Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens

Canon released a new lens back in June 2012. It’s the 40mm f/2.8 STM lens. It’s using the new STM (stepping motor).With this feature, it allows for a very quiet focusing during video capture. I was able to play with the lens at the store using a Canon T4i (at the moment, the only camera that fully uses the STM). The lens performed well in low light environments. It focuses fast and near-silent. I took some pics during my unboxing. Also took pics with my other lens for comparison.

Here’s some pics I took with the pancake lens.

I was curious to see the difference between the 40mm lens and my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. I set the Tamron to 40mm as well and the camera on a tripod. I tried to take similar pictures to see if I can find any difference. The 40mm lens produced sharper pictures. I noticed it around the edges of the objects. Other than that, I didn’t see other differences. Based on that, I decided to return the lens since I was happy with my Tamron lens. I may re-purchase it again once I have a full frame camera.

So below is the pic I took using the Tamron lens.

This pic was taken using the 40mm lens.

The 40mm lens is a great lens to have if you don’t already have a lens that is in the range with a similar F-stop. It retails at $200 but I’ve seen it as low as $149.