Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Lens Review

Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Performance

At maximum aperture sharpness is already outstanding in the centre of the frame, with the clarity towards the edges of the frame only reaching fairly good levels. Peak performance across the frame is achieved between f/5.6 and f/8, and sharpness is excellent across the frame between these apertures.

MTF

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 600D using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are well controlled, only just exceeding three-quarters of a pixel width at f/2.8 and when stopped down beyond f/16 towards the edges of the frame. These low levels of CA will rarely be visible, even in images with high contrast towards the edges of the frame.

CA

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 600D using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is well controlled, with the corners only being 1.8 stops darker than the image centre at f/2.8 and visually uniform illumination being achieved when stopped down to f/5.6 or beyond.

Distortion is fairly typical for a wide angle prime lens, with mild barrel distortion being present. Imatest detected 1.7% barrel distortion, which should pose few issues. If straight lines are paramount, then you'll be glad to hear that the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, which should make corrections fairly easy to apply.

Few issues with flare were encountered during testing and contrast holds up well when shooting into the light. However, no lens hood is supplied as standard, so if you require one for peace of mind, then an ES-52 hood can set you back up to £20.

Value For Money

Currently, this lens is available for around £170, which seems very reasonable, especially as this lens has only just been launched.

There aren't really any other direct equivalents to this pancake lens for EF-S cameras. The closest equivalent would be Canon's EF 24mm IS USM lens, which costs around £450, but sports image stabilisation and works with full frame cameras. However, it is more bulky, as well as being more expensive.

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