Marco Nero
Veteran Member
iPhone 6S - A shot of both lenses with the M6 this week. The EF-M 11-22mm lens is on the camera. The EF-M 32mm f/1.4 lens is on the table.
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'The right lens for the job', they say. I'm often forced to compromise when I bring a single lens with me. Sometimes you have the ideal lens along with you for the shoot. Sometimes you make do without. But the EF-M lenses are so darned small that I asked my wife if she'd carry a spare in her purse so I wouldn't need to stuff it into my jacket pocket. I wasn't being lazy, I just have a long history of dropping things from my pockets and breaking them. It made sense to have two lenses on hand and I'm glad I brought them with me. The M6 is a tiny terror when you compare the size against the fork on the table in the shot above. So much lighter and smaller than a DSLR.
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I took my wife to the Sydney Blue Mountains for lunch her 40th birthday this weekend. I figured that the panoramic lookouts there might benefit from a wide lens so I guess the EF-M 11-22mm was the logical choice. But I also suspected I'd be shooting indoors in low light plus more after sunset... which meant I really needed to bring a much brighter/faster lens with me. The 11-22mm lens isn't fond of low light so the 32mm f/1.4 lens was the obvious 2nd choice. It was either that or bring a large DSLR with a large, fast lens - and I wasn't wanting to lug that around all day long. Perhaps the 22mm f/2 lens was an option although I wanted a little more bokeh.
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11-22mm + CPL filter
I suspected that I'd be dealing with banding on the 11-22mm lens if I shot wide with a Circular Polarizing filter... yet I was curious to see what would happen if I rotated the outer element to cut out the primary effect.... leaving more of a pseudo-Neutral Density filter in place. The scene was still slightly polarized but the glare was cut down. I liked the results although I still prefer the bold effect of maximum polarization for scenes like this.
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M6 + 11-22mm lens - This lens is magnificent when wide at 11mm... which is why I bought it to capture wide vista views... but I thought I'd experiment more with the 22mm focal length since I'd had good results before with this lens at that setting. (CPL used + PP applied). I liked this shot.
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I expected hard banding with a blue sky with the Circular Polarizer set to maximum so for these shots I turned it to almost minimum - which still have some polarized results. There wasn't any bit-depth related sky banding visible in the JPEGs (a tribute to the DiGiC processing chip) but there seems to be a little here after uploading them to DPreview after reducing the image. But I liked the resulting shots from the morning... and boy was it COLD up there. You won't see it in the pictures but the wind was at 90 to 100kmph (virtually gale force) and the ambient temperature was 9C ... but that later dropped to what seemed like-2C due to the wind chill. When the sun set it was so obscenely cold up in the mountains that it was truly painful. Even standing in sunlight.
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M6 + 11-22mm lens - At 11mm, this lens is hard to beat. (CPL used at 'minimum position')
M6 + 11-22mm lens - Another shot at 22mm. My wife is into medieval costume and jewellery, which is why I bought her this custom-made amethyst ring for her 40th birthday...along with some other purple gems to keep the theme going.
M6 + 32mm lens - taken (with permission) at the store where my wife spotted the ring a few months ago. I knew she liked the ring and the pink/purple sapphire necklace so I went back later to get them
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32mm shutter speed & lack of I.S.
I always find it strange to hear anyone argue that a fast, bright lens doesn't appeal to them without an Image Stabilizer. I understand the need for IS with longer focal lengths but it's not really necessary on a 'non-Pro' lens with a wider focal length. I suspect that 40mm (equiv) is where I.S starts to become useful - and the 32mm is around that ballpark. But it's so allows so much light to pass through that I certainly don't miss stabilization. There's less room for an IS mechanism with large optical elements fitted inside a lens. It can be done but I suspect Canon simply knew the cost of including it over the need to have it was not worth the effort. Either way, the 32mm lens was deemed fast enough by Canon not to include I.S.
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For those who haven't used/owned the 32mm f/1.4 lens...
