Canon 40/2.8 on EOS M

I find Canon colours to be amazing. I used to shoot a Sony A55 and the colours are stupid. Ken Rockwell noticed this too. Even the RX1 has stupid colours. Lots of people, when they are used to Canon, find Sony colours to be insipid.

You can't really achieve Canon colours in post either because colours are very, very complex. It is NOT just pushing a slider here and there in LR.

For me, canon is great for

1. Colours
2. Low price
3. It just works

Made a shade for my 40/2.8 out of cardboard. The design of the original hood (here a 3rd party version) is quite useless on crop sensor. There is no mechanical vignetting caused by the cardboard.

I like my M! Then, I got the 70D that I am completely smitten with. But I still use the M for the 11-22 primarily.






Right now I'm waiting for the 430EXIII-RT to come out. I'm using my 430EXII almost daily; to have something smaller and with RT and with very compact high quality gels/diffuser is great.

It's USD300. How much do you guys think it will cost in Malaysia?

Looks really good for a 2-year old device. Mine is in much worse condition. Quite unsaleable.

I bought my 11-22 for something like USD280 shipped by FedEx from HK. It was new but in a white box. This was a year ago. It's worth every ringgit I paid for it, and more. Just very high contrast, very saturated colours, and sharp even in the frame edges.



So far I own only 2 native lenses. No interest in the other two for now. I used to use the 22/2 almost daily, but ever since I bought the 70D, I use the EFS 24/2.8 more because I prefer the handling of the 70D. I use the 90EX as a wireless commander for the 430EXII.

I finally took the trouble to search out a suitable adapter to use a Pentax 50/1.4 lens on my Canon 70D. I have owned this for nearly a year without using it.


The adapter arrived today; it made me very excited and I rushed around to get camera, lens and adapter. I set the aperture ring to f2.0, and made my first shot with it.


It is a camera-generated jpeg in Neutral picture style, Canon's flattest and least saturated. I stared at the LCD in disbelief at how sharp and contrasty it is.

Of the three 50mm made by Canon capable of shooting at f2.0, only one comes close to the performance of this Pentax. That would be the 50/1.2L. Both the 50/1.8 (even the latest STM version) and the 50/1.4 are barely usable at f2.0. In fact, this Pentax at f1.4 is about how the other two perform at f2.0.

I am just shocked at how good this 40-year old lens is.

Pentax K 50/1.4 @f2, Canon 70D. No way the EF50/1.8 comes even close.

My stack of pancakes


From top: Fujinon XF 27, EF-M 22, EF-S 24, EF 40, Voigtlander Ultron 40 (EF mount).

They are all ridiculously good. If I were to buy only one for myself, it would be the Voigtlaender Ultron 40. It is not as perfect a lens as the Canon EF 40 at equal apertures (for backlit situations and sharpness across frame), but it opens up to F2 which for me is a big advantage. At f2, the Ultron is sharper by far than the Canon EF 50/1.8II. The 40mm is my most-used focal length on APS-C.

Just shot this just now with the V40 at F2.


But I think for most people, the EF-S 24 is the better intro to pancakes. It, too, is ridiculously good. Only weakness I can find is considerable bokeh fringing at macro distances, but this is minor compared to the lens' great contrast and colour.

Actually, day-to-day, I would take both the 70D and EF 40 & EF-S 24 pancakes and swap as needed.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Sep 26 2015, 11:58 PM

I wrote my opinion on a strap I bought from a reseller here yesterday, and I thought I'd post it here.
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Have you people heard of Peak Design? They're a SanFran-based startup making photo accessories around Kickstarter projects. I bought their flagship strap today, the Peak Design Slide Summit Edition in Lassen red. A mouthful, but so is the awesomeness of the strap.


It's not an intense Ferrari red like the Artisan&Artist Slide but rather a muted red. I could have lived without this strap -- never would have bought it if they didn't make it in such a nice red.


It is not a genius design like the Domke canvas bag or the Leica strap; instead it is one of those products with a tonne of design hours poured into it. It is exceptionally thoughtfully designed, but the effort is all too obvious and it lacks that leap of genius.

It comes with four pieces of the anchor links, which means you can use the strap on two cameras. There is also a VERY nice Arca-Swiss compatible tripod plate included with provision for four attachment points for the anchor links. You can purchase more anchor links at a reasonable cost to use the strap on even more cameras. Or even on bags.


It's really a wonderful all-purpose cross-body strap you can use on cameras and bags. I would never use it as a shoulder strap, i.e. with the strap on the same side as the camera/bag. It is too slippery--even with the rubberized side. Only use it diagonally across the chest. For shoulder straps, look at the Leica strap or the UPstrap.

I bought it from a seller in Klang who is a professional photographer, and he showed me another Peak Design product, the Everyday Messenger bag.

It's an awesome bag, and I may buy it someday. No, I don't think it's the Jesus bag it is made out to be.

Here are promo videos for the Slide and Everyday Messenger.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M7OMsCh9S5c
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6CpOEcl1nec