10-23-2024 05:37 PM - last edited on 10-30-2024 08:52 AM by Danny
Hello! I am new to photography and finally got my own digital camera (a Canon EOS-M) from a friend, who gifted it along with four Canon lenses. I have been experimenting with all of them, as well as figuring out the basics of the camera. Some of them seem quite similar to me, though, so I’d like to hear some experienced photographers’ opinions on the pros and cons of these lenses 🙂
From left to right, (pictured above) these lenses are:
an EF-M 55-200mm zoom lens
an EF-M 18-55mm zoom lens
an EF-M 11-22mm zoom lens
an EF-M 22mm (the only one that’s not a zoom lol)
I learned that the 55-200mm is a telephoto lens, which I’ve been having a blast with, and I read on some forum that the 18-55 might be of lower quality than the 11-22mm zoom & the 22mm, but other than that I’m having trouble differentiating them. I also don’t really understand what the text that says “Macro” means, since I don’t believe any of these are 1:1 macro lenses. (55-200mm = Macro 3.3ft, 18-55 = Macro 0.8ft, 11-22 = Macro 0.5ft, 22 = Macro 0.49ft)
Any thoughts, suggestions, or opinions on the uses of these lenses would be super appreciated!!
Solved! Go to Solution.
10-23-2024 05:52 PM
The EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens is good for general purpose work. The EF-M 55-200mm F/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens as you said a telephoto lens. The EF-M 11-22mm F/4-5.6 IS STM lens & EF-M 22mm F/2 STM lenses are wide angle lenses. Fixed Focal Length (prime) lenses are more limited to use. You simply can't zoom in and out on the lens. You will have to "zoom with your feet" to get closer to the subject in the frame. Also DO NOT mix up the EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 lens lineup with the EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM. The EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 lens lineup has been know to be a lower quality lens. Now I'm not sure about the EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. Also Canon has DISCONTINUED the EOS M System along with the EF-M Mount. All further development has been moved to the EOS R Series and the RF Mount.
10-23-2024 05:51 PM
goober985,
Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of photography!
The best teacher is going to be yourself. Go out and take lots of pictures at various lengths and exposures. You will learn what works best for you in various settings.
Practice, practice, practice! 😁
I hope you have many enjoyable experiences on your photographic journey.
Steve Thomas
10-23-2024 05:52 PM
The EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens is good for general purpose work. The EF-M 55-200mm F/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens as you said a telephoto lens. The EF-M 11-22mm F/4-5.6 IS STM lens & EF-M 22mm F/2 STM lenses are wide angle lenses. Fixed Focal Length (prime) lenses are more limited to use. You simply can't zoom in and out on the lens. You will have to "zoom with your feet" to get closer to the subject in the frame. Also DO NOT mix up the EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 lens lineup with the EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM. The EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 lens lineup has been know to be a lower quality lens. Now I'm not sure about the EF-M 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. Also Canon has DISCONTINUED the EOS M System along with the EF-M Mount. All further development has been moved to the EOS R Series and the RF Mount.
10-23-2024 06:12 PM
Hi and welcome to forum:
Congratulations on getting a gift to get you going with photography. Learning to take photographs with a dedicated camera is a very different experience from that of using, say, a cell phone.
Since you are new to photography, I suggest you take some time to get some of the basics under your belt, that will help you significantly to start to take decent photos. There are two aspects of this:
A general understanding of the principle of photography:
This includes an understanding of how cameras measure light and use that to information to set the exposure. It then looks at the trilogy of controls that you can use to control the actual exposure: Shutter speed, ISO and Aperture. Many combinations of all three can get the correct exposure, but each will have a significant impact on the resulting image, especially in terms of composition. To get to grips with this I recommend you watch the following:
How to use your camera controls:
This is all about learning how to apply the principles you learn above to the actual camera controls to let you control the camera and lenses. This is critical to allowing you not to have the camera get in your way of the process of taking the image.
