Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens

The EF 40mm F2.8 STM offers excellent image quality in a tiny, well-made package. For APS-C users it provides a great carry-everywhere complement to a kit zoom, and for full frame shooters it's an excellent general-purpose 'normal' lens.

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  Very good optics, Tiny size, Silent autofocus, Responsive electronic manual focus, Decent construction, Low price

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  Can be susceptible to flare, No lens hood supplied, AF speed isn't the fastest

The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM barely juts out from your camera, but is capable of capturing some impressive images.

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  Extremely compact. Very sharp. Minimal distortion. Inexpensive. STM focus motor.

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  Focus-by-wire design. Modest f/2.8 aperture.

The diminutive Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake Lens immediately inspires the high-pitched talking-to-a-baby voice from its first-time viewers, with short drawn-out words and phrases such as "awwwwe" and "it's sooooo cuuute" being especially common.

Handling and features The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM is a slim, compact pancake type lens, which is compatible with Canon EF and EF-S camera bodies and costs around £230. A fast f/2.8 aperture should make this lens ideal for taking pictures in reasonably low light conditions and focusing is powered by...

It's impressive what Canon has managed to pack into a very small package here. Excellent results for sharpness, CA and distortion, and only some corner shading when used wide open on full-frame - which you could call the "character" of this lens. For the price, it's well worth the money.

Pancake lenses have come into some popularity in recent years, and Canon has answered with their own version, the . Some may question the point of a fixed lens that is only f/2.8 these days, but there are plenty of reasons to pick up a lens such as this.

The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM represents a bit of a debatable concept on a DSLR - at least when compared to the much smaller mirrorless camera system. Honestly speaking there is also not really much of a size and weight advantage when thinking of its closest cousin - the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - which is...

The STM design for quieter video autofocus is only compatible with the 650D and 5D Mark III, but as a standard fixed 40mm lens it works really well with all Canon DSLRs, with a size and price that are hard to ignore.

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  Versatile, small and light, Sharp images, Silent autofocus in video mode on 650D and 5D Mark III

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  Auto/manual focus switch a little fiddly, Quiet autofocus feature only with the above models

The results of the Canon EF 40 mm f/2.8 STM are a very nice surprise. Preparing myself for testing this “pancake” I expected a lot of problems on the edge of full frame sensor. There were some problems but not very serious ones – you can easily wave them aside.

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  huge vignetting on full frame.

The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM represents a bit of a debatable concept on a DSLR - at least when compared to the much smaller mirrorless camera system. Honestly speaking there is also not really much of a size and weight advantage when thinking of its closest cousin - the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - which is...

I'm the kind of person that really appreciates value. That is why this lens is my new favorite. I don't know how it had been out so long before I finally learned of it. This lens is worth every penny of it's regular price, but I got it on sale.

Super images, especially considering the size and price. On an APS-C body, it's a 60mm "normal" lens that's biting sharp wide open, edge to edge. Keep it in your front pocket. On full frame it's a little soft wide open, but still charming. I hope Canon continues to make lenses like this.

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  Awesome "normal" lens for APS-C

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  Focus a little slow

I am using this lens with an SL1. This is a great camera and lens combination. I have the 18-55 STM which is also very good, but the size, image quality and small aperture of the 40mm makes it an excellent all around carry lens.

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  Image quality, size, aperture, build quality.

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  None.

I bought this as a backup lens, and found that it was optically as good as my 24-105-L, if not even better. Super sharp, and turns my 6D into a pocket camera (almost). This lens should be in every Canon user’s bag.

Between 40mm and 50mm, I like the 50mm better. However if you want lens particularly for portrait, I strongly recommend the 85mm.

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  Sharp images, light weigh, decent price.

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  Slow focus, cheap feels, not good depth of field.

For the money, this lens is great. I use it on a 5D Mk 2 and it works really well for product photography.

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  Small and lightweight Sharp

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  None that I can think of at this price.

I bought this lens as a walk-around lens. It is not as fast as my 50 1.2 but is much much lighter and most important, do not draw attention. It makes my 6D looks very discrete. It is also cheap for what it delivers.

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  Small, light, small and light again..., Superb sharpness even wide open., Don´t draw attention at all....

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  STM focus wont manually work in auto mode. In manual mode still has an delay., You cant operate focus if camera is turned off or if the lens is detached, making impossible to retract the front element., It is quieter than old focus systems but is still audible.

The 40mm “pancake” lens from Canon is the first prime pancake lens that Canon has released. I purchased this lens about 5 days ago, and I took it with me on vacation to Asheville, NC. I used it to do some street photography on my EOS 70d.

Second time buying this lens. It's so lovely and small yet fast and clear photos. Looks a little silly on my 5d mark ii & mark iii.