Canon 22mm f2 stm (3 of 5)

The Canon EF-M 22mm f2 prime is a must for Canon EOS-M owners. Currently the only prime designed specifically for the EF-M mount, it’s 22mm design gives you a 35mm field of view on a crop sensor body. Even though f2 isn’t exactly ground breaking in the world of prime lenses, the $99 (with free shipping on Amazon) price tag really makes this little lens attractive.

Canon 22mm f2 stm (1 of 5)

As the smallest lens I currently own, the Canon 22mm f2 without the caps is thinner than the EOS-M body. With the 22mm f2 attached it’s easy to mistake the Canon EOS-M for a slightly heavy set point and shoot. Size can be an issue though as the biggest downside to the lens’s size is the fly by wire focus ring.

The focus ring on the Canon EF-M 22mm f2 lens operates in much the same way as the Canon 40mm f2.8 lens. A half press of the shutter button gives you access to the focus control on the lens and after a few seconds focus control goes away again. This can be adjusted in the menu, but it’s not exactly the best method for manual focus.

Canon 22mm f2 stm (5 of 5)

Besides being a reasonably wide and very affordable prime, the Canon EF-M 22mm lens also offers up a surprisingly short minimum focus distance of 5.88 inches (14.94 cm). This allowed me to fill the entire frame of this test shot with Hero’s (a 4 pound pomeranian) head. Having the option to get this close to your subject really gives you that shallow depth of field look even at f2 or even f4. You can download the raw file here.

There aren’t many new lenses in the $100 price range that don’t completely suck. The Canon EF-M 22mm lens provides a good value in a handy focal length at a very affordable price. If you have a Canon EOS-M body, you should probably have this lens.

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