As to the lenses:
Each lens has information indicated on the front of the lens, as per the following image:
Each lens takes a certain angle of light and projects it onto a sensor that records the image in what is called a Field of View. How wide an area a lens can project is determined by its Focal Length. The shorter the focal length the wider the area that can be recorded. While such a lens can 'see' a wide area, the details will be very small on the sensor. A lens that has a fixed focal length is called a Prime Lens and a lens that can very its focal length is called a Zoom lens:
22mm - is a prime super wide angle lens
11-22 - is a zoom lens that offers a range of focal lengths between 11mm (ultra wide) to 22mm (super wide)
Prime lenses have simpler construction and generally offer sharper images for their focal length. However, zoom lenses offer the benefit of allowing one to customize the area recorded and thus save cropping afterwards. So, each has its own strengths.
All this is pursued in the first video I presented. So some of your questions shall be answered by watching that video
10-24-2024 10:20 AM - edited 10-24-2024 10:23 AM
Steve's suggestion nails it!
The best teacher is going to be yourself. Go out and take lots of pictures at various lengths and exposures. You will learn what works best for you in various settings.
As mention the M50 line has been discontinued but what a great little camera it was and will continue to be if cared for properly. Everyone has given you some great feedback on your current lens lineup and I will just add another take to the body. EF lenses work great! If you are going to hang onto it for the near future find a Canon mount adapter EF-EOS M. But I can state this from experience, only Canon, the 3rd party adapters are not reliable.
While the EF lenses work great on this body there are some limitations. The battery is small and larger lenses will use the battery resources. I carried many of those little suckers when I went into the field, fresh batteries are a must and they are small and light enough where I could carry four plus one loaded in the body to get me through 10 hours in the field.
I mounted the Sigma 100-400mm and the 60-600mm on this body with a lot of success. The images below are both with the 100-400mm.
Just keep in mind you would be investing in discontinued tech if you buy lenses. If you do purchase EF lenses many will work excellently on RF bodies if you upgrade later. Simply be aware of the lens age, the older EF lenses will not work. Sigma lenses will work if the lenses are capable of firmware upgrades through the Sigma dock. Both my Sigma zooms needed firmware upgrades when moving to MILC.
The M50 was always with me when I traveled, so easy to carry and it preformed great. I traded mine as I moved to R bodies, I have in R clone the R50 and what a cool little travel camera.
R3 ~ R5 ~ R6 Mk II ~ R50
Lenses: RF Trinity and others
Adobe and Topaz Suite for post processing
Personal Gallery
10-24-2024 10:56 AM
Very nice work. 🙂
10-24-2024 10:55 AM
"Steve's suggestion nails it!
The best teacher is going to be yourself. Go out and take lots of pictures at various lengths and exposures. You will learn what works best for you in various settings.
As mention the M50 line has been discontinued but what a great little camera it was and will continue to be if cared for properly."
I agree up to a point. Use your 'gift' but don't expand on it. It is a dead end and money spent would be better spent on R series gear.
10-24-2024 03:11 PM
Welcome to the world of photography. As mentioned, take lots of photos. Download a PDF of the manual and start with the basics. You can access the settings for each photo and judge accordingly. Help is just a click or two away.
10-26-2024 04:15 PM
For a gifted camera, use it, enjoy it, but don't invest further into it. I have a lot of older gifted gear (digital and film) and I use all of them. However, I know the limitations of each, and do not use them for work, but they sure are fun.
No one said much about the EF-M 22mm F/2 STM, so I will add my 2 cents here. This is a wide and fast lens. If you want to try taking photos of the night skies, this is the lens you want to use. Set it on manual focus, set the aperture to F/2, set your ISO to 1000, and of course use a tripod. Experiment on shutter speeds. I would start out at 10 seconds and go from there.
Have fun with this gear! You may decide it's all you need, you may decide in time you want better. If you get to that point, invest in the R series system.
10-30-2024 02:02 AM
The word "Macro" is over- and mis-used a lot in lens descriptions. You are quoting the Minimum Focusing Distances, which is not the indication of macro. The MAXIMUM MAGNIFICATION spec is. True Macro is 1:1, meaning life-size. A subject would be the same size on the image sensor as it actually is. Many lenses that are labeled "macro" don't even come close.
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