New Lens Tryout: Canon EOS M 32mm f/1.4
It’s been a while since I purchased a new lens. The truth is, I really have all I need, even though the Canon R system keeps tempting me.
For my mirrorless system, I’m sticking with my trusty Canon M. Forever, I’ve had the EOS M 22mm attached to that camera. I see in cropped 35mm on that camera.
So when Canon had a fire sale on refurbished 32mm f/1.4 prime lenses for Black Friday, I thought, “Now’s the time to get something new.”
(My other plan is to upgrade the camera itself, since my faithful M is almost 10 years old now. But we’ll see what next year brings.)
The 32mm is a 51mm equivalent on the M system. My comfort zone is in that 35-50mm range, but the extra F stop adds the opportunity for some shallow depth of field on a near-portrait fixed lens. All these years, I’ve been limited to a 35mm view on the M. This new lens was my chance to put another option in a camera I use 75% of the time.
And what a lens. It took some time to get used to this new field of view, but after fiddling with the unique focus system, I got the hang of it. When we went Christmas tree shopping this weekend, I saw it as a perfect chance to take the lens for a spin on a chilly, sunny midwestern December day.
As with the other M lenses, the 32mm is tack sharp. It’s stunning what these little, lightweight lenses can do. It does stick out from the front of the camera more than the pancake-style 22mm does, so getting the grip and balance just right took some time. It was also weird not to look through a viewfinder and see that 50mm field of view – the M has a touchscreen and touch-focus system.
These are minor getting-adjusted points. It’s a great lens, and I can see building a truly lightweight, mirrorless system out of this, the 22mm, and maybe a wide-angle M lens paired with a new M camera.