Is my 32mm f1.4 defect?

Hi

These don't shout defect to me - a lens torture test in bright conditions back lit - I have seen so much worse even from Sigma Art and Canon L lenses.  Not much is in focus and the leaves which are are not in centre of frame but where in focus looks OK.  How is this processed - out of camera jpeg?  Capture1/DxOPL/ACR?

Do you have a more conventional real life subject test(s) - with a more central subject and not backlit - at f/1.4.   Try also same shot at f/2.8 and f/4 - the colours should be similar but do expect pre correction some vignetting - as with Canon L's.

KevinRA wrote:

Hi

These don't shout defect to me - a lens torture test in bright conditions back lit - I have seen so much worse even from Sigma Art and Canon L lenses. Not much is in focus and the leaves which are are not in centre of frame but where in focus looks OK. How is this processed - out of camera jpeg? Capture1/DxOPL/ACR?

Do you have a more conventional real life subject test(s) - with a more central subject and not backlit - at f/1.4. Try also same shot at f/2.8 and f/4 - the colours should be similar but do expect pre correction some vignetting - as with Canon L's.

I agree --- the EF-M 32mm f1.4 has a very shallow depth of field when used at f1.4 or other wide apertures, and it's not unusual to get shots where little is in focus. The camera also likes to 'zone focus' on the closest thing in the zone, which is not always what you want, or think, is in focus.

You may want to spend some time just playing around focusing with the different focus modes, without taking any pictures, or just taking test shots and then reviewing them in-camera in magnified mode, to learn how the camera behaves. When focus is nailed, your images should be very, very sharp with this lens for whatever is in the depth of focus.

With most lenses, I've fallen into the habit recommended by R2 of using single-point AF or spot AF, and touching the rear screen to move the focus box to the exact area I want in focus. The camera pretty much nails perfect focus just about every time in those modes.

I shot several hours of video at the Dragon Boat races in Sarasota using the Sigma 150-600mm lens and EF-M 55-200, using 2 M6ii cameras, in Servo mode using spot focus - and I have reviewed all of that video. Focus is perfect, for every moment of every video. Usually I had the focus box centered, and the boat team members were in the center, but for those shots where I had more than one boat, I would touch the spot on the rear screen I wanted focus.

Spherical wrote:

Hello Friends,

I don´t have the lens for long, but when looking at some pictures with a lot of sun, they seem strange. Like strong Chromatic Abberation and strange bokeh which seems off.

I included some pictures with zoom. Both were taken with pretty fast shutter speeds, the one with the leaves with the max. 1/4000. So It shouldn´t be the movement of the leaves or my hands.

Please comment on how you feel about my lens, if I have to return and replace it.

I don't see any problems in your images but there's a few odd color tones (white balance related) that may be the result of your in-camera User settings. I have never had to correct for color with this lens nor have I had any strong CA/PF. However, if shooting at 1/4000 you might end up pushing the limits. 1/4000 should be for fast action shots. The minimum I will handhold this lens is 1/60sec if perfectly still and 1/80sec typically. To freeze action you should be using around 1/640sec. If I were you and I wanted to be shooting at f/1.4 in daylight, I would be using a Circular Polarizer (or an ND filter) to cut down on the light since this is a super-bright lens.
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I do see the green color fringing (LOCA?) on the picture you posted with Leaves in the background. This image would have benefited from less contrast by not using such a high shutter speed and using a C-PL or ND filter if you intend to shoot at wide f/1.4 apertures. The issue isn't so much the shutter speed used but the eposure. When shooting with such a bright lens in daylight, your camera will automatically stop down the lens to say f/5.6 or f/7.1 .... but if you want to use your wider aperture to generate stronger bokeh (which this lens is capable of) then you should use a filter to cut down on the light. I do find that on overcast days, most cameras struggle to capture the correct colors when it comes to certain plants and trees. If you notice this is happening, alter your White Balance (there's a WB setting for cloudy days) but remember to switch it back before you start shooting under sunlight or indoors etc later or your images may look odd or off-color.
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Chromatic Aberration (CA) such as Color Fringing tends to occur with any lens at wider apertures... especially lenses with an aperture of f/2.8 or wider. This lens isn't particularly prone to it and any CA can easily be corrected if it occurs. CA tends to occur on lenses when taking high contrast images. One way to cut down on it is to stop down the aperture. But even Canon's multi-thousand dollar lenses can (and will) produce severe CA when shooting high contrast or backlit subjects. Only the very rare lens with Canon's BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics) will reduce CA to a very managable issue, if not eliminate it altogether.
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BOKEH
The bokeh from this lens can produce a lovely bokeh-swirl since it's close to a 50mm field of view. With longer lenses the bokeh rarely forms this curvature. Some cat-eye bokeh is to be expected and this is caused by any lens with a super wide aperture when the lighting in the distance (highlights) are close to the edge of the frame. Here's some Bokeh examples showing what to expect from the lens, depending on the background. You will notice that the bokeh changes depending on the brightness of the background lights and how far they are from the camera/lens. The bokeh from this lens is considered to be appealing to most users and reviewers.
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32mm - Bokeh Sample
*note the round bokeh towards the center (car headlights)

