Instagram diary #14! Quite enjoying looking back on a week’s worth of Instagram photos. Maybe in the future I can put more than just 9 pictures. :) Anywho, last week!
1 First self-portraits of the year! Posted them here in my blog along with short-ish text on why I take self-portraits.
2 After so long!! Had dinner out with my lovely friends. Kiks and I met the Kim, Tep, and Tricia at the nail place when we got to Eastwood before heading out to dinner.
3 Got on a Disney high after talking about stuff and watching Sleeping Beauty with Kiks, that I decided it was time to Disney-fy myself! I also did one of him that you can see here. :)
4 Kiks discovered our new favorite gum sometime ago — Lotte strawberry chewing gum! So delicious, and cheap, too!
5 I always have my little Canon IXUS in my bag, and it comes in handy when I want to take pictures of Kiks & I that aren’t so noisy due to small MP count on the iPhone’s front cam. LOL
6 I start teaching at SHIFT again this April, but this time I’m teaching basic coding! Started on my lesson plan, just to prove to myself that I am responsible and don’t leave things like these until the last minute. Also because I had free time to do it, and had wanted to put things down from my head onto digital paper.
7 Starbucks breakfast at 7 AM with Kiks on a rainy Friday morning before a client meeting at 8.
8 Pretending I have nice things like a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, but I really don’t. </3
9 On the plus side, CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! WITH STRAWBERRIES TO DIP IN IT! During some relatives’ birthdays. DAY MADE! I can blissfully forget about my lack of a nice full-frame camera.
![And now the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake! Isn’t it a cute little thing? But of course despite the initial “Awwwwww it’s so tiny!” due to its cuteness, this li’l fella packs quite the punch.
But before anything else, a disclaimer: the review of this lens is from the perspective of someone like me who uses it mostly for food photography and as a walk-around lens, and comparison is mostly directed towards the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II which I previously used as my all-around lens. Also, another disclaimer, prepare for a large amount of word vomit. I tend to ramble when I really like something.
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So the first thing everybody is bound to notice about the fairly new Canon lens is its size. Its 1-inch length (hence the term “pancake”) immediately screams “compact!”, making it a no-brainer to take with you wherever you go if you’re packing more than one lens (or even if you aren’t). By the way, the photo above features my Pancake with a UV filter attached to it.
I have developed a slightly bad habit of lugging my camera around with me in my bright yellow satchel instead of a properly padded camera bag, and storing it in there is a lot easier compared to stuffing it in with the 50mm protruding slightly, given the dimensions of my bag. I do this so often now, that I just bring my satchel to work, too, instead of my camera bag. Eep!
But even if I just let it hang on my shoulder when I’m out and about, it makes for much less of a fuss when the Pancake protrudes slightly and therefore less likely to hit walls when I turn corners, or people when strolling around. And given its tiny size, it’s pretty obvious that its weight is much less as well. Carrying your camera on your shoulders is a lot less taxing, especially if your camera body is medium or large in size like the 10- or 1-series Canon SLRs.
While most people are less shaky with something light in their hands as opposed to holding something heavy, I’m afraid the opposite holds true for me. Heavier lenses are better for me as I have shaky hands — the weight just somehow steadies them. Having IS would have been great, but adding it in would probably un-pancake the Pancake. (Then again, I don’t really know.) It’s fine, though, as the wide aperture makes up for it. That, and my reason for upgrading from the tiny 400D to the slightly heftier 60D.
Some people might be wondering what the “STM” stands for. We all know that some of Canon’s older lenses sported “USM”, which stood for Ultrasonic Motor. Our new acronym stands for Stepping Motor, which Canon also introduced on the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, one of the optional kit lenses to go with the 650D.
