Pros & Cons
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- Quite sharp.
- Very compact.
- Classic wide-angle field of view.
- Silent STM focus motor.
- Affordable.
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- Lacks image stabilization.
- Disappointing manual focus experience.
- Noticeable vignette at f/2.8.
Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Specs
| 35mm Equivalent (Wide) | 38 |
| Dimensions | 0.9 by 2.7 inches |
| Lens Mount | Canon EF-S |
| Stabilization | None |
| Type | Lens |
| Weight | 4.4 |
Historically, Canon hasn't been known for making pancake lenses. Just a few years ago it dipped its toes into the water of the ultra-slim prime lens space with the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM for full-frame camera bodies. Joining it is the inexpensive Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM ($149.99) lens for APS-C cameras. When paired with a Rebel or another crop-sensor Canon body, its field of view is just a little bit wider than the 40mm on a full-frame body, equivalent to about 38mm. It's quite sharp, even at f/2.8, and while it does show some darkening of corners at its widest aperture, that's a small price to pay for its compact form factor, especially when you consider its price. Anyone buying a Canon SLR should purchase it as a compact supplement to the run-of-the-mill EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens that's bundled with most Rebel bodies. It's an easy pick for our Editors' Choice award.
The EF-S 24mm measures just 0.9 by 2.7 inches (HD), weighs 4.4 ounces, and supports 52mm front filters. There's only one control switch, which toggles the focus mode. The manual focus ring simply activates the internal focus motor to adjust focus; it's a different experience than the mechanical manual focus rings you'll find on most Canon lenses. If you're a fan of focusing manually, you may want to skip this lens, as the lack of tactile feedback when focusing is disconcerting. But you'll never notice that if you leave the switch set to AF, as most photographers looking at this lens will.
The lens focuses to 6.3 inches, which delivers a pretty decent 1:3.7 magnification factor. When shooting at f/2.8 it's easy to blur the background of shots while working at closer focus distances. Its aperture is a 7-blade design with rounded edges, so what bokeh you do get when the lens is stopped down is smooth. The focus motor is an STM design. It's quiet, and offers very smooth autofocus when recording video with a compatible body like the T5i, SL1, 70D, or 7D Mark II. Not so great for video is the lack of image stabilization, a consequence of size, which makes recording steady handheld footage a challenge.
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I used Imatest to check the sharpness of the lens when paired with the 20-megapixel EOS 7D Mark II. At f/2.8 the lens scores 2,299 lines per picture height on a center-weighted sharpness test, which is better than the 1,800 lines we like to see. Edge performance is strong—the outer third of the frame shows 2,054 lines. Distortion is largely a nonissue; the lens shows less than 1 percent barrel distortion, which is not noticeable in field conditions. Vignetting is an issue; there's a noticeable darkening around the periphery of the frame. If it distracts from an image it's a pretty easy correction to make in photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom.
Stopping down to f/4 improves the overall score to 2,383 lines, and while there's still some darkening at the edges, it's much less noticeable than it is at f/2.8. At f/5.6 diffraction sets in and drops the sharpness slightly to 2,347 lines. The lens shows 2,260 lines at f/8 and 2,094 lines at f/11. It can be stopped down as far as f/22 as desired, but we don't recommend using it beyond f/11.
The Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM is small, inexpensive, and sharp. It's a great lens for candid indoor shots, family snapshots, and documentary street photography alike. It doesn't offer image stabilization, and it doesn't capture as much light as an f/2 or f/1.4 lens would do, but you can't have everything for $150. If you've got an APS-C Canon camera, it's almost a no-brainer to buy at this price. It's an easy Editors' Choice winner, and a lens that any Canon shooter should think about adding to an APS-C SLR kit.