The faster the lens (the wider the aperture), the more light you have to play with. The shutter speed of the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 lens ought to be typically 1/80 sec to be devoid of blur. The first time I used this lens I was walking about when shooting at 1/60 sec and my movement resulted in a few slightly blurred shots. It was only one or two out of hundreds but you don't want that if you can avoid it. You can certainly shoot at slower speeds although if I'm standing perfectly still, I can shoot at 1/60 sec, 1/50 sec and 1/40 sec. Anything below 1/60 sec is not ideal if you're shooting handheld and walking about but you'd be surprised at just how much of a benefit it is to be able to shoot at f/1.4 with any lens. Slower shutter speeds that might have benefited from I.S. means more subject blur. So there's that to consider and I think most folks over look this. I found myself walking about in shadowed areas with 1/320 sec shutter speeds on this lens - before I realized what my settings were and figured I could get more light at 1/100 sec or less. The f/4 aperture on the 11-22mm lens sure makes use of the Image Stabilizer on that lens. Although narrower optical elements in the lens barrel may allow the room for an I.S. mechanism. The floating element needs a certain amount of room to work with. Some folks probably won't be convinced that they don't need I.S. and that's still okay. But they're missing out on some great lenses if they ignore the ones with no stabilizers.
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M6 + 11-22mm lens - Another reason why I brought the 11-22mm lens with me... the largest antique store I've ever seen. With 50 dealers inside. The widest aperture of this lens is f/4 so it does need an Image Stabilizer.
M6 + 11-22mm lens
M6 + 11-22mm lens
M6 + 32mm - My wife Rena in virtually total darkness. An eyeball reflection was used for AF.
M6 + 32mm - Two of the restaurant staff trying to light a candle.
M6 + 32mm - My wife's smartphone had an LED light on it for illumination... which we used.
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Shots in the dark...
I know, the pictures are dark. The one of my wife looks to be almost completely underexposed. Yet I thought it was interesting to be able to take shots in the dark. It took a press of the shutter release button before I realized that the camera was refusing to take the shot. But there was no focus hunting taking place and the AF had settled on a reflection on her eyeball. The resolution was obvious: Just hit the MF/AF button.... this locked the camera in MF mode and I was then able to take the picture. I think a lot of people forget that by placing the AF reticule over an area of contrast, they can quickly lock focus. This can be a highlight, a reflection, a hard edge with contrast, a shadow... anything with a bit of detail. Pointing your lens at a flat blue sky or a white wall will cause grief for just about any camera. Shutter speed was still essential because I didn't want to blur the shot. I could have used a slower shutter speed than 1/80 sec. I probably should have. Since I was seated i could have easily used 1/40 sec. Of course, I just wanted to capture the scene as it appeared in real life. But this experiment served to remind me just how practical a fast lens can be and how you can certainly work with a safe speed like 1/80sec, even in the lowest of lighting if you want. Most importantly, the shots perfectly mirrored what I could see with my eyes. Considering what this lens can do in normal light (its sharpness is well noted by all who have used it), I'd still recommend it highly. Operating at 1/focal length is a practical way to shoot but this is a rule that can be broken. I often break it when shooting with Astrophotography because an extra 5 seconds with a shorter focal length might introduce a tiny amount of star movement, but those 5 full seconds can increase the amount of light tremendously.
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[ATTACH alt="M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens - A moth that I came across on the side-mirror of my car a couple of weeks ago. It has "eyes" on its markings which were startling. The tilt-flash on the M6 enabled me to take this shot in the dark by bouncing the light off the garage ceiling. I could have gotten closer, but this was fine to frame the moth. Handy having the Closeup ability on this lens."]media_3901858[/ATTACH]
M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens - A moth that I came across on the side-mirror of my car a couple of weeks ago. It has "eyes" on its markings which were startling. The tilt-flash on the M6 enabled me to take this shot in the dark by bouncing the light off the garage ceiling. I could have gotten closer, but this was fine to frame the moth. Handy having the Closeup ability on this lens.
Take a closer look at the ISO and the shutter speeds... and the use/lack of Image Stabilization... then, the apertures. The amount of light from that 32mm at 1/80 sec is really something. (Images are both unedited JPEGS with no lifted shadows or noise reduction).