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample
(* note bokeh swirl and "cat-eye" shaped bokeh here)

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample

32mm - Bokeh Sample
*no bright background highlights = smooth bokeh with no obvious "bokeh balls"

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I generally use "Fine Detail" for my color profile which offers just the right amount of sharpness and contrast as well. A few other members here also like the Fine Detail setting. It was designed for use in Museums but also produces great results at home or outdoors.
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Below are some examples shot from my own EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens. I tried to pick images similar to what you have taken or in the same range of subject matter. My images were shot in JPEG and later tweaked for color & contrast in Photoshop and Lightroom... but not by much. If you are using a computer, hover your mouse over an image to see what the settings and shutter speeds were for each image. Otherwise, click on an image and the EXIF data should appear. Even when shooting sunsets I try to avoid using too high a shutter speed unless I have no filter with me (be wary of pointing mirrorless cameras towards the sun as there's no mirror to protect the sensor like there is on a DSLR).
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32mm

32mm - (note the Bokeh Swirl)

32mm

32mm

32mm

32mm - Note the color fringing where the highlights are at the top.

32mm

32mm

32mm - note the subtle color fringing at the top of the frame due to contrast.

Thanks Marco for your magazine-quality 'article' - i find your write-ups to be more interesting and more informative, with better examples, than most 'official' dpreview articles, and appreciate your continued contributions to this forum!

Spherical wrote:

Thank you for all your answers. Especially Marco Necro for your write up. I have not forgotten this thread. Today I went out to capture more images with the lense, considering all what you said.

i have not time left today to select and upload them, but I hope tomorrow I can make it.
Yes the white balance in my pictures was off, as it was still set on cloudy day.

What I don’t understand is why you can’t shoot 1/4000s easily. I never heard about there being a problem. Can you guide me with the name of the topic? I want to understand what is happening physics wise.

You can always shoot at high shutter speeds whenever you need. But maximum is there for where it's essential... such as when shooting at f/1.2 or f/1.4 without a filter to cut down the light. Typically, when shooting a sporting event, you would want to use 1/640 sec or faster... perhaps as high as 1/1250 sec. If you were shooting a sporting event like golf or archery, those speeds would be fine. A high speed shutter allows less light to hit the sensor. Too much light will result in overexposure and less detail if the highlights are washed out.
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In addition "The longer the shutter speed, the more light strikes the sensor, resulting in a brighter image. And the faster the shutter speed, the less light reaches the sensor, resulting in a darker image." - (source: picturecorrect).  So a darker image means that you (or your camera) will have to raise the Levels to better expose the image and this can result in higher contrast or more grain and artifacts when you do this.  A shutter speed of 1/4000 sec exposure is going to result in a sharp, crisp image but not much more than a 1/200 sec shot would offer when there's no subjects moving in the scene.  Birds in flight are typically shot at 1/1000 or faster by most photographers.  So shooting still scenes at 1/4000 is unnecessary.
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Some cameras offer even more than 1/8000 second exposures although most APS-C cameras typically offer up to 1/4000.
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An image shot with the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens at 1/800 second with a Circular Polarizer on the lens.  Without it, I'd have been forced to shoot at a much higher shutter speed to freeze the water movement.

Shot at a mere 1/80 second, this enabled motion blur from the background to help separate the subject from the scene. Taken with the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens.

Cropped from the image above.  At 1/80 sec.
A sunset (almost) taken at 1/1000 sec with the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens.  A Circular Polarizer cut down on the light although I was careful to turn the camera away from the sun until ready to take the shot.  Whilst a higher shutter speed was necessary due to the bright sunlight, at no point would a faster shutter speed have made any difference to this photograph.

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The two times to be using a fast shutter speed would be when shooting fast action or when you need to be shooting a very bright scene.  Both types of examples are above.
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The only time the camera will select a 1/4000 sec exposure setting automatically is if you have accidentally left your Metering on "SPOT" (spot metering) or if you have bumped your "Exposure Compensation" (some EOS M models have a dial for this that is easy to bump, or you might have brushed against the touchscreen and altered it).  The one additional exception is if you are using a very bright lens without a filter on it (any lens that is f/2 or brighter will usually be forced to use a fast shutter speed in bright daylight).  In the past I have usually left my Exposure Compensation dial set to -0.3EV on all of my cameras to avoid overexposing since I tend to shoot in JPEG.  But lately I've been leaving it set to just 0EV.