I'm considering returning my EF-M 22mm f/2 lens....

I bought this lens based on all the rave reviews for it. It's sharp, works great in low light, bright f/2 aperture, compact etc...

The EF-M 22mm is a great little lens, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I can use it properly. Almost all of my photography is handheld and I just can't get a sharp image handheld with this thing. Almost every photo I take has some handshake blur in it. Also, I tend to take a lot of landscape photos so f/2 doesn't really work that well since a lot of the scene will be blurred.

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125 are giving me shaky photos.

With my kit lens, sure I get more grain, but at least the IS keeps my photos nice and sharp.

What's the point in having a fast wide-ish angle lens if you have to use a tripod to get sharp pictures from it? I'd much rather have a slightly softer image overall than an image with motion blur.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Jayson A wrote:

I bought this lens based on all the rave reviews for it. It's sharp, works great in low light, bright f/2 aperture, compact etc...

The EF-M 22mm is a great little lens, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I can use it properly. Almost all of my photography is handheld and I just can't get a sharp image handheld with this thing. Almost every photo I take has some handshake blur in it. Also, I tend to take a lot of landscape photos so f/2 doesn't really work that well since a lot of the scene will be blurred.

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds

You could use M + auto ISO and choose the shutter speed yourself.

of 1/60,

Yeah, that's annoying, I know M cameras tend to choose too slow shutter speeds in Av.

1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125

Well, at 1/125th it should be sharp I guess.

are giving me shaky photos.

With my kit lens, sure I get more grain, but at least the IS keeps my photos nice and sharp.

What's the point in having a fast wide-ish angle lens if you have to use a tripod to get sharp pictures from it? I'd much rather have a slightly softer image overall than an image with motion blur.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

M mode + auto ISO?

I have no problem getting sharp photos with it handheld at 1/80 sec, but I guess that varies based on the person. Are the photos sharp when on a tripod? I would want to make sure the issue is camera shake rather than just a faulty lens first.

Jayson A wrote:

I bought this lens based on all the rave reviews for it. It's sharp, works great in low light, bright f/2 aperture, compact etc...

The EF-M 22mm is a great little lens, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I can use it properly. Almost all of my photography is handheld and I just can't get a sharp image handheld with this thing. Almost every photo I take has some handshake blur in it. Also,

I tend to take a lot of landscape photos so f/2 doesn't really work that well since a lot of the scene will be blurred.

get the 11-22 instead

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125 are giving me shaky photos.

With my kit lens, sure I get more grain, but at least the IS keeps my photos nice and sharp.

What's the point in having a fast wide-ish angle lens if you have to use a tripod to get sharp pictures from it? I'd much rather have a slightly softer image overall than an image with motion blur.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Jayson A wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125 are giving me shaky photos.

...

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

You might be. I have no problem getting sharp photos at 1/60 with the 22mm. Even 1/30 works most of the time for me.

Can you post a sample? It could be a defective lens, or some other issue. Shutter speeds of 1/125 should be more than fast enough.

EF-M 1/80 Shutter (focus was on rock under tree)

EF-M 1/125 Shutter (focus was on rock under tree)

Welcome to the forum and to the 'M' system!

Something odd going on there.... the rock appears to be simply out of focus. Pixel peeping both frames, the sticks in the lower right corner and the leaves in the upper left corner are fairly sharp. This does not appear to be camera movement, it appears to be more of a focus issue.

The M5ii and M6ii when in 'general' or zone focus mode will often focus on the closest thing in the focus zone. I've had situations where a few blades of grass or sticks or branches I didn't notice in the finder caused focus to be much closer than I thought.

How was focus obtained? For something like this I would use spot or single point focus pointed at the rock perhaps or the tree slightly behind the rock to get some depth of field. Depth of field is going to be quite shallow at f2.5 anyway.

Larry Rexley wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125 are giving me shaky photos.

...

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

You might be. I have no problem getting sharp photos at 1/60 with the 22mm. Even 1/30 works most of the time for me.

Can you post a sample? It could be a defective lens, or some other issue. Shutter speeds of 1/125 should be more than fast enough.

EF-M 1/80 Shutter (focus was on rock under tree)

EF-M 1/125 Shutter (focus was on rock under tree)

Welcome to the forum and to the 'M' system!

+1 Welcome!  And thanks for posting the samples!

Something odd going on there.

+2

... the rock appears to be simply out of focus.

+3

Pixel peeping both frames, the sticks in the lower right corner and the leaves in the upper left corner are fairly sharp. This does not appear to be camera movement, it appears to be more of a focus issue.

+4

The M5ii and M6ii when in 'general' or zone focus mode will often focus on the closest thing in the focus zone.

+5

I've had situations where a few blades of grass or sticks or branches I didn't notice in the finder caused focus to be much closer than I thought.

+6

How was focus obtained? For something like this I would use spot or single point focus pointed at the rock

+7 Spot AF right on the rock.

perhaps or the tree slightly behind the rock to get some depth of field. Depth of field is going to be quite shallow at f2.5 anyway.

+8 Inadequate DOF is the other issue.

There's plenty of latitude there to stop down the aperture to say f/4 (or even further) without incurring a lot of noise.

Problem solved!

