second body just to use my OTHER EF-M lenses.

So is this what it's like to own an L lens? 

Craig Smith wrote:

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

😂

I may need to buy a second body just to use my OTHER EF-M lenses.

Good point.

So is this what it's like to own an L lens?

Craig Smith wrote:

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

[...]

Too late

Not really ... I bought it to have a high aperture lens for my M50 (replace 22mm) and longer focal length (replace 18-55) plus retain close focus abilities (1:4 at f/1.4 is great) and to improve IQ (contrast, resolution).

Everything is fine now: Lens welded on camera makes a compact, flexible and reliable high quality photo generating setup!

Godiwa wrote:

Craig Smith wrote:

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

I may need to buy a second body just to use my OTHER EF-M lenses.

So is this what it's like to own an L lens?

That post alone makes me think I am right in my thoughts on buying the M50 (house) with the 32mm for a start

If i was buying an M50 not having any lenses, this 32mm would be my first lens to buy.

Godiwa wrote:

Craig Smith wrote:

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

I may need to buy a second body just to use my OTHER EF-M lenses.

So is this what it's like to own an L lens?

That post alone makes me think I am right in my thoughts on buying the M50 (house) with the 32mm for a start

You can’t go wrong with that. 😃

Godiwa wrote:

Craig Smith wrote:

I would like to provide a WARNING to anyone considering the purchase of this lens.

Adding this lens to your M system may result in the total and complete disregard for every other EF-M lens you own. This lens is now attached to my M50 ALL THE TIME.

I may need to buy a second body just to use my OTHER EF-M lenses.

So is this what it's like to own an L lens?

That post alone makes me think I am right in my thoughts on buying the M50 (house) with the 32mm for a start

The thing I like with that lens - body combo is that everything works flawlessly & there are no real restrictions. You can use that lens wide open with only marginal penalty in resolution or contrast. You can do some closeup work up to ~ 16 x 90mm field of view. I enjoy to use it too to make stuff for my physics lessons where I need details, great colors and very often have only low light.
And I have it most of the time with me due to the compact size / low weight / hassle free operation / one lens approach.

I have a lot of stuff but this tiny camera-lens-combo is pure fun to use while the technical results are substantial: The best basis for great photos.

A great review and impresive photos. Are you a Canon amabassador ?