EOS-M EF-M 18-55 STM Kit Mini Review

wt21

Hall of Famer
I got my new 18-55 kit lens.

Very compact. Nice size. Anodized aluminum outside, but that's made it a little hard and cold these last couple of days. Nice perception of build quality. internal/rear focusing, so the front lens does not rotate. Absolutely silent AF.

I bought it because I was interested in getting something with a higher max magnification, but I wasn't ready to go MF macro or a larger EF or EF-S adapted macro. I wanted to stay compact and AF. The 18-55 approaches .24X. That might work! But in researching the lens, I found out it's one of the best 3.5-5.6 kit lenses across all systems. I didn't know that. For just a little more than $100, it was worth trying.

A couple of notes -- there are no switches on the lens. No MF/AF switch and no IS switch. I don't really care about MF/AF, because you can grab and turn the focus ring anytime you want. For IS -- I don't generally keep IS on, but this is a slow aperture lens, so it came in handy with these shots, some of which were down around 1/8-1/30 when, shooting at 55mm, they should have been more like 1/100, but I was bumping my upper ISO3200 limit.

The thing I'm really happy with is the bokeh. The close focus is sweet, and it's fast enough to focus, it's sharp, and not a lot of vignetting for what it is (i.e. compact kit). It will be a nice complement to the 22mm.

Some pics. The first two were intentionally shot to see the bokeh.

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20131126-20131126-18-55 Bokeh Test 1 by wt2100, on Flickr

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20131126-20131126-18-55 Bokeh Test 2 by wt2100, on Flickr

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20131126-20131126-IMG_6955 by wt2100, on Flickr

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20131126-20131126-IMG_6957 by wt2100, on Flickr

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20131126-20131126-IMG_6961 by wt2100, on Flickr

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20131126-20131126-IMG_6963 by wt2100, on Flickr
 
Thanks for the review and nice photos. Are you buying the wide angle lens also? Too bad it is not sold in US, maybe it can be bought thru ebay...
 
I think the 18-55 will fit my WA needs for now. I did look at the 11-22, and it looks to be a stellar lens, but I just wouldn't use it enough to justify the purchase.
 
I also acquired this lens for the M. It's a very nice lens, never mind a kit lens. Not that big but sharp and, as you note, nice bokeh with OIS. As much as I hate to admit it, I might seriously look at he M2 if it actually gets released in NA.
 
Thanks for sharing your impressions of the lens. Would love to see some color in the next batch of EOS-M photos you share. I imagine you shot with the 22mm lens prior to this. How do their focusing abilities differ, if they differ at all?

Like Steve (drd1135) said, I too will be tempted by a newer iteration of the M if it ever comes out.
 
Would love to see some color in the next batch of EOS-M photos you share. I imagine you shot with the 22mm lens prior to this. How do their focusing abilities differ, if they differ at all?

Sorry about the B&W. It was a heavy overcast morning, so I went monotone.

As for focus speed, I would say that at 18mm, it focuses about the same as the 22. At 55mm, the 18-55 feels just a hair slower than the 22 when focusing on distance. That is, I tested both close-in and at-a-distance focusing at 18 and 55. at 18 -- close or distant, it felt like the 22. At 55mm FL, it felt like the 22 focusing close, but seem to have to rack just a bit more for distance shooting.

One thing is the 22 has a noticeable AF noise. It's akin to the m43 20mm pancake, though still quieter than the P20. The 18-55 makes no appreciable noise. You really, really have to listen for it. Also, the 22mm has to extend a hair on power up. It also retracts on power down. The 18-55 does not do this.

Hope that helps in some way.
 
Not sure. I just did a quick test. Sitting in my office using light from outside, so mid-level lighting. I alternated focusing on my keyboard in front of me, to a wall about 20' away. No measurements. Just perception. If I get outside, I'll test again. Maybe also try this evening in lower light.
 
If they just fix the AF I'll be happy. That includes a smaller AF target. After that, A tillable screen or an EVF would be nice. It does many things really well like IQ and the very good touch interface. I've made more use of it this trip since I gave the XF1 to my wife. Her little Pentax was pretty bad at night. With a little practice the M handles well, and 3200 is good even with JPGs. I'll be curious to see the Raw files when I get home to my other computer.
 
I thought that the 18-55mm was meant to be much faster than the 22mm in focusing speed, or was that only pre-firmware update?

Nic, I just ran some tests indoors, and I really don't see a huge AF speed improvement, 18-55 over 22. This is at night with the AF assist light, using just some lamps in my office. Also, if I cover up the AF assist light, and focus on some pretty dark areas, the 20mm and the 18-55 at 18mm both focus OK. At 55mm the kit lens starts to hunt without the AF light, which makes sense given it's widest aperture is only 5.6. It's getting the least amount of light in.

I'll try during the daytime tomorrow if there's a break in the rain. But right now, I'd say at least with my two copies, the 18-55 does not have an AF speed advantage over the 20mm.
 
Nic, I just ran some tests indoors, and I really don't see a huge AF speed improvement, 18-55 over 22. This is at night with the AF assist light, using just some lamps in my office. Also, if I cover up the AF assist light, and focus on some pretty dark areas, the 20mm and the 18-55 at 18mm both focus OK. At 55mm the kit lens starts to hunt without the AF light, which makes sense given it's widest aperture is only 5.6. It's getting the least amount of light in.

I'll try during the daytime tomorrow if there's a break in the rain. But right now, I'd say at least with my two copies, the 18-55 does not have an AF speed advantage over the 20mm.

Cool, thanks for that. I remember seeing some reviews in the early days of the 'M' saying the 18-55mm was noticeably faster than the 22mm. It made sense because the 22mm is a unit focusing lens like a lot of other pancake primes so the focus motor will always be pushing more mass than an internal focusing lens which is only moving a few elements. I wonder how they might compare in good daylight.
 
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