R2

Jayson A wrote:

I think you are all correct. I had to use a low f stop because it was fairly dim out there. I know it's not the best picture, but that seems to be one of the ones where I just couldn't get a sharp image from it. Is there a way in Adobe Bridge or something to see where the focus was set? Surely that's saved somewhere in the metadata.

I think DPP4 can show you where the focus was set, but of course that doesn't guarantee that it actually hit focus where it was set. It also might depend on the size of the focus box. For landscapes I would definitely use single-point AF with the smallish box.

But definitely keep testing the lens and see if you can get it to focus reliably. I haven't heard of any particular AF problems with it, but it's always possible to get a faulty copy.

Jayson A wrote:

thunder storm wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

I bought this lens based on all the rave reviews for it. It's sharp, works great in low light, bright f/2 aperture, compact etc...

The EF-M 22mm is a great little lens, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I can use it properly. Almost all of my photography is handheld and I just can't get a sharp image handheld with this thing. Almost every photo I take has some handshake blur in it. Also, I tend to take a lot of landscape photos so f/2 doesn't really work that well since a lot of the scene will be blurred.

I set my M50 MK II to use aperture priority with auto ISO and it wants to give me the lowest ISO possible (great), but it's choosing shutter speeds

You could use M + auto ISO and choose the shutter speed yourself.

of 1/60,

Yeah, that's annoying, I know M cameras tend to choose too slow shutter speeds in Av.

1/80... but even shutter speeds of 1/125

Well, at 1/125th it should be sharp I guess.

are giving me shaky photos.

With my kit lens, sure I get more grain, but at least the IS keeps my photos nice and sharp.

What's the point in having a fast wide-ish angle lens if you have to use a tripod to get sharp pictures from it? I'd much rather have a slightly softer image overall than an image with motion blur.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

M mode + auto ISO?

Upping my ISO and shutter speed to get a decent photo kinda defeats the purpose of having such a fast lens. I can shoot at 1/4 second with sharp results with my IS kit lens.

All you can do is adapt the 24mm f/2.8 IS USM or try if the ef-m 28mm f/3.5 IS stm works for you. I've used the 35mm f/2.0 IS USM on my M50 to get my stabilization, but that's a pretty different focal length.

1. TrackDayLT4 wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

Holy cow. How the heck did it pick up the sticks? I put the focus directly on the rock. This lens is too hard to turn for manual focus (it feels too tight), so I have to use auto focus.

I think you are all correct. I had to use a low f stop because it was fairly dim out there. I know it's not the best picture, but that seems to be one of the ones where I just couldn't get a sharp image from it. Is there a way in Adobe Bridge or something to see where the focus was set? Surely that's saved somewhere in the metadata.

Something is wrong with this lens, it should not feel to tight to manually focus. I would return it and exchange for one that works correctly.

I missed that part.  Something definitely wrong there!

Could indeed be why it’s mis-focusing.

R2

Jayson A wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

1. TrackDayLT4 wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

Holy cow. How the heck did it pick up the sticks? I put the focus directly on the rock. This lens is too hard to turn for manual focus (it feels too tight), so I have to use auto focus.

I think you are all correct. I had to use a low f stop because it was fairly dim out there. I know it's not the best picture, but that seems to be one of the ones where I just couldn't get a sharp image from it. Is there a way in Adobe Bridge or something to see where the focus was set? Surely that's saved somewhere in the metadata.

Something is wrong with this lens, it should not feel to tight to manually focus. I would return it and exchange for one that works correctly.

I missed that part. Something definitely wrong there!

Could indeed be why it’s mis-focusing.

R2

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the focus decided by the dual-pixel auto focus, not by the lens itself? Once the camera sees that the focus area is sharp, then it allows you to take the photo doesn't it?

Also, doesn't the focus ring just move the electronic focus motor, so even if the ring itself is tight, it doesn't really mean there's something wrong with the stepping motor inside right?

I was thinking that it is very likely an indicator of something deeper wrong.

For instance if you had trouble walking, the problem might not be with your feet, but rather your head.  

I do wish you the best of luck with this.  It’s a very worthwhile lens to have around!

R2

TrackDayLT4 wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

1. TrackDayLT4 wrote:

Jayson A wrote:

Holy cow. How the heck did it pick up the sticks? I put the focus directly on the rock. This lens is too hard to turn for manual focus (it feels too tight), so I have to use auto focus.

I think you are all correct. I had to use a low f stop because it was fairly dim out there. I know it's not the best picture, but that seems to be one of the ones where I just couldn't get a sharp image from it. Is there a way in Adobe Bridge or something to see where the focus was set? Surely that's saved somewhere in the metadata.

Something is wrong with this lens, it should not feel to tight to manually focus. I would return it and exchange for one that works correctly.

I missed that part. Something definitely wrong there!

Could indeed be why it’s mis-focusing.

R2

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the focus decided by the dual-pixel auto focus, not by the lens itself? Once the camera sees that the focus area is sharp, then it allows you to take the photo doesn't it?

Also, doesn't the focus ring just move the electronic focus motor, so even if the ring itself is tight, it doesn't really mean there's something wrong with the stepping motor inside right?

if the manual focus is tight, that means it is binding on something because of misalignment. Misalignment can extend to the optical elements which means that the lens will never be sharp. Autofocus just determines the sharpest focus the lens is capable of which as seen in your pictures is very poor. Send it back and get one that is not damaged.

+1 Sound reasoning, and best course of action.

R2