EOS M and EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

I've posted before about picking up Canon's EOS M mirror-less camera along with the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake lens. I decided to also pick up the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens from an eBay seller who breaks up camera and lens kits imported into the US and sells the parts separately or in different configurations.

I'm not a big fan of variable aperture zooms or kit lenses in general, but the reviews of this lens have been very positive and it's size just fits the EOS M nicely. I finally got outside with the lens this morning and hiked around some of my usual haunts to test it out. The Mohawk and Hudson Rivers were up to, or slightly over, their banks with some nice ice features.

Here are some shots with exposure information and then I'll follow up with some impressions and comments about the camera and lens.

EOS M, EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 55mm, f/5.6, 1/1500 sec., ISO 400

EOS M, EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 55mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec., ISO 400

EOS M, EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 32mm, f/8, 1/350 sec., ISO 400

EOS M, EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 18mm, f/8, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

While I did bracket exposures for HDR processing, the normally exposed images were actually more than acceptable on their own so these are single images with some minor processing in Canon's DPP software. The EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens appears sharper, with fewer aberrations than other consumer zooms I've used, including the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM which I've used with a 60D.

I honestly would almost equate my results with this lens for daylight shots with images I would get from my EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM lens on my 5D Mark II. Indoors without flash, of course, would be a different story, but with the 22mm f/2, 40mm f/2.8 and 60mm f/2.8 lenses, I've pretty much got that covered as well.