The new motor technology was built mainly for videography. The STM requires electronic power to function — the result is less mechanical noise & smoother focusing, which is ideal when you’re using AF for videos. After making use of its AF for a day, however, I came to learn that it’s not completely silent if you listen very closely and/or if you’re shooting in a quiet room. It’s definitely quieter than other lenses I’ve used, though. (But this is a very small issue for me, as I don’t really shoot videos, and I use the Pancake for still photos. This becomes helpful, however, should I choose to pursue a career in stalker photography.)
Its use of electricity also means that it makes use of the camera’s battery as well. While it automatically goes to sleep on its own (if you’ve enabled your camera’s sleep mode) to save energy when not in use for a period of time, it disables the photographer from test-focusing on a subject when the camera/lens is in sleep mode (which is something I do very often before taking a shot to save battery life or something when my camera goes to sleep. If you aren’t weird like me, though, then that shouldn’t be a problem).
(Photo from the-digital-picture.com)
The size proportion of the Pancake to camera bodies like the new Canon EOS M (Canon’s first mirrorless camera) and the 100- and 10-series SLRs is fine, but when attached to 1-series models that are usually so huge that they could pass for really heavy and expensive shoulder bags (I’m looking at you, EOS 1D and all your upgrades!), attaching a tiny lens such as the Pancake looks just plain silly, at least in my opinion. Not that 1-series DSLR owners and other full-frame photographers aren’t allowed to enjoy the wonders of this lens, though! I have every intention of eventually upgrading to a full-frame when finances permit me to do so, and I’m slapping this lens on the minute that full-frame reaches my slightly trembly little hands.
But with the new full-frame EOS 6D coming out (which has been announced to be just about the same size as the 60D), it would definitely look much less ridiculous, and camera enthusiasts/hobbyists with the cash to shell out for the latest full-frame SLR will probably feel a bit more comfortable with this baby of a lens coupled with the full-frame. In my case, the proportion of the Pancake to my 60D is perfect, hohoho.
Considering the crop factor of APS-C cameras, it’s certainly a nice alternative for the 50mm f/1.8 which can sometimes be rather tight on some occasions — when converted, the 40mm becomes 64mm, whereas the 50mm converts to 80mm. That’s a 16mm difference right there, and it makes a world of difference. There’s suddenly much more breathing room! The 40mm on a cropped sensor also brings the focal length closer to the perception of the human eye.
Shooting food given a very limited amount of space for work is already a normal thing for me, that I have come to master some skills that help me overcome this obstacle, such as climbing up on chairs and extending the tripod even further for top shots. The Pancake’s focal length has made my life so much easier, as shots aren’t as tight anymore when I was working with the 50mm. It’s become so much easier to fit food into the frame. While I’ve considered getting a zoom some time in the past, primes just seem to appeal to me so much more. Plus zoom lenses with fixed maximum apertures of f/2.8 are expensive.
Bokeh on the 40mm is still nice and creamy when wide open at f/2.8, though of course the nifty 50mm still wins if you’re after that even creamier f/1.8 bokeh. However, since I use my lens(es) mostly for food photography, I very seldom use f/1.8. A lot of our work requires us to present dishes as a whole, and we are rarely asked for close-up shots of some of the dish’s details. When I shoot on my own, however, I like to put the f/2.8 aperture to good use.
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Overall, the Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake is pretty good. Its performance so far has been excellent. The build quality is exceptional when compared to the 50mm f/1.8 II — while the nifty fifty looks and feels very plastic-y, the 40mm Pancake seems to be of higher caliber having a reasonable weight given its size. Costing a few thousand Pesos more than the 50mm (probably double the price, at most) may put this lens on the inexpensive shelf, but like the 50mm, you get great value for your money.
The availability of the 40mm Pancake here in the Philippines is pretty low. A bit of research has showed me that probably the only ones selling this baby at the moment are the trusty camera shops in Hidalgo such as Henry’s and possibly Mayer. I may be wrong! But anyhow, the Pancake is definitely worth the $200. :)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mar2nvb3JW1qzvniko1_1280.png)