[ATTACH alt="M6 + 32mm lens - Some cool "Prism" ski-goggles from Oakley in a store window "]media_3955025[/ATTACH]
M6 + 32mm lens - Some cool "Prism" ski-goggles from Oakley in a store window
M6 + 32mm lens - shooting Amethyst crystals with the sun in the background. The shot below was taken by lifting the lens above the subject to shoot the sun as it was close to setting.
M6 + 32mm lens - I was preparing to photograph an Amethyst tea-light cluster on the top of a pier when I thought to take a shot of the sun before it dipped behind clouds. I normally don't recommend aiming any lens towards the sun - so I'm breaking my own rules here.
M6 + 32mm lens - I drove to an ocean location just to get this shot of the dusk colors in the sky.
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A week prior I had taken a few random shots of an Amethyst Quartz chunk that had been converted into a tealight - which I shot on a fence post in front of a lighthouse at dusk (ABOVE) ... as well as some Bottega Venetta cologne that I was reviewing (BELOW). I had no tripod , no flash and no reflectors with me. I just saw some ideal lighting as I walked past the locations and took a few pictures before moving on. The show below of the Cologne was taken at my mother's house and the sunlight was coming through a narrow slit at the window. There was a Hibiscus flower she'd picked from the garden and a small crystal of Amethyst that were both catching the sunlight. It looks interesting so I placed the cologne bottle down and took two pictures of it. The amount of defocus on the background was just right. If I had been shooting this product for a client I'd have likely used two or three reflectors and at least one remote flash with a diffuser. I'm most likely take about three or four shots to blend together. But no, just one exposure was fine. And it was handheld. I did position myself for that some of the sunlight would reflect off my shirt and onto the bottle cap. It's quite a nice feeling to be able to catch handheld shots like this without a flash etc to illuminate the subject. Having a shallow DOF is handy for aesthetic reasons but the brighter lenses tend to have less contrast to begin with unless you stop the lens down. They also seem to offer more room for adjustments to Levels when editing (compared to a high contrast lens).
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M6 + 32mm lens - I shot this while crouched so that the sunlight might reflect off my shirt slightly while visiting my parents. It's a pretty delicious scent. But the color and light here were appealing. This scene was actually dark enough that I was asked if I wanted someone to turn the lights on.
M6 + 32mm lens - ground view - looking up at the Sydney Tower restaurant at sunset. The height of the tower is 1000.66 feet (305m).
6D (DSLR) + 24mm f/1.4L II USM lens - looking at the M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens
M6 + 32mm lens - 1/40 sec @ f/1.4 with 3200 ISO - I probably could have cranked the shutter speed up a little... but you can see how dark the scene was in the shot below. I still had more than enough light to work with on the APS-C sensor.
6D (DSLR) + 24mm f/1.4L - 1/64 (?) sec @ f/1.4 with ISO 3200 - The benefits of a Full Frame sensor aren't lost on me but the settings are close to one another on both cameras/lenses.
M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens - Kate in Natural Light (and Costume) t at Central Train Station at night
M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens - Natural Light at Night (backlit) - the girl's hair was bright blue+violet.
M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens - natural light at dusk on the Sydney Streets
M6 + 32mm f/1.4 - Rena in mid-conversation an hour after sunset (natural light)
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The last few shots I've posted once before but they were taken quite recently and are all lowlight handheld shots - utilizing existing light in the scene (no flash). You can get close to the subject, obviously... but at this distance there's less chance of distortion to the subject. Not that this lens distorts much with a focal length equivalence of around 51.52mm.
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CPL Banding at 11mm
Finally, here's a sample shot that I took using the Circular Polarizing filter on the 11-22mm lens. I took this picture just for illustrative purposes. At maximum polarization, these CPL filters can often produce strong banding in the sky on a wide lens. It won't do this with the 32mm lens but it sure will on the 11-22mm lens. If the angle of the lens' position from the sun is better, you can still get good results. Obviously I couldn't change my location or direction for these images so I simply minimized the CPL effect which eliminated the dark band - This cut down on glare without adding too much contrast to the shots.
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M6 + 11-22mm lens - harsh banding in the sky with a CPL filter at Maximum Effect. the contrast is a little harsher when you compare this image to the ones at the top of the post.
